- Total paid
- £67,530
- Compulsory paid
- £67,530
- Interest added
- £71,512
Repay · Calculator 16
Will you repay your student loan before it is written off?
Project compulsory deductions, interest, payoff or write-off across UK repayment plans, then test whether voluntary overpayments improve the outcome.
1 Enter your figures2 Review assumptions3 Explore the result
Your figures
Your entries stay in this tab and are not sent to Money Considered. A shareable link includes only the assumptions shown in its URL.
Estimated balance reaching write-off
£53,982£67,530 paid before the remaining balance is assumed written off.Current monthly deduction£1179% above £29,385
Compulsory lifetime repayments£67,530£53,982 remains
Interest added£71,5125.0% held constant
Should I voluntarily overpay?
Overpaying clears the loan but costs £7,477 more overall.The overpayment path reaches zero after 16y 4m, instead of carrying £53,982 into write-off. Compare that certainty with the extra cash committed along the way.- Total paid
- £75,007
- Voluntary paid
- £39,104
- Interest added
- £25,007
Balance path
Compulsory repayments versus overpaying
Compulsory onlyWith overpayments
Salary sensitivity
Write-off in 3 of 3 earnings paths
These are deterministic sensitivities, not probabilities. Salary, thresholds and interest rates can all change.
Starting salary that just repays the loan
£53,940Under the central salary-growth, threshold and interest assumptions, with no voluntary overpayment. This is a mathematical crossover, not a salary forecast.For a likely write-off borrower, the balance can be psychologically large but financially secondary.
Compulsory deductions are driven by income. Paying down a balance that would otherwise be written off usually does not reduce those deductions, so voluntary payments can simply increase the total cash surrendered.
Assumptions used
- Uses the selected 2026/27 UK repayment threshold and statutory repayment percentage as the starting point.
- Annual salary is smoothed across 12 months; payroll thresholds and whole-pound rounding can produce different deductions.
- The entered interest rate is held constant for the full model despite real rates changing over time.
- The threshold grows annually after the selected freeze period; future government policy may differ.
- The write-off period is entered as years remaining. Check it against when you first became due to repay.
- Voluntary overpayments are assumed to reach the loan immediately and have no penalty.
- Periods outside UK payroll, self-assessment adjustments, bonuses, multiple undergraduate plans and concurrent Postgraduate Loans are excluded.
A student loan is income-contingent, not a normal fixed-payment debt. Do not use its headline balance or interest rate alone to decide whether to overpay.
Common questions
UK student loan repayment calculator FAQs
How are UK student loan repayments calculated?
For Plans 1, 2, 4 and 5, compulsory repayments are 9% of earnings above the plan threshold. Postgraduate Loan repayments are 6% above their threshold. Payroll applies this by pay period and rounds deductions, while this calculator smooths annual salary across 12 months.
What are the student loan repayment thresholds for 2026/27?
The annual thresholds are £26,900 for Plan 1, £29,385 for Plan 2, £33,795 for Plan 4, £25,000 for Plan 5 and £21,000 for Postgraduate Loans. Future thresholds can change, so the calculator lets you edit both the starting amount and its growth.
How can I tell whether my student loan will be written off?
The calculator projects salary, thresholds, interest and compulsory deductions until the entered write-off date. If the balance never reaches zero, it reports the amount remaining under those assumptions. This is a scenario, not a certainty.
Should I voluntarily overpay my student loan?
Usually only if the loan is likely to be fully repaid and the interest saving is worth giving up the cash. If a balance would otherwise be written off, voluntary payments often increase lifetime cash paid without reducing compulsory deductions.
Does a smaller student loan balance reduce monthly repayments?
No. Compulsory repayments depend on income above the relevant threshold, not on the balance. A smaller balance changes deductions only when it allows the loan to be cleared sooner.
When are student loans written off?
Typical post-2006 Plan 1 loans are written off 25 years after the April first due, Plan 2 and many Plan 4 loans after 30 years, Plan 5 after 40 years and English or Welsh Postgraduate Loans after 30 years. Older Plan 1 and Plan 4 loans can follow age-based rules, so enter your actual remaining period.
How does interest affect what I actually pay?
Interest increases the balance, but it increases lifetime cash repayments only if you ultimately repay enough of the loan for the larger balance to matter. For a borrower reaching write-off, much of the interest may simply increase the amount cancelled.
Why does the calculator show three salary paths?
Earnings growth can change whether a borrower repays in full. The slower, central and faster paths vary salary growth while holding the other assumptions constant. They are sensitivities, not probabilities.
Can I model more than one student loan plan?
Not in one calculation. UK payroll can split one undergraduate-plan deduction across multiple balances and can collect a Postgraduate Loan at the same time. Model each balance separately, but do not add the results as if every undergraduate plan creates a separate 9% deduction.
Will the calculator match my payslip exactly?
Not necessarily. Real deductions use weekly or monthly pay-period thresholds, whole-pound rounding and actual bonus timing. Self Assessment, overseas repayment schedules, refunds and end-of-loan Direct Debit arrangements are also outside this annualised model.