Student loan repayment calculator (UK)

It depends on where you lived and when your course started. Plan 1 covers most pre-2012 English/Welsh starters and all Northern Irish students; Plan 2 covers English/Welsh undergraduates starting between 2012 and 2023; Plan 5 covers English undergraduates starting from August 2023 onward; Plan 4 covers Scottish students regardless of start date. If you're not sure, check your account at gov.uk/sign-in-to-manage-your-student-loan-balance.

You wouldn't choose it directly — it happens automatically if your balance isn't cleared within your plan's write-off period, regardless of how much you still owe. For many borrowers on lower or middle incomes, especially on Plan 2 or Plan 5's longer terms, this is the realistic outcome: you repay a percentage of income for decades, then whatever's left is cancelled. It's not something to plan around, but it does mean overpaying voluntarily can be a bad idea if you were likely to have the balance written off anyway — running this calculator with your real numbers is the way to check.

For many people, no — unlike a conventional loan, if you're on track to have some or all of it written off, voluntary overpayments just hand the government money you'd never have had to repay. It can make sense for high earners confident they'll clear the balance well within the write-off period anyway, since then it's a straightforward trade of interest saved. Compare your "total repaid" figure above against your loan balance: if you're already on track to repay significantly more than you borrowed, overpaying is more likely to be worth considering.

No — UK student loans don't appear on your credit report and don't affect your credit score, unlike a conventional loan such as a personal loan or mortgage. They can still affect affordability assessments for other borrowing, since lenders ask about your monthly student loan repayment when working out what you can afford.