Sources We Use for Student Loan Figures

Last updated: 6 October 2026

Every threshold, rate and fee on this site comes from a primary source: GOV.UK, the Student Loans Company, HMRC, the devolved student finance bodies and legislation. This page lists each source by topic. All links returned a working page on 6 October 2026.

The figures themselves live in one constants file in the site's code, so a rate is entered once and every calculator and page reads the same number. How those numbers are turned into repayments is on the methodology page. If a figure here and a figure on a page disagree, the primary source wins and we want to know: see corrections and updates.

Primary sources by topic

Primary sources by topic, with what we take from each
Topic	What we take from it	Source
Repayment thresholds and repayment rates	The annual, monthly and weekly threshold for each plan, and the 9% and 6% repayment rates.	GOV.UK: Repaying your student loan, how much you repay HMRC: Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027
Interest rates	The rate for each plan from 1 September 2026 to 31 August 2027, and the published Plan 1 threshold for 2027/28.	GOV.UK: Student loans interest rates and repayment threshold announcement House of Commons Library: Interest rates and repayment thresholds FAQs (CBP-10654)
The 6% interest cap on Plan 2 and Postgraduate loans	The cap that applies for the 2026/27 academic year.	GOV.UK: Interest rate cap introduced to protect Plan 2 borrowers
RPI and the Bank of England base rate	The March RPI figure that sets each year's rates, and the base rate used in the Plan 1 and Plan 4 "lower of" rule.	ONS: RPI all items, percentage change over 12 months Bank of England: Bank Rate
Write-off and cancellation	How many years after the April you are first due to repay each plan is written off, and when a loan is cancelled.	GOV.UK: When your student loan gets written off or cancelled
What counts as income for deductions and Self Assessment	Which payments employers deduct from, and how Self Assessment counts income such as dividends.	HMRC Collection of Student Loans Manual, CSLM17055 HMRC Collection of Student Loans Manual, CSLM19010 GOV.UK: Tell HMRC about a student loan in your tax return The Education (Student Loans) (Repayment) Regulations 2009
Tuition fees and maintenance loans (England)	The tuition fee cap, maintenance loan maximums and minimums, and how household income is assessed.	GOV.UK: Student finance for new full-time students GOV.UK: Student finance, how you're assessed and paid 2026 to 2027
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland	Nation-specific funding, tuition fee and threshold details that differ from England.	SAAS (Students Awards Agency Scotland) Student Finance Wales Student Finance NI
Repayments while living abroad	The overseas thresholds for each plan, copied country by country.	Plan 1 overseas thresholds 2026/27 Plan 2 overseas thresholds 2026/27 Plan 4 overseas thresholds 2026/27 Plan 5 overseas thresholds 2026/27 Postgraduate Loan overseas thresholds 2026/27
The Student Loans Company, your balance and complaints	How to see your balance and the SLC's published complaints procedure.	GOV.UK: Student Loans Company GOV.UK: Sign in to manage your student loan balance SLC complaints procedure
Income tax, National Insurance and dividends	The tax and National Insurance rates used in the pay-related calculators and worked examples.	GOV.UK: Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances GOV.UK: National Insurance rates and categories GOV.UK: Tax on dividends

How we cite

Load-bearing figures on our busiest pages carry a small [source] link to the specific GOV.UK, HMRC or SLC page, not a general link in the footer.
Where a source does not publish a figure, we leave it out or label it as an assumption. The assumptions our projections use are listed on the methodology page.
Other primary sources appear only on the page that needs them, for example NS&I for a savings rate, or the National Archives case-law database for court judgments.
The Commons Library briefing is a cross-check and context, not a replacement for GOV.UK. Its server rejects automated requests, so we confirmed it loads through a scraping service rather than a plain request.

Official sites to use for your own account

Our calculators work from the figures you enter and cannot see your loan account. For your actual balance, statements and payment dates, sign in to your own account with the Student Loans Company on GOV.UK (England and Wales), SAAS (Scotland) or Student Finance NI.