Take-home pay with a student loan

A student loan takes from about £0 to £187 a month from a salary between £30,000 and £50,000 in 2026/27, depending on your plan. At £40,000 a Plan 2 borrower repays £79.61 a month, a Plan 5 borrower £112.50 and a Plan 4 borrower £46.54. The Postgraduate Loan adds £95 a month at that salary. All figures below assume a 1257L code in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, no pension, and 9% (or 6% for a Postgraduate Loan) of pay above each plan’s threshold. Use the take-home pay calculator for your own case.

What each plan repays a year

The thresholds are £26,900 for Plan 1, £29,385 for Plan 2, £33,795 for Plan 4 and £25,000 for Plan 5. A Postgraduate Loan starts at £21,000.

Plan	£30,000	£40,000	£50,000
Plan 1	£279.00	£1,179.00	£2,079.00
Plan 2	£55.35	£955.35	£1,855.35
Plan 4 (Scotland)	£0	£558.45	£1,458.45
Plan 5	£450.00	£1,350.00	£2,250.00
Postgraduate Loan only	£540.00	£1,140.00	£1,740.00
Plan 2 and Postgraduate Loan	£595.35	£2,095.35	£3,595.35

Once pay is above its threshold, each plan rises by £900 for every extra £10,000 of salary, or £600 for the Postgraduate Loan. The gaps between plans are fixed by the thresholds. Plan 5 repays £171 a year more than Plan 1 at any salary above £26,900, and Plan 1 repays £620.55 more than Plan 4 once pay is above £33,795.

What that does to monthly take-home pay

Take-home pay with no pension is £2,093.30 a month at £30,000, £2,693.30 at £40,000 and £3,293.30 at £50,000. Subtract the repayment and you get these figures.

Plan	£30,000	£40,000	£50,000
No loan	£2,093.30	£2,693.30	£3,293.30
Plan 1	£2,070.05	£2,595.05	£3,120.05
Plan 2	£2,088.69	£2,613.69	£3,138.69
Plan 4	£2,093.30	£2,646.76	£3,171.76
Plan 5	£2,055.80	£2,580.80	£3,105.80
Postgraduate Loan only	£2,048.30	£2,598.30	£3,148.30
Plan 2 and Postgraduate Loan	£2,043.69	£2,518.69	£2,993.69

On £50,000 a Plan 2 and Postgraduate Loan borrower takes home £300 a month less than someone with no loan.

How much of a raise you keep

Repayments rise by 9p for every extra pound earned above the threshold. Add that to tax and National Insurance and a raise is shared out like this.

Where the raise lands	Without a loan	With one undergraduate plan	With a plan and a Postgraduate Loan
Basic rate band (to £50,270)	72p kept	63p kept	57p kept
Above £50,270	58p kept	49p kept	43p kept

That means a £1,000 rise at £40,000 leaves £630 with a plan. How much of a pay rise you actually keep shows more salaries. These figures are for England. In Scotland the 42% band starts at £43,663, so the right-hand rows apply earlier. Salary after tax in Scotland has the bands.

How payroll applies it

Repayments are checked every payday against that month’s pay. A bonus or overtime can push one month above the monthly threshold and trigger a repayment even if your annual pay is below the annual figure. If your annual income ends up below the threshold, you can ask the Student Loans Company for a refund. The student loan repayments guide explains the monthly threshold, and there are separate guides to Plan 2 and the Postgraduate Loan.

Which plan you are on depends on where you lived and when your course started, whatever your workplace. Check your Student Loans Company account, or gov.uk’s page on which repayment plan you are on.