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 2026/27 thresholds^[1].

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** (£33,795). **Northern Irish** students are on **Plan 1** (£26,900). For **England and Wales** the answer turns on the course start date: courses that began **before 1 September 2012** are **Plan 1** (£26,900); courses that began **between 1 September 2012 and 31 July 2023** are **Plan 2** (£29,385); and courses that began **on or after 1 August 2023** are **Plan 5** (£25,000). The companion CSV below carries all five plans with annual, monthly, and weekly thresholds. Full plan-by-plan threshold and write-off tables are in Which UK Student Loan Plan Am I On?.

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 **2026/27**. They rose from 2025/26 (Plan 1 £26,065→£26,900, Plan 2 £28,470→£29,385, Plan 4 £32,745→£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^[1] or via the Student Loans Company^[4].