Plan 1 on £32,000
Updated 12 November 2026 · Tax year 2026/27 · England, Wales or Northern Ireland · No pension · Plan 1 only
Scope: Plan 1 only (pre-2012 England and Wales loans, and Northern Ireland). Other plans have their own guides.
Use this page if your payslip or Student Loans Company account says Plan 1 and you want the deduction on a £32,000 salary in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, with no pension in the model. If the plan name is different, or the question is Scottish tax rather than the loan, leave for the guide named below.
Who this is for
Plan 1 is the older undergraduate repayment plan still collected through PAYE for many people who studied in England or Wales before the 2012 funding change, and for Northern Ireland undergraduate loans. This site’s 2026/27 collection threshold for Plan 1 is £26,900, and the rate is 9% of earnings above that line. It is not the plan for a new English undergraduate loan, and it is not the Scottish Plan 4.
A payslip can show an undergraduate plan and a Postgraduate Loan together, and HMRC deducts both from the same pay. The calculator models that: choose Plan 1 and tick the Postgraduate Loan box. On £32,000, Plan 1 takes £459.00 and a Postgraduate Loan takes another £660.00 (6% of £11,000), £1,119.00 a year in total. Words for the plans are in the glossary.
Which page to open
- Payslip says Plan 1, and the salary in mind is about £32,000 in England, Wales or Northern Ireland. Stay on this page. The worked figures are below, and the button opens the calculator with that salary.
- English or Welsh course from 2012, still on Plan 2. Use the Plan 2 guide. Its example is £35,000, not this £32,000 stack. The Plan 1 deduction here is smaller than that Plan 2 example even though Plan 1’s threshold is lower, because £32,000 is only £5,100 over £26,900.
- Scottish undergraduate loan. Use the Plan 4 guide. At the £32,000 used here, Plan 4 would deduct nothing, because the salary has not cleared the £33,795 threshold. Plan 1 at that salary deducts £459.00. Plan 4’s own example is £42,000 with Scottish income tax.
- English undergraduate course starting on or after 1 August 2023 (Plan 5). Use the Plan 5 guide. Its example is £28,000, chosen because that salary is under the Plan 2 threshold.
- Master’s or doctoral loan, repaid at 6%. Use the postgraduate loan guide. If you repay both, the two deductions add up: on £32,000 that is £459.00 plus £660.00. The worked figures below are for Plan 1 alone.
- The question is Scotland versus the rest of the UK, with no loan. Start with Scotland versus the rest of the UK, or the take-home pay table, which has a Scotland column. Neither applies Plan 1.
The Student Loans Company and the payslip decide the plan. This page does not.
Worked example — £32,000 in England
Priya earns £32,000, with a standard personal allowance, no pension in the model, and Plan 1 only. Taxable pay is £19,430, all inside the 20% basic-rate band. Employee National Insurance is 8% of the slice between £12,570 and £32,000.
- Income tax: 20% × £19,430 = £3,886.00
- Employee National Insurance: 8% × £19,430 = £1,554.40
- Plan 1: 9% × (£32,000 − £26,900) = 9% × £5,100 = £459.00
- Take-home: £26,100.60 a year (£2,175.05 a month)
Turn the loan off and the same salary comes to £26,559.60. The £459 is the whole difference. £32,000 is used here on purpose: it is only £5,100 over the Plan 1 threshold, so the deduction is smaller than the Plan 2 example on £35,000 even though Plan 1’s threshold is lower. Someone on Plan 4 (threshold £33,795) would pay nothing at £32,000, because the salary has not cleared that line.
Monthly repayments by plan — 2026/27
Approximate monthly deduction at each salary, worked on the year and divided by 12. Thresholds: Plan 1 £26,900, Plan 2 £29,385, Plan 4 £33,795, Plan 5 £25,000 (all 9%); Postgraduate £21,000 (6%). A postgraduate loan is taken on top of any undergraduate plan.
| Salary | Plan 1 | Plan 2 | Plan 4 | Plan 5 | Postgrad |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £25,000 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £20.00 |
| £30,000 | £23.25 | £4.61 | £0.00 | £37.50 | £45.00 |
| £35,000 | £60.75 | £42.11 | £9.04 | £75.00 | £70.00 |
| £40,000 | £98.25 | £79.61 | £46.54 | £112.50 | £95.00 |
| £45,000 | £135.75 | £117.11 | £84.04 | £150.00 | £120.00 |
| £50,000 | £173.25 | £154.61 | £121.54 | £187.50 | £145.00 |
| £60,000 | £248.25 | £229.61 | £196.54 | £262.50 | £195.00 |
Scroll sideways to see the whole table →
Plan guides: Plan 1 · Plan 2 · Plan 4 · Plan 5 · Postgraduate loan
Plan 1 repayments by salary
Plan 1 takes 9% of pay above £26,900. This table shows the annual and monthly deduction and the take-home that remains.
| Salary | Repaid a year | A month | Take-home a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| £27,000 | £9.00 | £0.75 | £22,950.60 |
| £29,000 | £189.00 | £15.75 | £24,210.60 |
| £32,000 | £459.00 | £38.25 | £26,100.60 |
| £37,000 | £909.00 | £75.75 | £29,250.60 |
| £47,000 | £1,809.00 | £150.75 | £35,550.60 |
| £57,000 | £2,709.00 | £225.75 | £40,908.40 |
Scroll sideways to see the whole table →
Frequently asked questions
When do I start repaying Plan 1?
When pay is above £26,900 a year (£2,241.67 a month). Employers deduct it through PAYE each pay period.
How much is Plan 1 on £36,900?
9% × £10,000 = £900.00 a year, £75.00 a month.
Is anything taken if I earn below the Plan 1 threshold?
Not on a steady salary. Repayments are 9% of pay above £26,900 a year, worked out each pay period, so in a normal month below the monthly threshold nothing is deducted. A single month with a bonus or overtime can go above the monthly threshold and trigger a deduction for that month, even if your yearly pay stays below £26,900.
Why does my payslip differ from this calculator?
The calculator models a whole tax year on a standard 1257L tax code. Your payslip is worked out pay period by pay period, so a different or emergency tax code, a bonus month, overtime, benefits in kind or a different pension arrangement will move the figure. National Insurance and student loan repayments are also assessed each pay period rather than across the year. If the two disagree, trust the payslip and check your tax code in your HMRC personal tax account.
What this page does not decide
It does not tell you which plan the Student Loans Company has you on. Check the payslip code or your SLC account. Interest on the loan balance is not modelled — only the PAYE deduction. If the decision is pension rather than the loan, use salary sacrifice instead of adding a pension to these figures.
Sources (checked 12 November 2026): HMRC rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027. Figures from the Take-Home Lab engine in js/tax.js. National Insurance is modelled on the year, not each pay period. How the model is built is on the methodology page.