How interest is calculated - Postgraduate Loan
Find out how interest is calculated and applied if you have a Postgraduate Loan from England or Wales, as well as previous interest rates.
If you had postgraduate student finance from Northern Ireland, you’ll repay under Plan 1.
If you had postgraduate student finance from Scotland, you’ll repay under Plan 4.
When interest is applied
You’re charged interest from the day we make your first payment to you or to your university or college until your loan has been repaid in full or cancelled. Interest is added to your balance each month.
Annual interest rate changes
The interest rate is usually set on 1 September each year, based on the Retail Price Index of the previous March. The interest rate charged is normally the Retail Price Index plus 3%.
However, during some periods we may apply an interest cap to ensure you’re not being charged a higher interest rate than comparable rates found in the commercial market.
What is the Retail Price Index?
It’s a measure of inflation, which measures changes to the cost of living in the UK.
What is the interest rate cap?
The Department for Education monitors comparable market rates using monthly data published by the Bank of England.
If the average comparable market rate is lower than the interest rate you’re being charged on your Postgraduate Loan, we’ll apply a temporary interest rate cap, so you’re not disadvantaged. The comparable market rate is reviewed monthly and a change to the interest rate cap made if necessary.
The interest rate cap is not currently being applied.
Previous interest rates
The rates in the table apply to the Postgraduate Loan only.
| Date | Interest rate |
|---|---|
| 1 August 2024 to 31 August 2024 | 8% |
| 1 June 2024 to 31 July 2024 | 7.9% |
| 1 April 2024 to 31 May 2024 | 7.8% |
| 1 March 2024 to 31 March 2024 | 7.7% |
| 1 January 2024 to 29 February 2024 | 7.6% |
| 1 December 2023 to 31 December 2023 | 7.5% |
| 1 September 2023 to 30 November 2023 | 7.3% |
| 1 June 2023 to 31 August 2023 | 7.1% |
| 1 March 2023 to 31 May 2023 | 6.9% |
| 1 December 2022 to 28 February 2023 | 6.5% |
| 1 September 2022 to 30 November 2022 | 6.3% |
| 1 March 2022 to 31 August 2022 | 4.5% |
| 1 January 2022 to 28 February 2022 | 4.4% |
| 1 October 2021 to 31 December 2021 | 4.1% |
| 1 September 2021 to 30 September 2021 | 4.2% |
| 1 July 2021 to 31 August 2021 | 5.3% |
| 1 September 2020 to 30 June 2021 | 5.6% |
| 1 September 2019 to 31 August 2020 | 5.4% |
| 1 September 2018 to 31 August 2019 | 6.3% |
| 1 September 2017 to 31 August 2018 | 6.1% |
| 1 September 2016 to 31 August 2017 | 4.6% |
Updates to this page
Published 15 May 2019Last updated 16 September 2024 + show all updates
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Updated guidance on the interest rate cap.
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Postgraduate loan repayment interest rate has increased to 8%.
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Previous interest rates table has been updated
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Current interest rate and previous interest rates table have been updated
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Previous interest rates table has been updated
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Interest rate information has been updated
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The current interest rate cap and previous interest rates table have been updated
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Previous interest rates table has been updated
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The interest rate cap and previous interest rates table have been updated
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Updates have been made to the previous interest rates table
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Updates have been made to the previous interest rates table
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Updates have been made to the current interest rate
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The interest rate has been updated, currently there is no interest rate cap. The previous interest rates table has also been updated.
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Updates have been made to the current interest rate cap and the previous interest rates table
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Updates made to the current interest rate cap and previous interest rates table
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Current interest rate cap has been updated to 4.2% 1 July 2021 to 31 August 2021 - 5.3% has been added to the previous interest rates table.
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Interest rate information updated due cap being applied.
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Link to Plan 4 information added to Welsh side of the page
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Hyperlinks for Plan 1 and Plan 4 updated.
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New line added to 'call to action' box for Scottish postgraduate students, who will repay postgraduate student finance through Plan 4
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Updated table with interest rate for 2018/19
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Added translation
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Added translation
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First published.