Which student loan plan am I on?
Your plan is set by which student finance body you applied to and when your course started; you cannot choose it. In 2026/27, Plan 1 repays 9% of pay above £26,900, Plan 2 above £29,385, Plan 4 above £33,795 and Plan 5 above £25,000, and the postgraduate loan repays 6% above £21,000.
Who is on which plan
| You applied to | Course | Plan |
|---|---|---|
| Student Finance England | Course started on or after 1 August 2023 | Plan 5 for an undergraduate course, a PGCE, an Advanced Learner Loan or the Lifelong Learning Entitlement. Plan 2 for a Higher Education Short Course Loan. |
| Student Finance England | Course started between 1 September 2012 and 31 July 2023 | Plan 2 for an undergraduate course, a PGCE, an Advanced Learner Loan or a Higher Education Short Course Loan. |
| Student Finance England | Course started before 1 September 2012 | Plan 1. |
| Student Finance England | A postgraduate master's or doctoral course in either of the first two periods | Postgraduate loan. |
| Student Finance Wales | Course started on or after 1 September 2012 | Plan 2 for an undergraduate course or a PGCE. Postgraduate loan for a postgraduate master's or doctoral course. |
| Student Finance Wales | Course started before 1 September 2012 | Plan 1. |
| Student Awards Agency Scotland | Any start date | Plan 4, undergraduate or postgraduate. |
| Student Finance Northern Ireland | Any start date | Plan 1, undergraduate or postgraduate. |
Someone with more than one loan can be on more than one plan. The plan is shown in the online repayment account, where an active plan type letter can be downloaded and compared with the plan an employer is using. gov.uk says a refund is available if too much was repaid because the payroll had the wrong plan.
Thresholds and rates for 2026/27
Repayments are a percentage of income above the plan's threshold, counted before tax and other deductions and including bonuses and overtime. The amount owed makes no difference to the amount repaid each year.
| Plan | Threshold a year | Rate above it | Status | Threshold for 2027/28 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plan 1 | £26,900 | 9% | In force | Not yet set |
| Plan 2 | £29,385 | 9% | In force | £29,385 (announced) |
| Plan 4 | £33,795 | 9% | In force | Not yet set |
| Plan 5 | £25,000 | 9% | In force | Not yet set |
| Postgraduate loan | £21,000 | 6% | In force | Not yet set |
Payroll uses weekly or monthly versions of these thresholds, which gov.uk lists beside the annual ones.
What each plan repays
A year of repayments on a steady salary, worked out as the rate on pay above the threshold and rounded down to the pound.
| Plan | £30,000 | £40,000 | £60,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plan 1 | £279 | £1,179 | £2,979 |
| Plan 2 | £55 | £955 | £2,755 |
| Plan 4 | £0 | £558 | £2,358 |
| Plan 5 | £450 | £1,350 | £3,150 |
| Postgraduate loan | £540 | £1,140 | £2,340 |
| Plan 2 with a postgraduate loan | £595 | £2,095 | £5,095 |
A salary under a plan's threshold repays nothing on that plan, though interest is still added to the balance.
More than one plan
- Two plans, no postgraduate loan. One repayment is taken: 9% of income above the lowest threshold among the plans held. It is then split between the loans.
- A postgraduate loan with another plan. 6% of income above the postgraduate threshold, plus 9% of income above the lowest threshold among the other plans. The last row of the table shows this.
- More than one job. Repayments come only from a job that pays over the threshold. Pay from separate jobs is not added together.
- Self Assessment. HMRC works out the repayment from the tax return, and it is paid along with the tax.
Sources
The gov.uk pages this guide relied on, read on 9 November 2026.
- Repaying your student loan: which repayment plan you're on
- Repaying your student loan: how much you repay
- Repaying your student loan: how to repay
The figures are computed when the site is built from the rules file for 2026/27. Status: in force. Each value, its source and the date it was checked: rates for 2026/27.