STUDENT LOAN
Which student loan plan am I on?
The usual answer sends you to your course start date. That tells you which plan you should be on. The figure on your payslip tells you which plan your employer is actually using, and the two are not always the same.
To check whether the tax, NI and PAYE lines look right on your own slip, see How do I check my payslip is correct?.
Educational estimates only. Not tax, legal, financial, payroll or employment advice. Verify with your employer's payroll team or HMRC.
Read your plan off the payslip
Your employer takes 9 per cent of the pay above a threshold that depends on the plan, or 6 per cent for a Postgraduate Loan, and rounds the answer down to a whole pound. Because each plan has a different threshold, the same gross pay produces a different deduction on each one. Find your monthly gross in the first column and the deduction on your payslip in the row, and the column heading is the plan your employer is using.
| Monthly gross | Plan 1 | Plan 2 | Plan 4 | Plan 5 | Postgraduate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £2,500 | £23 | £4 | £0 | £37 | £45 |
| £3,000 | £68 | £49 | £16 | £82 | £75 |
| £3,500 | £113 | £94 | £61 | £127 | £105 |
Worked from the 2026/27 pay-period thresholds in HMRC’s SL3 Student and Postgraduate Loan deduction tables, in force from 6 April 2026.
The thresholds your employer is working from
HMRC publishes a pay-period threshold for each plan rather than expecting payroll to divide the annual figure. The period figures are the annual threshold cut down to whole pence, not rounded, which is why three of them end a penny below the division you would do yourself.
| Plan | A year | A month | A week | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plan 1 | £26,900 | £2,241.66 | £517.30 | 9% |
| Plan 2 | £29,385 | £2,448.75 | £565.09 | 9% |
| Plan 4 | £33,795 | £2,816.25 | £649.90 | 9% |
| Plan 5 | £25,000 | £2,083.33 | £480.76 | 9% |
| Postgraduate Loan | £21,000 | £1,750.00 | £403.84 | 6% |
Source: HMRC, 2026 to 2027 Student and Postgraduate Loan deduction tables (SL3), and gov.uk, repaying your student loan: what you pay.
If the payslip says the wrong plan
Payroll cannot switch your plan because you ask them to. They act on the start notice HMRC sends them, so the useful question is what that notice said rather than what you believe you are on.
- Confirm your own plan first: your Student Loans Company online account names it, and so does your original loan agreement.
- Ask payroll to confirm which plan type the HMRC start notice specified, and which earnings figure the deduction is being taken on. A salary-sacrifice pension reduces that figure; a net-pay or relief-at-source pension does not.
- If the plan on their record is wrong, HMRC has to issue a corrected notice. The Student Loans Company can confirm your plan to HMRC.
- You can claim the overpayment back if you are on Plan 2 or Plan 4 and your employer used a different plan, and you can ask for a refund if your income across the whole tax year came in under the annual threshold. Neither refund is automatic — you request them from the Student Loans Company after the tax year ends.
Related
Common questions
How do I find out which plan I am on?
The easiest check is your loan agreement letter from the Student Loans Company. It states the plan explicitly. Failing that, log in to your account at studentloanrepayment.co.uk - the dashboard shows your plan. Your payslip will also show the plan number on the deduction line.
Plan 1 or Plan 2?
Plan 1 is for English/Welsh students who started undergraduate courses before 1 September 2012, and for Northern Irish students whenever they started. Plan 2 is for English/Welsh students who started between 2012 and 2023. Plan 4 is for Scottish students. Plan 5 is for English students who started in 2023 or later.
I have two loans. Do I pay both?
Yes. The most common combination is Plan 2 (undergraduate) plus a Postgraduate Loan, deducted simultaneously: 9 percent above the Plan 2 threshold and 6 percent above the Postgraduate Loan threshold. Both lines appear on your payslip.
What if my employer is using the wrong plan?
Tell payroll, but ask them what the HMRC start notice specified rather than asking them to change it - they act on that notice, not on your say-so. If it is wrong, HMRC issues a corrected notice and the Student Loans Company can confirm your plan to HMRC. Overpayments caused by the wrong plan are refunded by SLC on request after the tax year ends, not automatically.
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Open the toolPayslipIQ provides educational information and estimated calculations only. It does not provide tax, legal, financial, payroll, accounting, pension, benefits or employment advice. Always verify your payslip, tax code, deductions and take-home pay with your employer's payroll department, HMRC, your pension provider, a qualified accountant, tax adviser or another appropriately qualified professional.