A UK student loan is written off a set number of years after the April you were first due to repay. That is 25 years on Plan 1, 30 on Plan 2, 30 on Plan 4, 40 on Plan 5 and 30 on a Postgraduate Loan. Whatever is left then is cancelled. Your monthly repayment never depends on how much you owe, only on your pay.
- Write-off comes 25 years (Plan 1), 30 (Plan 2), 30 (Plan 4), 40 (Plan 5) or 30 (Postgraduate Loan) after the April you were first due to repay.
- You are first due to repay in the April after you leave your course, and only if you earn over the threshold.
- You repay 9% of pay over the threshold on Plans 1, 2, 4 and 5, and 6% on a Postgraduate Loan.
- The balance does not change your monthly repayment. A bigger loan means you repay for longer, or more is written off.
- Thresholds are reset each April, so the figures here are a guide.
Write-off dates by plan
| Plan | Who is on it | Written off |
|---|---|---|
| Plan 1 | English students before 1 September 2012, and Northern Ireland students | 25 years after the April you were first due to repay |
| Plan 2 | English undergraduates from 1 September 2012 to 31 July 2023 | 30 years |
| Plan 4 | Scottish students | 30 years |
| Plan 5 | English undergraduates starting on or after 1 August 2023 | 40 years |
| Postgraduate Loan | Master’s and doctoral loans | 30 years |
GOV.UK sets the Plan 1 period at 25 years for a first loan paid on or after 1 September 2006, and the Plan 4 period at 30 years for a first loan on or after 1 August 2007. Earlier loans follow different rules, so check the GOV.UK page if yours started before those dates.
When the clock starts
You are first due to repay in the April after you leave your course. The write-off count starts from that April, not from the day you graduate. Finish a Plan 5 course in 2028 and your first repayment date is April 2029. The loan is written off in 2069.
You repay only when your income is over the threshold. A year with pay below it still counts toward the write-off period.
How much you repay
| Plan | Yearly threshold | You repay |
|---|---|---|
| Plan 1 | £26,900 | 9% of pay over the threshold |
| Plan 2 | £29,385 | 9% of pay over the threshold |
| Plan 4 | £33,795 | 9% of pay over the threshold |
| Plan 5 | £25,000 | 9% of pay over the threshold |
| Postgraduate Loan | £21,000 | 6% of pay over the threshold |
Your balance does not appear in that sum. A graduate on Plan 5 who earns £32,000 repays the same £52 a month whether they owe £8,000 or £80,000. The balance decides how long repayments last, or how much is cancelled at the end.
Worked example: Plan 5
Take a graduate on Plan 5 who finishes in 2028 and owes £45,000 when repayments start. Interest is 4.1%, and pay stays flat to keep the sums simple. Real pay tends to rise, and the threshold changes each April.
| Salary | Monthly repayment | Result | Total repaid | Written off |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £22,000 | £0 | Written off in 2069 | £0 | £231,335 |
| £28,000 | £23 | Written off in 2069 | £10,800 | £204,067 |
| £32,000 | £52 | Written off in 2069 | £25,200 | £167,708 |
| £40,000 | £113 | Written off in 2069 | £54,000 | £94,992 |
| £60,000 | £263 | Cleared in about 22 years | £67,818 | £0 |
Look at the lowest salary first. At £22,000 the graduate is below the £25,000 threshold, so nothing is repaid and the whole balance is cancelled in 2069. At £60,000 the loan clears. Between the two, a larger share of the loan is repaid as pay rises.
The written-off figures look large because they include interest. At 4.1% a year, a balance of £45,000 that nobody repays grows to about £224,513 after 40 years. The graduate never pays that sum. What they pay is the monthly repayment in the second column.
Pay rises change the picture. At £32,000 with 3% a year on top, the same graduate repays £117,896 in total, and clears the loan in about 39 years. A small balance changes it too: owing £8,000 at £32,000, the loan is gone in about 18.0 years.
Worked example: Plan 2
Plan 2 uses a variable interest rate that rises with income, from 4.1% at £29,385 or less to 6% at £52,885 or more. Take a graduate who finished in 2025 and owes £50,000. The first April is 2026, so write-off falls in 2056. The calculator reads the interest rate off a straight line between those two points, which is an approximation.
| Salary | Monthly repayment | Result | Total repaid | Written off |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £28,000 | £0 | Written off in 2056 | £0 | £170,703 |
| £38,000 | £65 | Written off in 2056 | £23,260 | £158,416 |
| £50,000 | £155 | Written off in 2056 | £55,661 | £132,314 |
| £70,000 | £305 | Cleared in about 29 years | £104,974 | £0 |
The pattern is the same. Lower earners repay little and see most of the loan cancelled. Higher earners clear it earlier, and some of them pay back more than they borrowed because of interest.
What a write-off does and does not change
- The write-off date is fixed by your plan. Overpaying does not move it.
- A write-off cancels the unpaid balance, including interest added along the way.
- Because repayments depend on pay and not on balance, a big headline debt does not mean a big monthly bill.
- If you are employed, repayments come out of your pay with tax. You can also pay extra, but extra payments only help if you expect to clear the loan before write-off.
How to find your plan and balance
Log in to your Student Loans Company account. It names your plan and shows your balance. If you are unsure, work from the start date of your course using the plan table above. Then enter your plan, pay and balance in the calculator, and the page shows your write-off year.
Should you overpay?
It depends on whether you expect to clear the loan. If the table above shows part of your loan written off at your pay, an extra payment may simply reduce the amount that would have been cancelled. If you expect to clear it with room to spare, paying extra saves interest. This is a general point, not advice. Try your own pay and balance in the calculator and read the result.
Calculators that help
- UK Student Loan Repayment Calculator: monthly repayment, years to clear and write-off year for your plan.
- UK Student Finance Calculator: how much maintenance loan you can get in England.
- University Cost Calculator: what a degree costs, tuition and living costs included.
Questions students ask
How many years until a student loan is written off?
It depends on the plan: 25 years for Plan 1, 30 for Plan 2, 30 for Plan 4, 40 for Plan 5 and 30 for a Postgraduate Loan. The count starts from the April after you leave your course.
Does my loan balance affect how much I repay each month?
No. You repay a percentage of your pay over the threshold. A bigger balance means you repay for longer, or more is written off at the end.
Does the written-off amount include interest?
In the sums on this page, yes. The balance cancelled is what remains after interest has been added and your repayments taken off, which is why it can be far larger than the amount you borrowed.
What if I never earn over the threshold?
You repay nothing in those years. The write-off period still runs, and whatever is left at the end is cancelled.
Does a Postgraduate Loan have its own write-off?
Yes. A Postgraduate Loan is written off 30 years after the April you were first due to repay, and you repay 6% of pay over £21,000.
