UK Student Loan Payoff Calculator
Project whether your student loan will actually be repaid or written off — and whether extra voluntary repayments would make any difference.
Will This Loan Be Repaid or Written Off?
Balance at Write-Off (standard repayments only)
£120,799
This loan is projected to be written off, not fully repaid
What Is the UK Student Loan Payoff Calculator?
Every UK student loan plan is automatically written off after a fixed number of years, regardless of how much has been repaid — and for many borrowers, especially on Plan 2 and Plan 5, interest can accrue faster than standard repayments reduce the balance, meaning the loan is genuinely never fully repaid before write-off. The government's own modelling forecasts that roughly 70-75% of Plan 2 borrowers will still have an outstanding balance at the 30-year write-off point. This calculator projects your specific loan year by year — interest, repayments, and salary growth together — to show whether you're actually on track to repay it, or whether it's heading toward write-off regardless.
This distinction matters enormously for one specific decision: whether voluntary extra repayments are worth making. If your loan is projected to be written off anyway, extra repayments can simply be money that never needed to be spent — this calculator lets you test that scenario directly with your own numbers rather than guessing.
UK Student Loan Payoff Calculator Formula
Balance(year) = Balance(year−1) + Interest − Repayment
Interest = Balance × Plan Interest Rate
Repayment = max(0, Salary − Threshold) × Repayment Rate + Extra Overpayments
How Is the UK Student Loan Payoff Calculator Calculated?
Each year, interest is added to the outstanding balance first, then the year's repayments (standard plus any extra voluntary overpayment) are subtracted — if repayments exceed the balance plus interest, the loan is treated as fully repaid that year and the projection stops early. Salary is assumed to grow at your specified annual rate each year, which increases both the standard repayment amount and, for Plan 2 specifically, the interest rate itself, since Plan 2 uses an income-linked sliding scale between 3.2% and 6.2% based on income between £29,385 and £52,884.
Plans 1, 4, and 5 use a flat interest rate tied to inflation measures rather than income, while the Postgraduate Loan uses a flat rate matching the top of Plan 2's range. Write-off happens automatically after each plan's specific number of years from when you first became eligible to repay — this calculator asks for the number of years remaining until that write-off point, which you can estimate from when your repayments started.
UK Student Loan Payoff Calculator Example
A Plan 2 borrower with a £45,000 balance and £32,000 salary (2% annual growth, 30 years remaining): despite paying a total of about £37,497 in standard repayments over the full period, the balance actually grows to roughly £120,799 due to interest outpacing repayments at this income level — the loan is written off, not repaid.
Adding £100/month in extra voluntary overpayments to that same scenario nearly doubles total repayments to about £73,497, yet the loan is still written off with roughly £36,117 remaining — illustrating exactly why voluntary overpayments don't always make financial sense for lower-to-middle income Plan 2 borrowers.
By contrast, a Plan 1 borrower with a smaller £15,000 balance and a higher £40,000 salary (3% growth) clears the loan in about 11 years — well within the 20 years modeled — since their repayments comfortably outpace the lower 3.2% Plan 1 interest rate.
How to Use the UK Student Loan Payoff Calculator
Step 1
Select your student loan plan.
Step 2
Enter your current outstanding balance and annual salary.
Step 3
Set an expected annual salary growth rate and the years remaining until your plan's write-off point.
Step 4
Optionally add a monthly extra voluntary overpayment to see its effect.
Step 5
Review whether your loan is projected to be repaid or written off, and what difference extra repayments would make.
Benefits
- Projects your actual loan trajectory year by year, not just a single year's repayment snapshot.
- Directly answers whether extra voluntary repayments would actually change your outcome.
- Models Plan 2's genuinely income-linked sliding interest rate correctly, not a flat approximation.
- Uses verified 2026/27 HMRC and Student Loans Company interest rates and write-off periods.
- Free, instant, and runs entirely in your browser.
Common UK Student Loan Payoff Calculator Scenarios
Scenario 1
Deciding whether extra voluntary student loan repayments are worth making.
Scenario 2
Understanding whether your specific loan is on track to be repaid or likely to be written off.
Scenario 3
Planning long-term finances around an expected student loan write-off rather than assuming full repayment.
Scenario 4
Comparing outcomes across different projected salary growth scenarios.
Scenario 5
Explaining to a recent graduate why "paying off" a Plan 2 loan isn't always the realistic goal.
Understanding Your Result
If your loan is projected to be written off, the final balance shown is what would be cancelled at the end of the write-off period under these assumptions — that's not a debt you'll ultimately owe, since UK student loans work more like a graduate tax than a conventional loan in this respect. If it's projected to be fully repaid, the years figure shows roughly when that would happen given your assumptions.
The extra overpayment comparison is the most actionable part of this calculator — if adding extra repayments doesn't change whether or when the loan clears, that money is effectively being spent for no financial benefit, and might do more for you in a pension, ISA, or other savings vehicle instead.
Tips
- Before making voluntary overpayments, run your specific numbers through this calculator — for many Plan 2 and Plan 5 borrowers, especially at lower-to-middle incomes, the loan is likely to be written off regardless of extra payments.
- This projection is highly sensitive to your assumed salary growth rate — a more optimistic career trajectory can change a loan from "likely written off" to "likely repaid," so test a few different growth assumptions.
- Once a loan is written off, it's genuinely cancelled — there's no later bill or catch, similar to how the debt simply ceases to exist for repayment purposes.
- If your loan does look likely to be fully repaid well before write-off, extra overpayments then behave more like a normal loan overpayment, reducing total interest paid — a different calculation than the write-off scenario.
- Interest rates and write-off periods can change with future policy — treat this as a projection based on current rules, not a guarantee, and revisit periodically.
Common Mistakes
- Assuming a student loan will definitely be fully repaid and budgeting extra voluntary payments without checking whether that assumption actually holds for your specific numbers.
- Treating Plan 2's interest rate as flat when it actually varies by income on a sliding scale between 3.2% and 6.2%.
- Not accounting for the balance potentially growing (not just staying flat) if interest consistently outpaces repayments at lower income levels.
- Confusing a UK student loan's write-off mechanism with the concept of unpaid debt following you indefinitely, which isn't how it works.
- Making voluntary overpayments toward a loan projected for write-off instead of directing that money toward a pension or ISA, where it might do more for your overall finances.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will I definitely have to repay my full student loan?
Not necessarily — many borrowers, especially on Plan 2 and Plan 5 at lower-to-middle incomes, never fully clear their balance before the automatic write-off point, since interest can outpace their repayments for years at a time.
What happens when my loan is written off?
The remaining balance is cancelled entirely and you have no further obligation to repay it — it doesn't roll over, get sold to a collector, or otherwise follow you afterward.
Why does Plan 2's interest rate vary?
It's deliberately income-linked, ranging from 3.2% (matching Plan 1/4/5's rate) at incomes up to £29,385, rising on a sliding scale to 6.2% at £52,884 and above — designed so higher earners pay more interest as part of the overall Plan 2 structure.
Should I make extra voluntary repayments on my student loan?
It depends entirely on whether your loan is actually on track to be fully repaid before write-off — if it's projected to be written off regardless, extra repayments may not change your outcome and that money could potentially do more for you elsewhere, like a pension or ISA. This is a personal decision that depends on your full financial picture.
How many years until my loan is written off?
It depends on your plan: Plan 1 and Plan 4 are 25 and 30 years respectively (or age 65, whichever comes first for those two plans specifically), Plan 2 and Postgraduate Loans are 30 years, and Plan 5 is 40 years — all counted from the April you first became eligible to repay.
Can my loan balance actually go up over time?
Yes — if the interest added each year exceeds that year's repayments, the outstanding balance increases rather than decreases, which is common for Plan 2 and Plan 5 borrowers at lower-to-middle incomes.
Is this the same as the loan interest that applies while I'm still studying?
No — different (typically higher) interest rules can apply while you're still enrolled as a student; this calculator models the post-graduation repayment period specifically.
Does a higher salary always mean I'll repay faster?
Generally yes, since both your repayment amount increases and (for Plan 2) your interest rate can rise too — but a significantly higher repayment amount usually outweighs the higher interest rate, so higher earners are more likely to fully repay before write-off.
What if I want to overpay just to clear the loan off my mind, regardless of the financial optimum?
That's a legitimate personal choice this calculator doesn't judge — some people value being debt-free over the purely financial calculation, and this tool is meant to inform that decision with real numbers, not dictate it.
Does this calculator account for career breaks or periods of unemployment?
No — it assumes continuous, steadily growing salary throughout the projection period; a career break or period of lower/no income would reduce repayments during that time and could meaningfully change the outcome.
Is Scotland's Plan 4 interest rate different from Plan 1's?
They use similar mechanics (capped at the lower of RPI or Bank of England base rate plus 1%, both currently 3.2%), though Plan 4 has a longer 30-year write-off period compared to Plan 1's 25 years.
Can I share my student loan payoff projection as an image?
Yes — tap Share and, on supported devices, your result is shared as a branded image card, not just a text link.
References
Important Information
This calculator provides estimates for informational purposes only and is not financial advice. Uses confirmed 2026/27 Student Loans Company interest rates and write-off periods; interest rates and repayment rules are set annually by the government and may change in future years. This is a projection based on your assumptions about future salary growth, not a guarantee. Confirm your specific balance and plan details with your Student Finance account, and consider speaking with a qualified financial advisor before making voluntary overpayment decisions.
Last updated: August 2026