Student Loan Repayment Thresholds 2026/27: All Plans
The student loan repayment threshold is the income above which student loan deductions start. For the 2026/27 tax year it is £26,900 on Plan 1, £29,385 on Plan 2, £33,795 on Plan 4, £25,000 on Plan 5 and £21,000 on the Postgraduate Loan. You repay 9% of income above your threshold (6% on the Postgraduate Loan) and nothing below it.
Source: GOV.UK, Repaying your student loan: how much you repay (opens in a new tab)
Not sure which threshold applies? Check what student loan plan am I on first, then compare all five student loan plans.
Thresholds by plan for 2026/27
| Plan | Annual | Monthly | Weekly | Rate | Who is on it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plan 1 student loan | £26,900 | £2,241 | £517 | 9% | English/Welsh undergraduates who started before 1 September 2012, and all Northern Irish undergraduates |
| Plan 2 student loan | £29,385 | £2,448 | £565 | 9% | English undergraduates who started between 1 September 2012 and 31 July 2023, and Welsh undergraduates who started on or after 1 September 2012 (Wales did not move to Plan 5) |
| Plan 4 student loan | £33,795 | £2,816 | £649 | 9% | Scottish students funded by SAAS, and rUK students transferred to Scotland |
| Plan 5 student loan | £25,000 | £2,083 | £480 | 9% | English undergraduates who started on or after 1 August 2023 (Plan 5 is England-only; Wales continues on Plan 2 terms) |
| Postgraduate Loan | £21,000 | £1,750 | £403 | 6% | English/Welsh Master's or Doctoral students from academic year 2016/17 onward |
Tax year 2026/27, from 6 April 2026. Monthly and weekly figures are the ones your employer applies to each payslip.[source]
PAYE tests each pay period on its own, so a single month above the monthly figure triggers a deduction even if your annual pay ends up below the annual threshold.
What do you actually repay above your threshold?
Enter your salary and plan for your own monthly figure, not just the threshold.
On £32,000, £2,615 sits above your Plan 2 threshold of £29,385.
£20 a month
9% of the amount above your threshold, deducted automatically through PAYE (£235 a year).
Key Takeaways
- Five thresholds run side by side in 2026/27: Plan 1 (£26,900), Plan 2 (£29,385), Plan 4 (£33,795), Plan 5 (£25,000) and Postgraduate (£21,000). Which one is yours depends on when and where you studied.
- Plan 2: Rose to £29,385 in April 2026, then frozen at £29,385 from April 2027 to April 2030 (Autumn Budget 2025). The Plan 2 interest bands (£29,385 lower, £52,885 upper) are frozen alongside it. Inflation erodes a frozen threshold, so more graduates are pulled into repayment each year it holds.
- Plan 5: Frozen at £25,000 until April 2027, then uprated annually. It is the lowest starting point of any undergraduate plan.
- Plan 4 has the highest threshold at £33,795. A Scottish graduate on £33,000 repays nothing, while the same salary on Plan 5 costs £720 a year.
- Thresholds are applied per pay period, not just annually. Any month where your Plan 2 pay exceeds £2,448 triggers a 9% deduction on the excess, whatever the rest of the year looks like.
In this article
The threshold is the minimum income at which you start making student loan repayments. Earn below it and you repay nothing, however much you owe or how long you have had the loan.
This guide covers the current thresholds for every UK plan, how they are applied, and how they move from year to year. If your real question is how much student loan you should be paying each month, the monthly repayment calculator turns your salary and plan into a payslip deduction, and the main student loan calculator projects the whole loan to write-off.
What is the student loan repayment threshold?
It is the line HMRC draws through your gross pay. Everything below it is ignored for student loan purposes. Everything above it is charged at 9% on Plan 1, 2, 4 and 5, and 6% on a Postgraduate Loan. Each plan has its own line because each was set up under different terms, and the government reviews every figure annually.
You only repay on income above the threshold
The threshold is not a cliff edge where you suddenly start paying a large amount. You repay a percentage of the income that exceeds it, so crossing by a pound costs you nine pence a year.
Example: Plan 2 on £35,000
- Annual salary: £35,000
- Plan 2 threshold: £29,385
- Income above threshold: £35,000 minus £29,385 = £5,615
- Repayment rate: 9%
- Annual repayment: 9% of £5,615 = £505.35
- Monthly repayment: about £42
Repayments are taken automatically
If you are employed, repayments come out through PAYE alongside tax and National Insurance[source]:
- Your employer calculates and deducts repayments from your salary
- You do not need to do anything or contact the Student Loans Company
- Repayments appear on your payslip as "Student Loan"
- The deductions go to HMRC, who pass them to the Student Loans Company
What if you earn below the threshold?
- You make no repayments at all
- Interest continues to accrue on your loan balance
- There is no penalty and no effect on your credit score
- You do not need to notify anyone; the balance is written off after 25, 30 or 40 years depending on your plan
Income that counts toward the threshold
The threshold is tested against your total income before tax, including:
- Salary and wages from employment
- Self-employment profits
- Pension income
- Rental income from property
- Interest from savings (though not within ISAs)
- Dividend income from investments
Universal Credit, Housing Benefit and Child Benefit are not counted.
Pension income and the Armed Forces
Pension income counts toward the threshold, which matters more for some graduates than others. If you are a service leaver drawing an Armed Forces Pension Scheme (AFPS) pension or an Early Departure Payment, that income counts, so your AFPS income can keep you repaying after you leave the military.
Forecasting your AFPS 75, 05 or 15 pension against your other income is worth doing early, so you can see how it interacts with your remaining loan before the payments start.
How thresholds change each year
Thresholds are reviewed annually and normally change on 6 April, but the rule differs by plan:
| Plan | How the threshold moves |
|---|---|
| Plan 1 | Rises each April in line with RPI inflation. |
| Plan 2 | Rose to £29,385 in April 2026, then frozen at £29,385 from April 2027 to April 2030 (Autumn Budget 2025). The Plan 2 interest bands (£29,385 lower, £52,885 upper) are frozen alongside it. Frozen earlier at £27,295 from 2021/22 to 2024/25. |
| Plan 4 | Rises each April in line with RPI inflation. |
| Plan 5 | Frozen at £25,000 until April 2027, then uprated annually. |
| Postgraduate Loan | Held at £21,000 since repayments began in April 2019. No increase has been announced, so it has fallen sharply in real terms. |
Important note
Changes are announced by the government, usually in the autumn Budget or in the Department for Education's annual threshold announcement. Policy can override the uprating rule, as the Plan 2 freeze shows, so check the latest figures on gov.uk before you plan around a future year.
Recent threshold history
How the three uprated plans have moved since 2020/21:
| Tax year | Plan 1 | Plan 2 | Plan 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020/21 | £19,390 | £26,575 | Plan 1 terms applied |
| 2021/22 | £19,895 | £27,295 | £25,000 |
| 2022/23 | £20,195 | £27,295 | £25,375 |
| 2023/24 | £22,015 | £27,295 | £27,660 |
| 2024/25 | £24,990 | £27,295 | £31,395 |
| 2025/26 | £26,065 | £28,470 | £32,745 |
| 2026/27 | £26,900 | £29,385 | £33,795 |
Plan 5 has been £25,000 and the Postgraduate Loan £21,000 throughout. Plan 4 only got its own figure on 6 April 2021; before that Scottish borrowers used the Plan 1 threshold.[source]
For every year back to 2000/01, and the interest rate that went with each, use the student loan thresholds by tax year lookup. The Plan 2 freeze and what it costs borrowers is covered in Plan 2 threshold freeze 2027.
Multiple jobs and self-employment
If you have more than one source of income, the threshold is applied differently depending on how each is taxed.
Multiple employed jobs
Each employer tests your pay from that job alone against the threshold[source]:
Example: two part-time jobs on Plan 2
- Job A: £18,000 a year
- Job B: £18,000 a year
- Total income: £36,000
- Plan 2 threshold: £29,385
What happens:
- Neither employer deducts anything, because each job on its own is below the threshold
- Your combined income is £6,615 above the threshold
- Nothing is collected unless you complete a Self Assessment return, which picks up the combined figure. You can make voluntary repayments if you want to
Self-employment
- Repayments are calculated through Self Assessment on your annual profit
- You pay them with your tax bill, usually in January and July
- The threshold still applies: you only repay on profit above it
- Allowable business expenses reduce your profit and therefore your repayment
Mixed employment and self-employment
- Your employer deducts through PAYE on your employed income
- You declare your self-employment income through Self Assessment
- HMRC works out what is due on your total income and credits the PAYE deductions already made
Overpayment refunds
You can claim a refund if:
- Your employer deducted repayments but your annual income was below the threshold
- You made repayments after your loan was fully repaid
- You were not liable to repay, for example because you were living abroad and exempt
Contact the Student Loans Company with evidence (payslips or your P60) to claim. Refunds are usually processed within four to six weeks.
Calculate your repayments
See exactly how much you will repay on your income and plan, this month and over the life of the loan
Frequently asked questions
What is the student loan repayment threshold?
The student loan repayment threshold is the annual income above which repayments are deducted. For the 2026/27 tax year it is £26,900 on Plan 1, £29,385 on Plan 2, £33,795 on Plan 4, £25,000 on Plan 5 and £21,000 on the Postgraduate Loan. You repay 9% of gross income above the threshold on Plan 1, 2, 4 and 5, and 6% above the Postgraduate threshold. Below the threshold you repay nothing.
What is the student loan threshold in the UK?
There is no single UK student loan threshold: each repayment plan has its own. In 2026/27 the thresholds are £26,900 (Plan 1), £29,385 (Plan 2), £33,795 (Plan 4), £25,000 (Plan 5) and £21,000 (Postgraduate Loan). PAYE applies the equivalent monthly or weekly figure to each pay period rather than the annual number, so a one-off bonus can trigger a deduction even if your annual salary sits below the threshold.
Are student loan thresholds going up in 2027?
The Plan 1 threshold will rise to £28,005 from 6 April 2027 to 5 April 2028, as announced by the Department for Education and the Student Loans Company on 10 August 2026. No 2027/28 figure has been published yet for Plan 4. Plan 2 is different: it rose to £29,385 in April 2026 and is then frozen at that level from April 2027 to April 2030, as announced at the Autumn Budget 2025. The Plan 5 threshold is frozen at £25,000 until April 2027 and is due to be uprated annually after that. The Postgraduate Loan threshold has stayed at £21,000 since repayments began in 2019 and no rise has been announced.
Does the threshold change if I move jobs?
No. The annual threshold stays the same wherever you work. However, PAYE applies the threshold per pay period at each employer separately. If you change jobs mid-year, your new employer starts assessing from your start date, which can cause a temporary under-deduction or over-deduction that HMRC reconciles after the tax year ends.
Is the threshold gross or net of pension?
The repayment threshold is compared against your gross taxable pay, after salary-sacrifice pension contributions but before relief-at-source pension contributions. Salary sacrifice reduces the income used for the calculation; net pay arrangement pensions also reduce it. Personal pension contributions paid from take-home pay do not reduce your student loan deduction.
Do I repay if I'm under the threshold?
No. If your gross pay is below your plan's threshold, you repay £0 and your employer makes no Student Loan deduction. Interest still accrues on the balance, but there is no penalty and no credit-score impact. Outstanding balances are written off after the plan-specific term (25, 30 or 40 years) regardless of how much you repaid.
How is the threshold calculated for bonuses?
PAYE applies the monthly threshold (£2,448 on Plan 2 in 2026/27) to your total gross pay in the month the bonus is paid. If a bonus pushes that month's pay above the monthly threshold, 9% is deducted from the excess for that month only, even if your annual salary is below the annual threshold. The over-deduction is not refunded automatically; you claim it back from the Student Loans Company after the tax year.
What counts as income for the student loan threshold?
PAYE-employed income (salary, wages, bonuses, overtime) is assessed by your employer. For Self Assessment, unearned income above £2,000 from rental property, dividends, savings interest and pensions is added to employment and self-employment income to work out repayments. ISAs, Universal Credit, Child Benefit and Housing Benefit are excluded.
Student Loan Calculator UK Editorial Team
Editorial Team
This page is maintained by the Student Loan Calculator UK editorial team, checked against GOV.UK and Student Loans Company guidance. Read more about our editorial approach.
Next step
- which student loan plan you are on - Your plan sets your threshold, interest and write-off date.
- see when your loan is written off - Enter your plan and course end year to get the month your balance is cancelled.
- work out what comes off your pay each month - Enter your salary and plan to get the exact amount taken each month.
- student loan interest rates by plan - Shows the current rate for each plan and how it is set.