1. Identify the plan before checking the number
Your deduction depends on the loan plan, not simply your current address or the year printed on the payslip. Confirm the plan in your student loan account and compare it with payroll's record. Check postgraduate repayments separately: they use a separate threshold and rate and may run alongside an undergraduate loan.
For 2026/27, the published thresholds are:
| Plan | Annual threshold | Monthly threshold | Repayment rate above threshold |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plan 1 | £26,900 | £2,241.66 | 9% |
| Plan 2 | £29,385 | £2,448.75 | 9% |
| Plan 4 | £33,795 | £2,816.25 | 9% |
| Plan 5 | £25,000 | £2,083.33 | 9% |
| Postgraduate | £21,000 | £1,750 | 6% |
These are current-year values; do not apply them to a refund request for 2025/26. Use that year's thresholds instead. HMRC 2026/27 employer thresholds
For Plan 5, the published payroll threshold is £25,000. The England student-loan terms explicitly include Plan 5 in section 5.4 and set out the below-threshold refund rule and repayment-account route in sections 5.5 and 6.13. The general refund page does not currently list Plan 5 in its threshold list, so use those current terms and your account rather than inferring that omission means no refund is possible. If your account does not offer the appropriate request, ask SLC to confirm the route. 2026/27 terms and refund procedure
2. Work at the payslip's frequency
For a monthly payroll check, subtract the monthly threshold from that month's relevant earnings, then apply the plan rate to the positive remainder. Include the bonus in the month's earnings. Other payroll adjustments and rounding can affect the exact deduction.
The examples below show unrounded arithmetic so the mechanism is visible. Actual student loan payroll deductions are rounded down to whole pounds. HMRC deduction tables and rounding Treat the illustrated pence as an explanatory calculation rather than a promised payslip amount. If you are paid weekly or have a nonstandard pay period, use the correct published payroll method instead of dividing a monthly result by four.
A high deduction can be correctly calculated for that pay period even when your normal pay is below the threshold. That fact alone does not establish whether you can later reclaim it. The annual-income test comes next.
3. Compare two nearly identical bonus stories
Both examples assume monthly pay, a Plan 2 loan already in repayment, no postgraduate loan, no salary sacrifice or payroll correction, and the 2026/27 threshold of £2,448.75 per month. All earnings stated are relevant payroll earnings before tax and other deductions.
Example 1: £24,000 salary and a £4,000 bonus
Worked example
Ordinary pay is £2,000 a month. In the bonus month, pay rises to £6,000. The amount over the monthly threshold is £6,000 minus £2,448.75 = £3,551.25.
Multiply by 9% to get £319.6125, or £319 deducted after whole-pound rounding. Ordinary months are below the monthly threshold. Total annual earnings are £24,000 plus £4,000 = £28,000.
Because £28,000 is below the £29,385 annual Plan 2 threshold, the borrower can request the below-threshold refund after the year ends and SLC confirms income with HMRC. It is not something payroll necessarily reverses the following month.
Example 2: the bonus is £6,000 instead
Worked example
Ordinary salary is still £24,000, but bonus-month earnings are now £8,000. £8,000 minus £2,448.75 = £5,551.25. At 9%, that is £499.6125, or £499 deducted after rounding.
Annual earnings are £30,000, above the Plan 2 threshold. A simple annual-income estimate would be (£30,000 minus £29,385) × 9% = £55.35. The difference between that annual illustration and the £499 payroll deduction is not automatically refundable. The below-threshold refund route is unavailable because annual income is above the threshold.
These examples show why “I paid more than an annual calculator says” is an incomplete refund argument. The important question is which official refund condition applies.
4. Check the other refund reasons
Being below the annual threshold is not the only possible reason. Official guidance also covers deductions before repayment was due to start, an incorrect plan and paying more than the outstanding balance. A voluntary extra payment is different and is not refundable under this ordinary repayment-refund process. GOV.UK: getting a refund
If the problem is the wrong plan, collect the payslip and account evidence and ask payroll to check its instruction. If the balance was nearly cleared, compare deductions with the loan account rather than assuming the bonus caused a threshold problem. Keep the reason for the request specific; several unrelated calculations labelled “overpayment” can obscure the issue.
For borrowers holding more than one undergraduate plan, the refund guidance applies a lowest-threshold rule for the combinations it describes. Do not select the most generous threshold from the table simply because one of your loans uses it. Check the official combination rules before drawing a conclusion.
5. Make the request with the right year's evidence
For a below-threshold request, wait until the tax year has ended and annual income can be confirmed. Sign into the student loan repayment account and follow the refund route. For another refund reason, use the official contact process with your customer reference number.
Keep the P60, any P45s, relevant payslips, plan confirmation and a short calculation with the correct tax-year threshold. If multiple jobs or another income source complicate the annual total, establish the relevant income figure rather than relying on a single employer's contracted salary.
Use the student loan calculator for a steady-income planning estimate and the bonus calculator to separate the bonus's annual tax and loan effects. Neither submits an SLC refund request or reconstructs irregular payroll deductions. Keep the actual monthly calculations alongside the annual estimate.
Common questions
Will PAYE income-tax reconciliation also refund the loan?
Do not assume so. Student loan deductions and income-tax overpayments have different rules and processes. Follow the SLC refund route for a loan repayment issue.
Does a higher salary mean I lose money by earning more?
A loan deduction reduces the cash from extra pay, but that does not by itself mean the entire pay rise disappears. Compare the whole after-tax change and any separate benefit thresholds.
Can I claim during the tax year?
A below-annual-threshold refund requires the tax year to have ended and income confirmation. Other errors, such as the wrong plan, should be raised through their appropriate correction route rather than waiting without checking.
Sources
Primary references checked 24 October 2026.