--- title: "UK personal loan calculator with representative APR | AumnI tools" description: "Work out the monthly payment, total interest and cost of a UK personal loan, and see how the representative APR in a lender's advert relates to your own figures." url: https://aumnitools.com/uk/tool/personal-loan-calculator category: "Financial" country: "United Kingdom" updated: 2026-11-08 --- # Personal Loan Calculator UK lenders advertise a representative APR, which only about half of successful applicants are guaranteed to get or better, so your own rate may differ. This calculator takes the amount, rate, term and any fee you enter and gives the monthly payment, total interest, total cost and the first year of the schedule in pounds. ## United Kingdom rules and figures - A representative APR is the rate at or below which the firm expects at least 51% of the agreements from a promotion to be offered. It must be labelled as representative. - It must be shown in promotions that suggest credit is available to people with restricted access to credit, that make a favourable comparison, or that give an incentive to apply. - The FCA is consulting in CP26/15 on whether the 51% threshold is still right. The 51% rule applied when it was checked. - Because only half of successful applicants must get the advertised rate or better, the rate you are offered can be higher, so enter the rate on your own quote. - The regulator's rules on financial promotions for consumer credit sit in Chapter 3 of its Consumer Credit sourcebook. Sources: [FCA Handbook: representative APR (glossary)](https://handbook.fca.org.uk/glossary/G3354) (checked 2026-11-08); [FCA Handbook: CONC 3 Financial promotions](https://handbook.fca.org.uk/handbook/conc3) (checked 2026-11-08); [FCA: CP26/15 Reviewing the financial promotions rules for consumer credit](https://www.fca.org.uk/publications/consultation-papers/cp26-15-reviewing-the-financial-promotions-rules-for-consumer-credit) (checked 2026-11-08) ## How the personal loan calculator works Each payment is the same size. Interest is charged monthly at one twelfth of the yearly rate on what is still owed, so early payments are mostly interest and later ones mostly capital. A fee does not change the payment; it is added once to the total cost and lifts the APR the tool reports. Formula: `payment = amount × g × (1 + g)^months ÷ ((1 + g)^months − 1), where g is the yearly rate ÷ 12` - The rate box is labelled Representative APR (%), the figure a lender must show in many adverts, and it is treated as the interest rate for the calculation. - The APR result is solved from the amount you actually receive, which is the loan minus any fee, so it is above the rate you typed when a fee applies. - Term is years plus extra months, so 2 years and 6 months is 30 payments. - The payment figure is coloured by size, with green under 500 and red from 1,500 upwards. - A rate of 0% is allowed: the payment is simply the amount divided by the number of months. ## How to use the personal loan calculator 1. **Enter the amount and rate.** Type the amount you want to borrow and the representative APR or rate from the offer you are looking at. 2. **Choose the length.** Enter whole years, and add any left-over months in the second box. 3. **Add any fee.** Enter an arrangement or other upfront fee in pounds. Leave it at 0 if the lender charges none. 4. **Read the costs.** The results card shows the monthly payment, the interest, the APR worked out from your figures and the total cost. 5. **Look at the first year.** Open the schedule to see how each of the first twelve payments splits between interest and capital. ## Example: £12,000 over 3 years at a representative APR of 7.9% With no fee, the payment is £375.48 a month for 36 months, interest is £1,517.39 and the total repaid is £13,517.39. In the first payment £79.00 is interest and £296.48 reduces the debt. Stretching the loan to 4 years lowers the payment to £292.39 but raises interest to £2,034.82, and 5 years gives £242.74 a month with £2,564.57 of interest. The APR shown stays at 7.90% because there is no fee. ## When to use the personal loan calculator - **Checking a headline rate.** Run the advertised representative APR, then your own quoted rate, to see what the difference costs each month. - **Comparing 3, 4 and 5 years.** See how a longer term lowers the payment and adds interest on the same £12,000. - **Pricing a loan with an arrangement fee.** Enter the fee to see the APR rise above the rate and the total cost grow. - **Fitting a payment to a budget.** Try amounts until the monthly payment sits where you can manage it, using the colour band as a guide. ## What the personal loan calculator does not do - The APR is calculated from the figures you enter. A lender's own APR follows FCA rules for first payments and other charges, so compare with the offer document. - Only the first twelve payments are listed in the schedule, with no download of the full table. - Fixed-rate loans paid on time are modelled; late charges, early repayment charges and variable rates are not. - Credit scores, eligibility and the rate you will be offered are not assessed. - The rate box takes the rate on your offer; the representative APR in an advert applies to a share of customers, not necessarily you. ## When something else is a better fit - **When you want to pay a loan off faster**, use the [Early Payoff Calculator](https://aumnitools.com/tool/early-payoff-calculator.md). - **When you have several offers to compare**, use the [Loan Comparison Tool](https://aumnitools.com/tool/loan-comparison-tool.md). - **When you need the legally stated APR for an offer**, use the pre-contract credit information your lender must give you. ## Questions about the personal loan calculator ### What does representative APR mean? It is the rate that at least 51% of agreements arising from a promotion are expected to be offered at or below. Up to 49% of customers can be offered a higher rate. ### How much is a £12,000 loan a month? At 7.9% over 3 years the payment is £375.48 and the interest is £1,517.39. Stretching it to 5 years gives £242.74 a month and £2,564.57 of interest. ### Why might the tool's APR differ from my offer? The tool solves the APR from the amount received and the payments you enter. A lender follows FCA rules for dates, fees and rounding, so its figure can differ slightly. ### Is the 51% rule changing? The FCA is consulting in CP26/15 on whether the threshold is still right. The 51% rule applied on the date this page was checked. ### Does a fee change my monthly payment? No. The payment depends on the amount, rate and term only. A fee raises the total cost and the APR shown. ## Related tools - [Loan Comparison Tool](https://aumnitools.com/tool/loan-comparison-tool.md): Compares loan offers side by side on monthly payment, total interest and total cost - [Early Payoff Calculator](https://aumnitools.com/tool/early-payoff-calculator.md): Shows how much time and interest an extra monthly payment saves on a loan - [Debt Payoff Calculator](https://aumnitools.com/tool/debt-payoff-calculator.md): Compares avalanche and snowball debt payoff by months to payoff and total interest ## About this page Runs in your browser: what you enter is processed on this device and is not uploaded. Estimates for planning only, not financial, tax or legal advice. Check figures that matter with a qualified professional. Last checked against the tool's code on 2026-11-08. Interactive version: https://aumnitools.com/uk/tool/personal-loan-calculator