6% of income above £21,000 · interest 6% (capped) · written off after 30 years
ESTIMATE
Illustrative estimates for the 2026/27 tax year (6 April 2026 – 5 April 2027) as of 3 November 2026 — not financial advice. Thresholds from GOV.UK; interest rates for 1 September 2026 – 31 August 2027 from the Student Loans Company. Your payslip may differ by a pound or two because payroll rounds each pay period.
Master’s and doctoral loans from Student Finance England or Wales are repaid at 6% of your income above £21,000, in addition to any undergraduate loan. On a £40,000 salary that is £94 a month on top of £79 for Plan 2. Interest is RPI + 3%, capped at 6% from 1 September 2026, and any balance is written off 30 years after you were first due to repay.
Postgraduate Loan repayments by salary (2026/27)
Salary
PGL / month
PGL / year
Plan 2 / month
Plan 2 + PGL
Plan 5 + PGL
£21,000
£0
£0
£0
£0
£0
£25,000
£19
£228
£0
£19
£19
£30,000
£45
£540
£4
£49
£82
£35,000
£70
£840
£42
£112
£145
£40,000
£94
£1,128
£79
£173
£206
£50,000
£144
£1,728
£154
£298
£331
£60,000
£195
£2,340
£229
£424
£457
£80,000
£295
£3,540
£379
£674
£707
Monthly payroll deductions, rounded down to the pound.
How the Postgraduate Loan is repaid
The Postgraduate Loan (sometimes called Plan 3) has its own threshold — £21,000 a year, £1,750 a month or £403 a week — and its own rate of 6%. It is collected through PAYE or Self Assessment exactly like an undergraduate loan, but as a separate deduction. Repayments normally start in the April after you leave your course. For long part-time and doctoral courses, GOV.UK also sets a cut-off a fixed number of years after the course starts, so repayments can begin before you finish — check the date in your Student Loans Company account.
Repaying alongside Plan 2 or Plan 5
Unlike two undergraduate plans, which share a single 9% deduction, the Postgraduate Loan is added on top. A graduate with Plan 2 and a Postgraduate Loan pays 9% above £29,385 and 6% above £21,000. On income above both thresholds, that is 15p of every extra pound — and with income tax and National Insurance, a basic-rate taxpayer loses about 43% of a pay rise; a higher-rate taxpayer about 57%.
Plan 2 + Postgraduate Loan combined monthly deductions, 2026/27.
See your full payslip
Add your student loan plan to the UK take-home pay calculator to see income tax, National Insurance, pension and loan repayments together for 2026/27.
Postgraduate Loan interest is RPI + 3% from the day the first payment is made — there is no income-linked sliding scale. With March 2026 RPI at 4.1% that would be 7.1%, but the government capped it at 6% for 1 September 2026 to 31 August 2027. A typical master’s loan of £12,000 to £13,000 therefore grows by around £720 to £780 a year before repayments. On a £30,000 salary you repay £540 a year, which roughly matches the interest on a £9,000 balance at 6%, so larger balances can still grow on a modest salary.
Will a Postgraduate Loan be written off?
It is cancelled 30 years after the April you were first due to repay. Because the threshold is low and frozen, and the balance is usually much smaller than an undergraduate loan, many postgraduate borrowers do repay in full. On £40,000 a year, repayments of £1,128 a year would clear a £13,000 balance at 6% interest in well under 15 years. For that reason, the Postgraduate Loan is the student loan where overpaying is most often worth considering — if you have no more expensive debt.
Why the frozen threshold matters
The £21,000 threshold has not moved since the loan launched in 2016, while undergraduate thresholds have risen. Every year that wages rise and the threshold does not, a larger slice of each graduate’s salary becomes repayable. Compared with a threshold uprated by inflation, the freeze has made postgraduate borrowers repay faster.
Scotland and Northern Ireland
Scottish postgraduate tuition loans from SAAS are added to your Plan 4 balance, and Northern Ireland postgraduate tuition loans to your Plan 1 balance — they are not separate Postgraduate Loans and are repaid at 9% above that plan’s threshold.
FAQ
How much do I repay on a Postgraduate Loan?
6% of your income above £21,000 a year. On £30,000 that is £540 a year (£45 a month); on £40,000 it is £1,140 a year (£95 a month).
Do I repay my Postgraduate Loan and Plan 2 at the same time?
Yes. The Postgraduate Loan is repaid in addition to your undergraduate plan: 6% above £21,000 plus 9% above your undergraduate threshold.
What is the Postgraduate Loan interest rate in 2026/27?
RPI + 3%, which would be 7.1%, but it is capped at 6% from 1 September 2026 to 31 August 2027.
When is a Postgraduate Loan written off?
30 years after the April you were first due to repay.
When do Postgraduate Loan repayments start?
Normally from the April after you leave your course, once your income is over £21,000. For long part-time or doctoral courses repayments can start earlier, a fixed number of years after the course began.
GOV.UK, Repaying your student loan – what you pay: 2026/27 thresholds Plan 1 £26,900, Plan 2 £29,385, Plan 4 £33,795, Plan 5 £25,000, Postgraduate Loan £21,000; 9% (6% for PGL) of income above the threshold; rules for more than one plan (read 3 November 2026).
Student Loans Company / Department for Education, Student loans interest rates and repayment threshold announcement, 10 August 2026: RPI 4.1%; Plan 1 4.1%; Plan 2 4.1%–7.1% capped at 6%; Plan 3 (Postgraduate) capped at 6%; Plan 5 4.1% (1 Sep 2026 – 31 Aug 2027); Plan 1 threshold £28,005 from 6 April 2027.
Department for Education press release, Interest rate cap introduced to protect Plan 2 borrowers, 7 April 2026, and written ministerial statement of 13 April 2026: 6% cap for 2026/27; Plan 2 upper interest threshold £52,885 from 6 April 2026.
Autumn Budget 2025 (26 November 2025): Plan 2 repayment threshold frozen at £29,385 for 2027/28 to 2029/30 (reported by Which?, 5 December 2025).
Take-home pay: HMRC 2026/27 income tax and National Insurance for England, Wales and Northern Ireland (personal allowance £12,570, 8%/2% employee NI), as used on our UK salary after tax pages.