Pillar Guide · Updated July 2026
UK Student Loan Write-Off: A Practical Guide for 2026/27
Every UK student loan is eventually written off, whether or not it has been fully repaid — the question is when, and how much interest will have accrued by then. This pillar guide explains the write-off period for each plan type: 25 years for Plan 1, 30 years for Plan 2, 25 years for Plan 4 (Scotland) and 40 years for Plan 5, together with the current repayment thresholds of £26,900, £29,385, £33,795 and £25,000 respectively for 2026/27, how interest keeps accruing throughout the loan’s life, what actually triggers the write-off, and why it has no impact on your credit file.
Write-Off Periods by Plan
UK student loans are written off automatically after a fixed number of years from the April the borrower was first due to start repaying, regardless of how much of the balance remains outstanding, or on the borrower’s death if that occurs first. The write-off period and the income threshold at which repayments begin both depend on which repayment plan applies, which in turn depends on where you studied and when your course started.
| Plan | Write-off period | 2026/27 threshold | Repayment rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plan 1 (pre-2012) | 25 years | £26,900 | 9% |
| Plan 2 (2012-2023, Eng/Wales) | 30 years | £29,385 | 9% |
| Plan 4 (Scotland) | 25 years | £33,795 | 9% |
| Plan 5 (England, post-2023) | 40 years | £25,000 | 9% |
| Postgraduate Loan | 30 years | £21,000 | 6% |
The general trend across reforms since 2012 has been toward longer write-off periods and lower thresholds, shifting more of the cost of higher education from the taxpayer (via write-offs) onto graduates over their working lives — most clearly illustrated by Plan 5’s 40-year period against a frozen £25,000 threshold, compared with Plan 1’s 25-year period against a much higher and annually uprated threshold.
Plan 1
Plan 1 applies to most students who started courses before September 2012 in England and Wales, and generally to Northern Ireland students regardless of start date. The loan is written off 25 years after the April the borrower was first due to begin repayment, or at age 65 for loans taken out before 2006, whichever comes first, or on death.
The 2026/27 repayment threshold is £26,900, with 9% of income above that threshold deducted through PAYE or Self Assessment. Because Plan 1 combines the shortest write-off period with a relatively generous, annually uprated threshold, a meaningful proportion of long-term low-to-middle earners on Plan 1 see some or all of their remaining balance written off before full repayment.
Plan 2
Plan 2 applies to English and Welsh students who started courses between September 2012 and July 2023, covering the era of £9,000-£9,250 annual tuition fees. The loan is written off 30 years after the April the borrower was first due to begin repayment, or on death if earlier.
The 2026/27 threshold is £29,385, with 9% of income above that threshold repaid. Government modelling published alongside student finance reforms has long anticipated that a majority of Plan 2 borrowers, particularly those in typical graduate careers rather than high-earning professions, will have some portion of their loan written off after 30 years rather than fully repaying — a key driver behind the design of the subsequent Plan 5.
Plan 4 (Scotland)
Plan 4 applies to Scottish-domiciled students who took out loans through the Students Award Agency Scotland (SAAS), reflecting Scotland’s different tuition fee and funding system (no tuition fees for Scottish students at Scottish universities, but loans still cover living costs). The loan is written off 25 years after the April the borrower was first due to begin repayment, or on death if earlier.
The 2026/27 threshold is £33,795 — the highest of the main repayment thresholds — with 9% of income above that threshold repaid, reflecting Scottish Government policy of setting a higher earnings bar before repayments start.
Plan 5
Plan 5 applies to English students starting courses from September 2023 onward, introduced as part of wider higher education funding reforms. The loan is written off 40 years after the April the borrower was first due to begin repayment — by far the longest write-off period of any plan — or on death if earlier.
The 2026/27 threshold is £25,000, frozen rather than uprated annually in the way earlier thresholds were, with 9% of income above that threshold repaid. The combination of the lower, frozen threshold and the 40-year window means the Government’s own published modelling expects the substantial majority of Plan 5 borrowers to repay their loan in full at some point during their career, rather than having a balance written off — a marked change from the Plan 1 and Plan 2 write-off pattern.
Postgraduate Loan
The Postgraduate Loan, available for eligible master’s and doctoral study, is written off 30 years after the April the borrower was first due to begin repayment, or on death if earlier. The 2026/27 threshold is £21,000, with a lower repayment rate of 6% of income above that threshold, reflecting the separate design of postgraduate funding.
Borrowers who also hold an undergraduate loan (commonly Plan 2 or Plan 5) repay both loans concurrently, each calculated independently against its own threshold and rate, using the same total income figure. This means a graduate earning above both thresholds can see combined deductions of up to 15% of income above the lower threshold (9% undergraduate plus 6% postgraduate) in the income band where both apply.
Interest Accrual Until Write-Off
Interest accrues on the outstanding balance of every plan type for the entire lifetime of the loan, including years in which no repayments are made because income sits below the relevant threshold, and continues to accrue right up to the write-off date itself. Interest rates differ by plan: Plan 2 links interest to RPI plus up to 3% while studying and in the years immediately after, tapering down to RPI-only for higher earners; Plan 1, Plan 4 and the Postgraduate Loan generally use the lower of RPI or the Bank of England base rate plus 1%, which tends to produce lower interest than Plan 2; Plan 5 uses RPI only, regardless of the borrower’s income level.
Because repayments are calculated as a fixed percentage of income above a threshold rather than as a percentage of the outstanding balance, it is entirely normal — especially for Plan 2 and Plan 5 borrowers early in their careers — for the total balance owed to grow year on year for a long period even while regular repayments are being made, since the interest accruing can outpace the repayments deducted.
What Triggers Write-Off
Write-off is entirely automatic and requires no application from the borrower. The Student Loans Company calculates the write-off date from the April the borrower was first due to start repaying — broadly the April following the April/tax year after the course ended or was left, subject to specific plan rules — and applies the write-off on that date without any request needed.
Death also triggers write-off immediately, regardless of how far through the write-off period the loan is, and the debt is not recoverable from the borrower’s estate. Permanent disability that prevents the borrower from ever working can, in some circumstances, also qualify for an earlier write-off following a specific application process, distinct from the automatic time-based write-off.
Credit File Impact
UK student loans, unlike almost every other form of borrowing, do not appear on standard credit reference agency files at Experian, Equifax or TransUnion at any point during the life of the loan or at write-off. This is because student loan repayments are collected automatically through the tax system — via PAYE deduction by the employer or through Self Assessment for the self-employed — rather than through a conventional credit agreement reported to credit reference agencies.
Write-off itself is a purely administrative process between the Student Loans Company and HMRC and generates no adverse mark, no notification to lenders, and no effect on mortgage or other credit applications beyond the everyday effect that an active monthly repayment deduction has on disposable income and therefore on affordability assessments while the loan remains active.
Should You Overpay
For borrowers who are unlikely to fully repay their loan before the write-off date — historically common among Plan 1 and Plan 2 borrowers with career-average earnings — voluntary overpayment is generally poor financial value, since it simply reduces a balance that would have been written off regardless, effectively repaying money that was never going to be collected.
For higher earners on track to clear the balance comfortably before write-off — increasingly likely for Plan 5 borrowers given the lower £25,000 threshold and 40-year window — overpaying can meaningfully reduce total interest paid over the life of the loan, similar to overpaying any other interest-bearing debt. Before overpaying, borrowers should estimate their likely lifetime earnings trajectory against their specific plan’s threshold, rate and write-off period to judge whether they are likely to be a full repayer or a partial write-off case.