Calculator
Plan 1 student loan repayment calculator (2026/27)
For pre-September-2012 English/Welsh students and ALL Northern Ireland students. £26,900 threshold, 9% rate. Multi-plan support if you also hold Plan 2, 4, 5, or Postgrad.
Reviewed 29 April 2026 · 2026/27 rates verifiedAnnual student loan repayment
£729
£61/month equivalent · 9% on income above threshold
Show full breakdown
Where the maths goes
| Annual income | £35,000.00 |
|---|---|
| Undergrad thresholdLowest threshold of plan1 | £26,900.00 |
| Income above undergrad threshold | £8,100.00 |
| Undergrad repayment @ 9.0%9% on income above the threshold | £729.00 |
| Total annual repayment | £729.00 |
| Monthly equivalentHow it actually shows up on your payslip — divided by 12 | £60.75 |
Sensitivity: repayment at different incomes
Same plan set (plan1). Useful for planning raises, day-rate increases, or contract renewals — your SL repayment grows linearly above the threshold.
| Income | Annual SL | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| £25,000 | £0 | £0 |
| £30,000 | £279 | £23 |
| £40,000 | £1,179 | £98 |
| £50,000 | £2,079 | £173 |
| £60,000 | £2,979 | £248 |
| £80,000 | £4,779 | £398 |
| £100,000 | £6,579 | £548 |
How Plan 1 actually works
Plan 1 is the income-contingent loan scheme for English and Welsh students who started university BEFORE September 2012, plus ALL Northern Ireland students of any era. The mechanics: you pay 9% of every pound of income above the threshold (£26,900 in 2026/27).
Plan 1 vs Plan 2, different cost structure
Plan 1 has a LOWER threshold (£26,900 vs Plan 2's £29,385) but FAVOURABLE interest. Plan 1 charges the lower of RPI or BoE base + 1%, currently typically around 4–5%, often near or below RPI. Plan 2 charges full RPI for low earners and up to RPI + 3% for high earners, typically around 6–8%. The combined effect: most Plan 1 borrowers actually repay their loan in full before the 25-year write-off, whereas many Plan 2 borrowers see the balance grow because the interest rate exceeds their repayment rate.
What “income” means for Plan 1
For PAYE employees (including umbrella contractors): gross taxable salary on your payslip BEFORE tax and NI but AFTER any salary-sacrifice pension contribution. For self-employed and Ltd directors: total income on self-assessment including salary + dividends + any other taxable income. Personal pension contributions made out of net pay don't reduce the income SL is computed on; salary sacrifice does.
Write-off after 25 years
Plan 1 writes off 25 years after the April you became eligible to repay, five years sooner than Plan 2's 30 years. For someone who graduated and started repaying in their early 20s, that's typically late 40s. Most Plan 1 borrowers reach full repayment before write-off because the favourable interest rate keeps the balance tracking down rather than up.
The multi-plan rule
Holding Plan 1 + another undergrad plan means ONE 9% deduction at the lower threshold (Plan 1's £26,900). The Student Loans Company allocates payments between plans internally. Postgrad is the exception, its 6% is additive on top of any undergrad rate. Add other plans to the calculator above to see the combined deduction.
What this calculator doesn't cover
- Interest accrual: Plan 1 interest is either RPI or Bank of England base + 1%, whichever is lower. The Student Loans Company online account is the authoritative source for current balance and rate.
- Time-to-write-off: to estimate whether you'll fully repay before 25-year write-off, the MoneySavingExpert calculator (mse.me/student-finance) handles the full balance trajectory.
- Voluntary overpayments: case-by-case; see the FAQ section. Plan 1's favourable interest makes overpayment generally unattractive.
- Mid-year income changes: annual figure assumes consistent income. Pro-rate if you switch routes mid-year.
- Overseas income: Plan 1 borrowers living abroad use a country-specific threshold and pay through HMRC's overseas process. Outside this calculator's scope.
Frequently asked questions
- Am I on Plan 1?
- Plan 1 covers two cohorts: (1) English and Welsh students who started undergraduate studies BEFORE September 2012, and (2) ALL Northern Ireland students regardless of start date. If you graduated before 2015 from England or Wales you're almost certainly on Plan 1. NI students of any era, including 2024 starters, are on Plan 1 because Northern Ireland never adopted the Plan 2 / Plan 5 schemes. Scottish students are on Plan 4 (or Plan 1 if they started before 1998).
- What's the Plan 1 threshold for 2026/27?
- £26,900, uplifted from £26,065 in 2025/26 by RPI. Plan 1 threshold is uplifted annually, same as Plans 2 and 4. Plans 5 and Postgrad are frozen.
- How does Plan 1 compare to Plan 2?
- Two big differences. (1) Threshold: £26,900 (Plan 1) vs £29,385 (Plan 2). Lower Plan 1 threshold means repayments start earlier, at £30,000 income, Plan 1 holders pay £279/year while Plan 2 holders pay £55/year. (2) Interest rate: Plan 1 charges interest at the LOWER of RPI or Bank of England base rate + 1% (so often well below RPI), while Plan 2 charges full RPI for low earners up to RPI + 3% for high earners. Plan 1 is therefore much closer to a 'real interest 0%' loan than Plan 2, voluntary overpayments are even less attractive on Plan 1.
- When does Plan 1 get written off?
- 25 years after the April you became eligible to repay, 5 years sooner than Plan 2. For someone who graduated and started repaying in their early 20s, Plan 1 typically writes off in their late 40s. Combined with the favourable interest rate (RPI or BoE base + 1%, whichever is lower), most Plan 1 borrowers DO repay in full before write-off, it's a less generous loan to the borrower than Plan 2 in that sense, even though the threshold is lower.
- Plan 1 + Plan 2, what do I actually pay?
- ONE 9% deduction at the LOWER threshold (Plan 1's £26,900). The Student Loans Company allocates the resulting payment between Plan 1 and Plan 2 internally, typically Plan 1 first to clear, since it has higher priority in their algorithm. So at £40,000 income holding both plans you pay 9% × (£40,000 − £26,900) = £1,179, NOT £1,179 + £955. Add Plan 2 to the calculator above to see this surfaced, the breakdown explicitly notes 'one 9% deduction even though you hold multiple undergrad plans'.
- Can I be on Plan 1 + Postgrad?
- Yes. Postgrad stacks on top of Plan 1 (and any other undergrad plan). At £40,000 income with Plan 1 + Postgrad: Plan 1 × £1,179 + Postgrad × (40,000 − 21,000) × 6% = £1,140 = £2,319 total. Maximum combined rate is 15% (9% + 6%) on income above the higher threshold (Postgrad £21,000 vs Plan 1 £26,900, so above £26,900 you're at 15% combined).
- What about NI students starting after 2012?
- Northern Ireland never adopted the Plan 2 (post-2012) or Plan 5 (post-2023) schemes. NI students of any era, including those starting in 2024, get Plan 1 loans with the same £26,900 threshold and 25-year write-off as pre-2012 English students. This is one of the underappreciated structural differences between NI and the rest of the UK in higher education finance, and it matters when comparing offers across regions.
- Should I make voluntary overpayments to Plan 1?
- Generally no, but the case is slightly stronger than for Plan 2. Plan 1's interest rate is the LOWER of RPI or BoE base + 1%, so the real interest cost is often near zero. The 25-year write-off gives less time for the balance to be forgiven than Plan 2's 30 years, but most Plan 1 borrowers repay in full anyway. Standard advice: make minimum repayments, put spare cash into pension / ISA / mortgage. Overpayment makes sense only if you have a small balance (£2,000 or less) and want to clear it to stop the monthly hassle, OR you have very high income and want to extinguish the interest.
Related calculators
Plan 2 calculator
Sept-2012 to July-2023 English/Welsh students — threshold £29,385.
Take-home pay (PAYE)
Full PAYE chain including SL, see net after every deduction.
Dividend tax (with SL)
Personal-tax aggregator that includes SL on total income.
Related guides
Reviewed: 29 April 2026 · See how we calculate · not financial advice.