UK Loan Calculator

Enter the amount, APR and term to see the monthly repayment, total interest and total amount repayable for a personal loan, car loan or other fixed-rate borrowing, with a full repayment schedule and a side-by-side comparison of two loans.

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Loan calculator

Your loan
£
%
Use the APR from the loan quote. You can switch to a plain interest rate below.
Interest rate and fees
Monthly repayment
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Repayment schedule

Estimates for illustration, not financial advice. The rate you are offered depends on your circumstances, and lenders may round payments differently.

Loan A
£
%
Loan B
£
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BorrowedInterest

Both loans are compared on their APR, which includes compulsory fees. Estimates for illustration, not financial advice.

How to use the UK loan calculator

  1. Enter the Amount to borrow, the Rate from your quote (normally the APR) and the Term in years or months.
  2. Read the Monthly repayment, the total interest, the total cost of credit and the total amount repayable. The bar shows how much of what you repay is the money you borrowed and how much is interest.
  3. If your quote gives an interest rate and a separate arrangement fee, open Interest rate and fees, choose Interest rate (before fees) and enter the fee. The calculator then works out the APR including the fee.
  4. Check the Repayment schedule by year or by month, and use Copy results to save a summary.
  5. Open Compare two loans (or press Compare with another loan) to put two offers side by side.

How loan repayments are calculated

Personal loans, car loans and most other fixed-rate borrowing are repaid in equal monthly instalments. Each month interest is charged on the balance still owed, and the rest of the payment reduces the balance. The payment is set so that the loan is cleared exactly on the last instalment, using the standard annuity formula: payment = P × r ÷ (1 − (1 + r)−n), where P is the amount borrowed, r the monthly rate and n the number of months.

Because the balance is highest at the start, the first payments are mostly interest and the last ones mostly capital. A longer term lowers the monthly payment but means interest is charged for longer, so the total cost goes up.

APR vs interest rate

The interest rate is the rate charged on the balance. The APR (annual percentage rate) is the total cost of the credit expressed as a yearly rate: it includes the interest, the way it is compounded, and any compulsory fees such as an arrangement fee. That is why UK lenders must show the APR and why it is the fairest way to compare loans of the same size and term.

The APR is an effective yearly rate, so this calculator turns it into a monthly rate with (1 + APR)1/12 − 1 rather than simply dividing by 12. A 6.9% APR is a monthly rate of about 0.558%, which is the same as a nominal yearly rate of about 6.69%.

Adverts usually quote a representative APR. That is the rate at least 51% of the people accepted through the advert are expected to get. The rest may be offered a higher rate, depending on their credit history, income and the amount they borrow, so treat the advertised rate as a starting point and use the personalised rate from your quote here.

Worked example

Borrowing £10,000 at 6.9% APR over 5 years (60 months) costs about £196.56 a month. You would repay about £11,793 in total, so the interest is about £1,793.

Compare that with £10,000 at 5.9% APR over 7 years: the payment drops to about £144.87 a month, but the total interest rises to about £2,169. The lower rate does not make up for two extra years of interest. The comparison tab shows this kind of trade-off at a glance.

Why your real repayments may differ

  • The rate you are offered can be higher than the representative APR in an advert.
  • Some lenders calculate interest daily or make the first or last payment slightly different to absorb rounding.
  • Paying the loan off early usually saves interest, but lenders can charge a limited amount of interest for early settlement.
  • Optional extras such as payment protection insurance are not part of the APR.

For a home loan use the UK mortgage calculator. If you already have several debts, the UK debt calculator shows the fastest way to clear them. To check what a repayment means for your budget, see your take-home pay with the UK salary calculator, or browse all salary and money calculators.

Frequently asked questions

How do I calculate the monthly payment on a loan?

Convert the APR to a monthly rate, then use payment = P × r ÷ (1 − (1 + r)−n). For £10,000 at 6.9% APR over 60 months that gives about £196.56 a month. The calculator above does this instantly for any amount and term.

What is the difference between APR and interest rate?

The interest rate is what is charged on the balance. The APR adds compulsory fees and the effect of compounding, so it shows the total yearly cost of borrowing. If there are no fees, the APR is only slightly higher than the nominal interest rate.

What does representative APR mean?

It is the rate that at least 51% of successful applicants from an advert will get. Up to 49% may be offered a different, usually higher, rate.

Is a longer loan term cheaper?

It is cheaper each month but usually more expensive overall, because interest is charged for longer. Compare the total amount repayable, not just the monthly payment.

How much interest will I pay on a £10,000 loan?

At 6.9% APR over 5 years it is about £1,793. Over 3 years at the same APR it would be less, and over 7 years more. Enter your own figures above to see the exact amount.

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