About
Student Loan Awareness UK is a free calculator for working out what your UK student loan actually costs, month by month and year by year.
Repayments are one of the largest deductions on a graduate’s payslip, but payslips don’t tell you the full picture: how much interest is being added, when the debt will be wiped, or whether the totals will change if your salary does. This calculator was built to make those numbers concrete and easy to compare across the four UK plans.
Who this is for
Anyone who has a UK student loan, or is about to take one out, and wants to understand:
- How much of each month’s salary goes towards repayments
- How the balance changes over time, including the effect of interest
- When (or whether) the debt will be written off
- How Plan 1, Plan 2, Plan 5, and the Postgraduate Loan compare
The calculator runs entirely in your browser. There are no accounts, no logins, and the values you enter are not sent anywhere.
Where the figures come from
Repayment thresholds, interest rates, and write-off periods are taken directly from gov.uk and the House of Commons Library briefings. Income tax bands, National Insurance rates, and the pension auto-enrolment thresholds are taken from HMRC’s published rates. The disclaimer at the bottom of the calculator shows which tax year the figures apply to.
What this site is not
- We are not affiliated with the UK Government, the Student Loans Company, HMRC, or any university.
- This is not financial advice. The calculator shows projections based on the inputs you provide and the rates currently in force. Your actual repayments will differ.
- The tool is for information only. It does not make any recommendation about how to manage your loan.
Editorial approach
- Every rate, threshold, and write-off period is held as a named constant in one place in the source, so they can be refreshed every time the government changes them.
- The interest rate and threshold dates are visible on the page, so it’s always clear which finance year the figures cover.
- The full calculation is visible to the user, nothing is hidden behind a sign-up or paywall.
How the site is funded
The site shows display advertising via Google AdSense. Ad placements are deliberately limited so they don’t interfere with the calculator. Optional donations are accepted via the Buy Me a Coffee button in the footer. See the privacy policy for details on cookies and third-party services.
Feedback and corrections
Found an error in the calculator, noticed an out-of-date rate, or want to suggest an improvement? Email studentloanawarenessuk@outlook.com.