Purpose and scope
Affordit uses a deterministic income engine to turn the income details entered by a user into a consistent twelve-month planning pattern. The same engine supports the Planner, My Reality and connected affordability checks so those journeys do not produce conflicting answers from the same inputs.
The output is an educational planning estimate. It is not payroll software, tax advice, credit underwriting or a guarantee of future income. Users should compare the result with payslips, award notices and their own expected payment dates before relying on it.
Gross and net income
When a user enters net income, Affordit treats that as the amount received after the deductions the user says are already reflected. It does not subtract Student Finance or another salary-linked deduction a second time where the user confirms it is already included.
When only gross income is supplied, Affordit applies a broad take-home estimate. The result is marked with lower confidence because tax, National Insurance, pension contributions, benefits, salary sacrifice and personal circumstances can make actual take-home pay different.
Typical and lowest months
Affordit calculates all twelve months before showing an income summary. The typical figure is the middle monthly value rather than simply the annual total divided by twelve. The lowest-month figure is the smallest projected amount in the pattern.
Stable income may produce the same typical and lowest-month figures. Variable, termly, weekly or four-weekly income may not. Where they differ, Affordit encourages the user to plan around the lowest month so an annual average does not hide short periods of pressure.
Weekly, four-weekly and variable work
Weekly pay is distributed across a 4, 4, 5-week quarterly pattern, preserving 52 payments across the year. Four-weekly pay preserves 13 payments and therefore includes one month with two payments rather than dividing the annual amount evenly into twelve identical months.
Hourly and irregular income can include low, typical and high values. Affordit uses those values to create a bounded monthly pattern. It does not predict shifts, overtime, tips or self-employed revenue that the user has not supplied.
Student and multiple income sources
Student income may include maintenance funding, part-time work, bursaries, family support, summer earnings and other recurring amounts. Termly amounts are placed into their expected payment months instead of being presented as if the same cash arrived every month.
Multiple sources are calculated separately and then combined month by month. This preserves each source's timing and avoids turning a mixture of stable and variable income into a misleading flat average.
Student Finance deductions
Where a Student Finance plan is supplied, Affordit can estimate the salary-linked monthly deduction using the applicable deterministic repayment rules already used by the student repayment tool. It is shown separately in My Reality so the source of the deduction remains visible.
Repayment thresholds and rates can change. The estimate should be checked against current official information and a real payslip. Affordit does not determine a user's legal repayment obligation.
Confidence and missing information
Confidence is high when confirmed net amounts are stable, medium when income varies or deductions are estimated, and directional where an amount is incomplete or unconfirmed. Confidence describes the quality of the inputs and method; it does not describe the certainty of future earnings.
Missing insurance, debt payments, seasonal work, unpaid leave, childcare, benefits changes or emergency costs can materially change the practical result. Affordit identifies some missing information but cannot know every household commitment.
Governance and review
The numerical result comes from version-controlled calculation rules, not from a generative AI response or a commercial partner. AI may explain an approved result but cannot replace the deterministic calculation, silently edit inputs or rank a provider.
Effective date: 17 August 2026. Next scheduled review: 17 August 2027, or earlier if tax, Student Finance or product rules materially change. Calculation changes require tests for stable, variable, student, weekly, four-weekly and multiple-income cases before release.
Questions or concerns
Contact the monitored Affordit support route. Include the affected page, but do not send passwords, card details, bank details, identity documents or unnecessary financial information.
Contact Affordit support