When Do I Start Repaying My Student Loan? Calculator
You start repaying your student loan on the 6 April after you finish or leave your course — the first day of the tax year, not 1 April — and only once you earn more than your plan's threshold: £25,000 on Plan 5, £26,900 on Plan 1, £29,385 on Plan 2, £33,795 on Plan 4 and £21,000 on a Postgraduate Loan in 2026-27. Below that, nothing is taken.
Enter your course end date, plan and salary below. The calculator returns the month your first deduction is due, what it will be, and how far off it is if your salary is still below the threshold.
When Do Repayments Start?
Repayments become due on the 6 April following the end of your course, but nothing is taken until your income exceeds the threshold.
Your starting or current annual salary
Threshold: £29,385 | Rate: 9.0%
Typical UK growth: 3-5% per year
Outcome: repayments start
First deduction: November 2031
On a £29,391 salary you would have £0 a month taken from your pay, from November 2031.
Your loan became repayable on 6 April 2026, but nothing is taken until your pay clears the £29,385 Plan 2 threshold.
Your repayment timeline
Loan becomes repayable
6 April 2026
The first 6 April after your course ends
Time until your first deduction
62 months
About 5.2 years from now
Salary at that point
£29,391
£6 above the threshold
Initial monthly deduction
£0
9.0% of pay above £2,448 a month (2026-27)
How this is worked out
(£2,449.26 − £2,448) × 9% = £0
Plan 2, 2026-27. HMRC's published monthly threshold is £2,448 — not £29,385 ÷ 12 — and payroll rounds each deduction down to a whole pound.
Graduating June 2025 makes 6 April 2026 the first day the loan is repayable. The salary above is your £24,000 grown or discounted at 4% a year to that date — an assumption, not a published figure.
Key information
Rates, assumptions and sources
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].
| 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
- Tax year for the thresholds
- 2026-27
- Repayments become due
- 6 April, the first day of the tax year
- Salary growth assumed
- 4% a year (your input)
- Salary at the start date
- £24,000 grown or discounted to 2026
- Course end
- June 2025
Growth, inflation and long-run interest figures are assumptions, not published rates. Change them and the projection changes.
When do you start paying back student loans?
You start paying back student loans from the 6 April after you finish or leave your course, and only in months when your pay is above your plan's threshold[source]. On a part-time course longer than four years, repayments can start the 6 April four years after it began, if that comes first. Plan 5 repayments could not begin before 6 April 2026.
The thresholds below are the 2026-27 figures. Your employer applies the monthly one to each payslip, so a single month above it triggers a deduction even if your pay for the whole year ends up below the annual figure.
| Plan | Who it covers | Annual threshold | Monthly threshold | Rate above it | First deduction due |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plan 1 | Pre-2012 England/Wales or Northern Ireland | £26,900 | £2,241 | 9% | The 6 April after you finish or leave your course |
| Plan 2 | England 2012-2023; Wales 2012 onwards | £29,385 | £2,448 | 9% | The 6 April after you finish or leave your course |
| Plan 4 | Scotland | £33,795 | £2,816 | 9% | The 6 April after you finish or leave your course |
| Plan 5 | England, courses from Aug 2023 | £25,000 | £2,083 | 9% | The 6 April after you finish or leave your course, and not before 6 April 2026 |
| Postgraduate | Masters/PhD loans | £21,000 | £1,750 | 6% | The 6 April after you finish or leave your course |
To see the size of that first deduction at your salary, use the monthly repayment calculator. If you are still studying and want to know when your maintenance loan is paid to you, that is a different date entirely: see student finance payment dates 2026/27.
Understanding Repayment Start Dates
6 April following graduation
Your loan becomes repayable on the 6 April after you finish your course — the first day of the UK tax year, five days later than the 1 April this calculator used to assume.
Threshold Dependent
You only start repaying when your income exceeds the threshold for your plan. Below that, you pay nothing.
Automatic Deductions
Repayments are automatically deducted through PAYE if employed, or paid through Self Assessment if self-employed.
Income Changes
If your income drops below the threshold, repayments stop automatically. They resume when income rises again.
Frequently Asked Questions
When do I start repaying my student loan after graduation?
Repayments begin on the 6 April after you finish or leave your course, on every plan, but money is only taken once you earn above your plan's threshold. Finish in July 2026 and your first deduction can be due from 6 April 2027. Plan 5 borrowers (English students whose courses started on or after 1 August 2023) could not start before 6 April 2026 whatever their finish date. For 2026-27 the thresholds are Plan 1 £26,900, Plan 2 £29,385, Plan 4 £33,795, Plan 5 £25,000 and Postgraduate Loan £21,000.
When do part-time students start repaying student loans?
Part-time students start repaying on the 6 April after they finish or leave their course, or the 6 April four years after the course started if the course is longer than four years, whichever comes first. Gov.uk applies the four-year rule to courses that started before 1 January 2027, so it can mean repayments begin while you are still studying. The same income thresholds then apply as for full-time graduates, and you only pay in months where you earn above your plan's threshold.
What if I start earning above the threshold before my repayment start date?
Nothing is deducted until your repayment start date, however much you earn. Graduate in July 2026 into a £35,000 job and deductions still do not start until 6 April 2027. Interest is added to the balance during that gap, but nothing comes out of your pay. From that April, PAYE takes 9% of pay above the threshold (6% on a Postgraduate Loan) automatically.
Can I delay my student loan repayment start date?
No. The start date is fixed by the rules above and cannot be pushed back. If your income is below the threshold on that date, nothing is taken through PAYE anyway, and repayments only begin in the first pay period where you earn above it. If you move abroad for more than three months you must tell the Student Loans Company and complete an overseas income assessment, after which the threshold for that country applies.
What if I finish my course mid-year?
Repayments still begin on the 6 April after you finish or leave, whatever month that is. Leave in January and your first deduction can be due that 6 April; finish in June and it is the 6 April of the following year. Leaving a course early counts the same as graduating for this rule.
Plan Your Financial Future
Explore our other calculators to understand your complete student loan picture
Note: This calculator provides estimates based on typical repayment schedules and salary growth assumptions. Actual start dates depend on your specific circumstances and HMRC processing. Always verify with the Student Loans Company for official information.
Related student loan calculators
The repayment start date calculator answers one specific question. For the full picture, start with our UK student loan calculator on the homepage, work out what leaves your payslip each month with the monthly repayment calculator, or check what you can borrow with the student finance calculator. Every tool on the site is listed in the UK student loan calculator directory.
- student loan plan cohort finder: which plan you are on, from your course start date and study country
- student loan write-off date checker: the exact month your remaining balance is cancelled
- monthly repayment calculator: the monthly deduction taken from your payslip on any plan