Which UK student loan plan applies — by course start date, UK nation, and study level

UK student-loan repayments are deducted through PAYE, and the amount depends entirely on which **plan** the borrower is on. There are five — Plan 1, Plan 2, Plan 4, Plan 5, and the Postgraduate Loan (PGL) — and the right one is fixed by three facts: which UK nation funded the loan, when the course started, and whether it was undergraduate or postgraduate. The decision tree above resolves all three; the figures are the 2025/26 thresholds.

Start with study level. A **Postgraduate Loan** for a Master's or Doctoral course is always **PGL**, repaid at **6%** of income above **£21,000** a year. PGL is the one plan that stacks: a borrower with both an undergraduate loan and a PGL repays on *both* at once, so a payslip can show two student-loan lines. Every undergraduate plan, by contrast, repays at **9%** of income above its threshold.

For an undergraduate loan, nation comes next. **Scottish** students are on **Plan 4** (£32,745). **Northern Irish** students are on **Plan 1** (£26,065). For **England and Wales** the answer turns on the course start date: courses that began **before 1 September 2012** are **Plan 1** (£26,065); courses that began **between 1 September 2012 and 31 July 2023** are **Plan 2** (£28,470); and courses that began **on or after 1 August 2023** are **Plan 5** (£25,000). Plan 5 is the newest and the lowest threshold, so the same salary triggers repayments sooner than on Plan 2. The companion CSV below carries all five plans with annual, monthly, and weekly thresholds.

Two cautions sit on this exhibit. The plan is determined by where and when you studied, **not** by where you now live or work — a Scottish-funded graduate working in London is still Plan 4. And thresholds **change every tax year**: the figures here are 2025/26. From **2026/27** the undergraduate thresholds rose (Plan 1 to £26,900, Plan 2 to £29,385, Plan 4 to £33,795), while **Plan 5 stays at £25,000 until 2027/28** and PGL stays at £21,000. Always pin a repayment calculation to the correct tax year, and confirm the current figures on gov.uk or via the Student Loans Company.