I have two part-time jobs while studying — how is my Personal Allowance split for 2026/27?

Full answer

There is one Personal Allowance of £12,570 for 2026/27, regardless of how many jobs you hold or that you are studying — there is no separate student exemption. HMRC allocates the allowance through your tax codes. Typically your highest-paid job gets the full allowance (code 1257L), meaning the first £12,570 there is tax-free, with anything above taxed at 20%. Your second job usually gets a BR (Basic Rate) code, so every pound is taxed at 20% from the start, because the allowance is already used elsewhere. For example, if Job A pays £9,000 and Job B pays £6,000, Job A uses £9,000 of allowance tax-free, and Job B is taxed at 20% on the full £6,000 (about £1,200) even though your total £15,000 income only exceeds the allowance by £2,430. You have overpaid. You can call HMRC or use your Personal Tax Account to split the allowance across both jobs so each gets a partial code, preventing overtaxation during the year; otherwise HMRC reconciles after year-end and refunds any overpayment automatically. National Insurance works differently — it is charged separately per job at 8% on earnings above £242/week in each, and is never split or pooled, so two small jobs may pay no NI even if combined they exceed the threshold. If you study term-time only and work in holidays, the old P38(S) scheme no longer exists; you are taxed normally and reclaim overpayments if your annual income stays under £12,570. Scotland uses different income tax bands (a 19% starter and 20% basic rate apply at low earnings) but the £12,570 allowance and the code-splitting mechanism are identical; Wales and Northern Ireland follow the England rates here.

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