A loan calculator turns three numbers, how much you borrow, for how long and at what rate, into the two figures that matter: what leaves your account each month and what the loan costs you in total.
Below you will find repayment tables based on rates UK lenders are advertising this month, the exact formula so you can check any quote yourself, and several things most calculators never mention: why some of them overstate your payment, why borrowing slightly more can work out cheaper, and what it really costs to clear a loan early.
| The short version A £10,000 loan over five years at 5.9% APR costs £192.15 a month and £11,529 in total, which matches Nationwide’s own representative example to the penny.The cheapest rates sit between £7,500 and £25,000. Just below or above that band the APR jumps, so borrowing £500 more can mean paying less interest.Calculators that simply divide the APR by 12 overstate your payment: by about 71p a month at 5.9%, but by nearly £21 a month at 29.9%.The advertised rate only has to go to 51% of successful applicants, so plug in the rate you are personally quoted, not the headline figure.Paying a loan off early usually costs no more than 58 days’ extra interest, and normally saves far more than that. |
| [EMBED INTERACTIVE LOAN CALCULATOR HERE: inputs for amount, term in months and APR; outputs for monthly payment, total repayable and total interest] |
What a loan costs right now (October 2026)
Personal loan pricing has been steady through 2026. Nationwide advertises a representative 5.9% APR on loans of £7,500 to £25,000, with rates of up to 29.9% depending on the applicant. MoneySupermarket’s tables, accurate on 12 October 2026, show M&S Bank at 5.9% for £7,500 to £15,000 and 6.9% for £5,000 to £7,500.
Here is what those rates mean in pounds, using the representative APR for each loan size:
| Loan | Term | APR | Monthly | Total repayable | Total interest |
| £3,000 | 2 years | 9.8% | £137.59 | £3,302.16 | £302.16 |
| £5,000 | 3 years | 6.9% | £153.68 | £5,532.48 | £532.48 |
| £7,500 | 3 years | 5.9% | £227.30 | £8,182.80 | £682.80 |
| £10,000 | 5 years | 5.9% | £192.15 | £11,529.00 | £1,529.00 |
| £15,000 | 5 years | 5.9% | £288.23 | £17,293.80 | £2,293.80 |
| £20,000 | 5 years | 5.9% | £384.30 | £23,058.00 | £3,058.00 |
| £25,000 | 5 years | 5.9% | £480.38 | £28,822.80 | £3,822.80 |
Fixed rates, no fees, rates from Nationwide’s representative APR bands. Your own rate depends on your credit record and income.
How to use a loan calculator and get a useful answer
Every loan calculator needs the same inputs. Getting each one right is what separates a useful estimate from a misleading one.
- Amount. Enter what you actually need, then check which rate band it falls into (more on that below), because a small change in amount can change the rate.
- Term. Usually entered in months or years. A longer term lowers the monthly payment but raises the total cost.
- APR. Use the rate from a soft-search eligibility check, not the headline rate. If a lender charges an arrangement fee it is already included in the APR, which is why APR is the figure to compare.
Then read both outputs. The monthly payment tells you whether the loan is affordable; the total repayable tells you what it costs. Most people only look at the first, which is exactly why longer terms get sold as “lower monthly payments”.
The formula every loan calculator uses
Fixed-rate personal loans are repaid in equal monthly instalments. The instalment comes from the standard amortisation formula:
| M = P × r ÷ (1 − (1 + r)−n) M = monthly payment; P = amount borrowed; n = number of monthly payments; r = monthly interest rate UK detail most guides skip: because UK lenders quote an APR, which already builds in compounding, the monthly rate is r = (1 + APR)1/12 − 1, not APR ÷ 12. |
Worked example: £10,000 over five years at 5.9% APR
- Monthly rate: r = 1.0591/12 − 1 = 0.0047885, or about 0.479% a month.
- Growth over 60 months: (1 + r)60 = 1.0595 = 1.33192.
- Payment: M = 10,000 × 0.0047885 × 1.33192 ÷ 0.33192 = £192.15.
- Total repayable: £192.15 × 60 = £11,529, of which £1,529 is interest.
That is exactly the monthly payment and total in Nationwide’s representative example, which confirms the method.
Spreadsheet shortcut: in Excel or Google Sheets, =PMT((1+5.9%)^(1/12)-1, 60, -10000) returns 192.15. Swap in your own APR, term in months and amount.
Why some loan calculators overstate your payment
Plenty of online calculators, and some comparison-site illustrations, take the APR and divide it by 12 to get a monthly rate. That shortcut treats an already-compounded annual rate as if it were a simple one, so the monthly rate comes out slightly too high.
At low rates the error is pennies. At the higher rates offered to people with weaker credit it becomes real money:
| APR | Correct payment | APR ÷ 12 method | Overstated by | Over 5 years |
| 5.9% | £192.15 | £192.86 | £0.71 | £42.60 |
| 9.9% | £209.91 | £211.98 | £2.07 | £124.20 |
| 14.9% | £232.53 | £237.37 | £4.84 | £290.40 |
| 19.9% | £255.50 | £264.38 | £8.88 | £532.80 |
| 29.9% | £302.05 | £322.92 | £20.87 | £1,252.20 |
£10,000 over 60 months. “Correct” uses the APR-to-monthly conversion above and matches lenders’ own representative examples.
Overstating a payment is not dangerous on its own. If anything it gives you a small budgeting cushion. But it does distort comparisons: a higher-rate loan looks worse than it is next to an alternative calculated correctly, and two calculators can disagree by £20 a month for the same loan. If a figure looks off, check it with the formula or the spreadsheet function above.
Loan repayment tables
How the term changes the cost (£10,000 at 5.9% APR)
| Term | Monthly | Total repayable | Total interest |
| 1 year | £859.50 | £10,314.00 | £314.00 |
| 2 years | £442.06 | £10,609.44 | £609.44 |
| 3 years | £303.07 | £10,910.52 | £910.52 |
| 4 years | £233.69 | £11,217.12 | £1,217.12 |
| 5 years | £192.15 | £11,529.00 | £1,529.00 |
| 6 years | £164.53 | £11,846.16 | £1,846.16 |
| 7 years | £144.87 | £12,169.08 | £2,169.08 |
Many lenders only offer their lowest rate on terms of one to five years; six and seven-year terms may be priced higher.
Stretching from three years to seven cuts the monthly payment by more than half, from £303.07 to £144.87, but more than doubles the interest. If you can afford the higher payment comfortably, the shorter term is the cheaper loan.
How your rate changes the cost (£10,000 over five years)
| APR | Monthly | Total repayable | Total interest |
| 5.9% | £192.15 | £11,529.00 | £1,529.00 |
| 7.9% | £200.99 | £12,059.40 | £2,059.40 |
| 9.9% | £209.91 | £12,594.60 | £2,594.60 |
| 14.9% | £232.53 | £13,951.80 | £3,951.80 |
| 19.9% | £255.50 | £15,330.00 | £5,330.00 |
| 29.9% | £302.05 | £18,123.00 | £8,123.00 |
The gap between the best rate and the top of the range is more than £6,500 on the same £10,000. That is why improving your credit file before applying, or checking eligibility with several lenders, often matters more than which calculator you use.
Where your money goes: interest is front-loaded
Each month’s interest is charged on the balance still owed, so early payments are mostly interest and later ones are mostly capital. Here is the same £10,000 loan year by year:
| Year | Paid that year | Interest | Capital repaid | Balance at year end |
| Year 1 | £2,305.80 | £528.29 | £1,777.51 | £8,222.49 |
| Year 2 | £2,305.80 | £423.42 | £1,882.38 | £6,340.11 |
| Year 3 | £2,305.80 | £312.36 | £1,993.44 | £4,346.67 |
| Year 4 | £2,305.80 | £194.75 | £2,111.05 | £2,235.62 |
| Year 5 | £2,305.80 | £70.19 | £2,235.61 | £0.00 |
More than a third of all the interest, £528.29, is paid in year one. This is why overpaying early in a loan saves the most, and why clearing a loan in its final months saves very little.
The rate bands: borrowing a little more can cost less
UK lenders price personal loans in bands, and the cheapest band is usually £7,500 to £25,000. These are Nationwide’s current representative APRs:
| Loan amount | Representative APR |
| £1,000 to £2,999 | 14.4% |
| £3,000 to £4,999 | 9.8% |
| £5,000 to £7,499 | 6.9% |
| £7,500 to £25,000 | 5.9% |
| £25,001 to £35,000 | 6.9% |
| £35,001 to £50,000 | 7.7% |
Because the rate drops at each threshold, nudging your loan into the next band can reduce the total interest even though you borrow more. It also works in reverse, which is the part people miss:
| Borrow | Interest | Or borrow | Interest | Difference |
| £2,500 at 14.4% | £368 | £3,000 at 9.8% | £302 | £66 less |
| £4,500 at 9.8% | £681 | £5,000 at 6.9% | £532 | £149 less |
| £7,000 at 6.9% | £745 | £7,500 at 5.9% | £683 | £62 less |
| £25,000 at 5.9% | £3,823 | £25,500 at 6.9% | £4,573 | £750 more |
Terms: two years for the £2,500/£3,000 pair, three years for the middle pairs, five years for the £25,000 pair.
Going just over £25,000 costs about £750 more in interest for an extra £500. If you need around £25,000, borrowing exactly that, or a little less, is the sweet spot.
Before you try this: it only works if you are offered the representative rate in both bands. The extra money should either be genuinely useful or paid straight back as an overpayment. Paying back £500 early on a 5.9% loan would cost roughly £4.58 in extra interest under the 58-day rule explained below. It is never a reason to borrow more than you need.
Representative APR: why you might not get the advertised rate
The “representative APR” in an advert only has to be offered to at least 51% of successful applicants. Up to 49% can be offered something higher, and people who are declined do not count at all.
So the headline rate is a starting point, not a promise. The way to find your real rate without harming your credit file is an eligibility checker or personalised quote that uses a soft search. Soft searches are visible to you but not to other lenders. A full application uses a hard search, which other lenders can see, so apply only once you know the rate you are likely to get.
Paying off a loan early: what it really costs
You have a legal right to repay a personal loan early, in full or in part. The lender can add some interest to the settlement figure. In practice:
- if 12 months or less remain, the lender can charge up to 28 days’ interest;
- if more than 12 months remain, up to 58 days’ interest;
- for larger early repayments, above £8,000 in any 12-month period, any compensation is capped at 1% of the amount repaid, or 0.5% if less than a year is left.
| Worked example You borrowed £10,000 at 5.9% over five years and have made 24 payments. You still owe about £6,340.11. Carrying on would cost about £577.29 more in interest over the remaining 36 months. Settling now adds roughly £58.02 of extra interest under the 58-day rule, so clearing the loan saves around £519. Rough guide: your lender’s settlement figure will also include interest built up since your last payment. |
The saving shrinks as the loan matures because the interest is front-loaded. Santander’s guidance notes that if two or fewer repayments remain, settling early can cost more than simply finishing the loan.
Two more things to know. A partial overpayment usually shortens the term rather than lowering the monthly payment, so ask your lender if you want the opposite. And if you change your mind just after taking a loan, you normally have 14 days to withdraw; you repay what you borrowed plus interest for the days you had it.
Does the Bank of England base rate affect your loan?
The Bank of England held Bank Rate at 3.75% on 17 September 2026, its sixth hold in a row. The vote was 6–3, with Megan Greene, Catherine Mann and Huw Pill backing a rise to 4%, after inflation rose to 3.1% in August. The next decision is due on 5 November 2026.
For borrowers, the key point is that almost all UK personal loans have a fixed rate. If you already have one, your payments will not change whatever the Bank does. What the base rate influences is the price of new loans: lenders’ funding costs track market expectations, so if a rise looks more likely, new loan rates can edge up before the Bank acts. If you were planning to borrow anyway, a quote today is fixed for the whole term.
The Four-Number Check before you apply
Before you submit an application, make sure you know these four numbers:
- Your personal APR, from a soft-search quote, not the advert.
- The monthly payment, and whether it still fits after essentials if your take-home pay dipped or your bills rose. If it only works in a perfect month, the loan is too big or the term too short.
- The total repayable, compared across at least two terms, so you can see what the lower payment really costs.
- The settlement cost, so you know what clearing the loan early would involve if your circumstances improve.
Personal loan or something else?
| Option | Usually suits | Watch out for |
| Personal loan | Fixed amounts, especially £7,500 to £25,000, repaid over one to seven years | Higher rates on small loans; hard search when you apply |
| 0% purchase credit card | Smaller amounts you can clear before the 0% deal ends | The rate jumps when the offer ends; needs good credit |
| Car finance (HP or PCP) | Buying a car from a dealer | The car is security; PCP ends with a large optional final payment |
| Adding to your mortgage | Large sums such as home improvements | Secured on your home; a long term can mean more interest overall despite a lower rate |
| Arranged overdraft | Very short gaps of a few weeks | Usually expensive if used for months |
| Credit union loan | Smaller sums, including for people with thinner credit files | You usually need to be a member; limits can be lower |
Loan calculator FAQs
How do I calculate monthly loan repayments?
Use M = P × r ÷ (1 − (1 + r)^−n), where r is the monthly rate worked out from the APR as (1 + APR)^(1/12) − 1. In a spreadsheet, =PMT((1+APR)^(1/12)-1, months, -amount) does the same job.
How much is a £10,000 loan per month?
At 5.9% APR it is £192.15 a month over five years or £303.07 over three. At 9.9% APR over five years it rises to £209.91.
Does using a loan calculator affect my credit score?
No. A calculator does not look at your credit file. Eligibility checkers use a soft search that other lenders cannot see. Only a full application leaves a hard search.
What is a good APR for a personal loan in the UK?
In October 2026 the lowest representative rates are around 5.9% for loans of £7,500 to £25,000. Smaller loans cost more: under £3,000, rates of 10% to 15% are typical even with good credit.
Is a shorter or longer loan term better?
A shorter term costs less overall; a longer one is easier on your monthly budget. On £10,000 at 5.9%, three years costs £911 in interest and seven years costs £2,169.
Can I pay off my loan early?
Yes, it is a legal right. Expect up to 58 days’ extra interest, or 28 days’ if 12 months or less remain. Ask your lender for a settlement figure first.
Will a base rate change alter my loan payments?
Not if your loan has a fixed rate, which most UK personal loans do. Base rate changes mainly affect the price of new loans.
Sources and how we calculated
All repayment figures were calculated by UK Daily Report using the standard amortisation formula with the monthly rate derived from the APR, and cross-checked against Nationwide’s representative example (£10,000 over 60 months at 5.9% APR: £192.15 a month, £11,529 total). Figures assume a fixed rate and no fees, and are rounded to the nearest penny.
- Nationwide: personal loan rates and representative example
- Bank of England: Monetary Policy Summary, September 2026
- Santander: repaying your loan early
- MoneySupermarket personal loan tables, accurate 12 October 2026 (used for rate verification).