Every UK student loan has an expiry date. On that date whatever is left is wiped, with no tax charge and nothing further to pay. Knowing your date changes almost every decision you might make about the loan.
Loan Summary
Career Scenario
| Year | Loan Balance | Total Repaid |
|---|
Write-off periods by plan
| Plan | Written off |
|---|---|
| Plan 1 | 25 years after the April you were first due to repay. Loans taken before 1 September 2006 are cancelled at age 65 instead. |
| Plan 2 | 30 years after the April you were first due to repay. |
| Plan 4 (Scotland) | 30 years after the April you were first due to repay. Loans before 1 August 2007 cancel at age 65, or after 30 years, whichever comes first. |
| Plan 5 | 40 years after the April you were first due to repay. |
| Postgraduate | 30 years after the April you were first due to repay. |
Why most graduates never clear the balance
Repayments are a fixed slice of income above a threshold, not an amount calculated to clear the debt. For a large share of borrowers the interest added each year exceeds what they repay, so the balance grows for most of their working life and is then cancelled. The Plan 5 shift to a 40-year term was designed precisely to reduce how many people reach write-off with a balance intact.
Enter your figures in the calculator above. If it reports Written off, the size of your balance is irrelevant to you. Never overpay it, and stop worrying about the interest rate.
What happens on the write-off date
The Student Loans Company cancels the remaining balance. There is no tax bill, no clawback, and nothing appears on your credit file, because student loans were never on it. Deductions simply stop appearing on your payslip. Check your final payslips, since payroll occasionally keeps deducting past the end date, and anything overpaid can be reclaimed.
Cancelled early: death and disability
A student loan is cancelled entirely on death, and is never recovered from the estate. It is also cancelled if you receive a disability-related benefit and are permanently unfit for work.
Frequently asked questions
Does the clock start when I graduate?
No. It starts on the April after you leave the course, whether or not you are earning enough to repay. Years spent below the threshold still count towards the write-off.
Will I be taxed on the amount written off?
No. Unlike some cancelled commercial debts, a written-off student loan creates no tax liability.
Can the write-off period be changed?
It has been changed before for new cohorts, most recently when Plan 5 extended the term to 40 years. Changes have generally applied to new borrowers rather than existing ones, though the government has altered terms retrospectively in the past.
Write-off periods verified against gov.uk. This is an estimate, not financial advice.