Student Loan Repayment Refund Calculator
Student loan deductions are taken per payday, not per year. A couple of high-paid months can take repayments even when your annual income never crossed the threshold — and that money is reclaimable from the Student Loans Company.
Pick your plan, enter your annual income and what you actually repaid (from payslips).
The repayment plans in one paragraph
Plan 1 covers pre-2012 English/Welsh loans and all Northern Irish loans (2025-26 threshold £26,065); Plan 2 covers post-2012 English/Welsh loans (£28,470); Plan 4 is Scotland (£32,745); Plan 5 covers English courses started from August 2023 (£25,000, with first repayments only from April 2026); Postgraduate loans sit at £21,000 with a 6% rate. Each plan takes 9% (6% postgraduate) of income above its threshold.
Why over-repayments happen so often
- Payroll deducts per payday with no memory of the year — two high-paid months can trigger deductions even when your annual income never crossed the threshold.
- Changing jobs mid-year resets the per-month calculation at each employer.
- Being placed on the wrong plan (Plan 1 vs Plan 2 is the classic) deducts at the wrong threshold.
- Bonuses and backpay spike one payslip above the monthly trigger.
- Early loan over-payment: finishing your loan balance but deductions continuing for a cycle.
How refunds arrive
Repayment refunds come from the Student Loans Company, not HMRC — and the SLC refunds directly to your bank, free, usually within a few weeks of confirmation. If your annual income ended below the threshold, every penny taken that year is reclaimable; if you merely over-repaid above it, the excess is. Bear in mind a refund is optional — if your loan will be cleared soon anyway, leaving it alone saves nothing and extra repayments simply shrink your balance faster.
What this estimate can't tell you
- Uses the annual threshold; payroll smoothing means small differences are normal.
- Wrong-plan deductions (for example Plan 1 vs Plan 2) are a separate SLC fix.
- Refunds are optional — overpaying a loan you will clear can be rational, the choice is yours.
The free HMRC route
Everything this calculator estimates can be claimed directly from HMRC at no cost — usually online in a few minutes or via a short form. Refund companies charge a percentage of money that is already yours. We never handle claims and are not affiliated with HMRC.