When will my Plan 2 loan be written off?

Plan 2 loans (English/Welsh undergraduates who started between 1 September 2012 and 31 July 2023) are written off 30 years after the first April following the end of your course. If your course ended in summer 2024, your write-off date is April 2055.

Does Plan 5 really take 40 years to write off?

Yes. Plan 5 loans (English/Welsh undergraduates who started on or after 1 August 2023) cancel 40 years after the first April following course end. A graduate finishing in 2027 will see their loan written off in April 2068. The 10-year extension over Plan 2 was confirmed by the Department for Education in 2022.

What happens to my student loan when I die?

Your UK student loan is cancelled in full on death and cannot be passed to your estate, spouse, parents or children. The Student Loans Company writes off the balance once a certified copy of the death certificate is received. No part of the loan can be claimed from inheritance.

Can I extend the write-off date?

No. The write-off date is fixed by your Plan and the first April after your course end date — neither you nor the Student Loans Company can extend it. Periods of unemployment, low income, or living abroad do not push the date back. You can, however, reduce the time it takes to clear the balance by making voluntary overpayments.

Is Plan 1 always written off after 25 years?

Not always. If your first Plan 1 loan was taken out in the 2005/06 academic year or earlier (before 1 September 2006), it is written off when you turn 65 instead of on the 25-year clock. Loans taken out from the 2006/07 academic year onward follow the standard 25-year rule. A similar age-65 alternative applies to Plan 4 (Scotland) borrowers whose first loan predates 1 August 2007, who are written off at age 65 or 30 years, whichever comes first.

Does going abroad delay the write-off date?

No. Living overseas does not change your write-off date. You are still required to declare your income to the SLC and repay against country-specific overseas thresholds, but the 25, 30 or 40 year clock keeps running regardless of where you live.

Will I still owe money if I am earning above the threshold at write-off?

No. On the write-off date the entire remaining balance is cancelled, even if you are earning well above the threshold and are still actively repaying. The cancellation is automatic and unconditional once the term is reached.

Does the write-off get reported to credit agencies?

No. UK student loans do not appear on your credit file, so the write-off itself is not reported to Experian, Equifax or TransUnion. The end of monthly deductions may improve your disposable income and indirectly help future credit applications, but there is no direct credit score change.

When does a Postgraduate Loan write off?

Postgraduate Loans (Plan 3) write off 30 years after the first April following the end of your Master's or Doctoral course. The 30-year clock runs independently from any undergraduate Plan 1, 2, 4 or 5 loan, even though both can be deducted from the same payslip.

Is there student loan forgiveness in the UK?

The UK has no forgiveness scheme in the American sense. There is no cancellation for teaching, nursing, public service or any other profession, and no scheme you can apply to. What the UK has instead is an automatic write-off: whatever is left on the balance is cancelled once the write-off period for your plan ends, which is 25 years for Plan 1, 30 years for Plans 2 and 4 and for Postgraduate Loans, and 40 years for Plan 5, counted from the April after you finish your course. The balance is also cancelled if you die, or if you become permanently unfit for work.

Do I need to apply for my loan to be written off?

No. The write-off happens automatically once the term is reached. The Student Loans Company will stop collecting repayments through PAYE or self-assessment and will send a confirmation letter or email. You do not need to contact them.

Does bankruptcy clear a UK student loan?

No. UK student loans are statutory debts and cannot be discharged through bankruptcy, an IVA or a Debt Relief Order. The only cancellation triggers are reaching your Plan's write-off term, death, or certified permanent disability.

How we calculate

Calculators

When Does Your Student Loan Get Written Off?

A UK student loan is written off automatically 25 to 40 years after repayment starts, depending on your plan: 25 years on Plan 1, 30 years on Plan 2, Plan 4 and Postgraduate Loans, and 40 years on Plan 5. The clock starts the April after you finish your course, not the day you graduate. Enter your plan and course dates into the loan write-off checker below for your exact write-off month and year rather than just the rule.

To see how much you are likely to have repaid by that date, use the monthly repayment calculator or the main UK student loan calculator.

About Loan Write-Offs

All UK student loans are automatically written off after a certain period, regardless of how much you've repaid. The period varies by loan plan.

Loan planI don't know my plan

Course Start Year

Course Duration

Used to work out your finish year: 2018 + 3 = 2021.

More settings

Course Type

Sets a typical course length below. Change it if your course was longer or shorter.

Start offset (months)

0 = April after you finish (official). Use -12 to assume April of your final academic year.

Your Write-Off Date

Example: Plan 2, course started 2018, 3 years. Enter your own details.

April 2052

30 years after entering repayment, about 26 years from now.

What this means

Your Plan 2 (2012–2023) loan enters repayment in April 2022, and is automatically cancelled 30 years later in April 2052.

It is written off whatever you have repaid or still owe, so a balance that will not be cleared by then never has to be.

Next step

Plan type:

Plan 2 (2012–2023)

Repayment period:

30 years

Started repaying:

April 2022

Years remaining:

26 years

Write-off periods for the 2026-27 tax year, from gov.uk. Age-65 rule for pre-September-2006 Plan 1 loans confirmed against gov.uk and Student Finance NI Terms and Conditions 2025/26, checked 2026-09-06.

Rates, assumptions and sources

Last reviewed: 16 October 2026 · Verified against gov.uk and SLC published figures

Every figure below is the 2026-27 published figure, read from this site's single source of truth at page-render time^[source]. The 6% Plan 2 and Postgraduate interest cap covers the 2026/27 year only and is not assumed to continue^[source].

Repayment threshold, rate, interest, write-off period and threshold freeze status by student loan plan, 2026-27
Plan	Threshold	Rate	Interest	Written off	Threshold freeze
Plan 2	£29,385^[source]	9%	4.1% to 7.1% by income, capped at 6% for 2026-27^[source]	30 years^[source]	Frozen at £29,385 until April 2030

Write-off is counted from the April after the course ends, not from the course-end date itself, and the Plan 2 interest bands (£29,385 lower, £52,885 upper) are frozen alongside the Plan 2 repayment threshold.

This calculator also assumes

Course ends: 2021
Repayments start: April 2022
Write-off period: 30 years
Write-off date: April 2052

Growth, inflation and long-run interest figures are assumptions, not published rates. Change them and the projection changes.

Write-Off Periods by Loan Plan

Loan Plan	Write-Off Period	Starting Point
Plan 1	25 years (age 65 if first loan taken 2005/06 or earlier)	From first April after your course ends
Plan 2	30 years	From first April after your course ends
Plan 4 (Scotland)	30 years (age 65 if first loan taken before 1 August 2007)	From first April after your course ends
Plan 5	40 years	From first April after your course ends
Postgraduate Loan	30 years	From first April after your course ends

Write-off periods above are set out by GOV.UK^[source].

Plan 1 borrowers whose first student loan was taken out in the 2005/06 academic year or earlier are written off at age 65 instead of the 25-year clock. Plan 4 (Scotland) borrowers whose first loan predates 1 August 2007 are written off at age 65 or 30 years after their April repayment start date, whichever comes first. Source: gov.uk, checked 2026-09-06.

Related Calculators

Total Cost Calculator

Calculate how much you'll pay before the write-off date

Interest Calculator

See how interest accumulates until your write-off date

Understanding Student Loan Write-Offs

A key feature of the UK student loan system is that all loans are automatically written off after a set period, regardless of how much you've repaid or how much is left. This is sometimes called the "forgiveness period."

Frequently Asked Questions

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Want to know how much you'll repay before your loan is written off? Try our total loan cost calculator.

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