Risk warning: Don't invest unless you're prepared to lose all the money you invest. Peer-to-peer lending is a high-risk investment and is not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). You are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong. Take 2 minutes to learn more.

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Reviews

Lendwise review

The UK's education-finance P2P platform.

Last reviewed May 2026 · by Gareth Hoyle

How we're funded: some links to providers may be affiliate links, which means we could earn a commission at no extra cost to you. This never affects our ratings or what we write. See our affiliate disclosure and review methodology.

Gareth Hoyle

Gareth Hoyle · Founder & Editor

Reviewed May 2026. Independent researcher, not a financial adviser. About Gareth

Lendwise at a glance

Target rate*
Up to ~9% (target)
Min. investment
Varies
Security
Unsecured education loans (credit-assessed)
IFISA available
Yes
Transfers in
Yes
Established
2019

⚠ Figures unverified: confirm against Lendwise's Key Investor Information before publishing.

What is Lendwise?

Lendwise is a UK peer-to-peer platform dedicated to education finance. Investors fund loans to people studying for Masters degrees, MBAs and professional qualifications, and earn interest as those borrowers repay. Its Innovative Finance ISA lets you hold that interest tax-free, and the model carries a social-impact angle that most property platforms do not.

How the Lendwise IFISA works

You can lend manually, choosing individual loans, or use AutoLend to spread your money automatically across many borrowers, which is the sensible default for diversification. Loans are credit-assessed before they reach investors. You can open an IFISA, or transfer existing ISAs in, and the returns inside the wrapper are tax-free.

Rates and the risk trade-off

Lendwise advertises higher target rates than most property-backed platforms. That is not a quirk, it is compensation for risk: because the loans are unsecured, there is no asset to repossess and sell if a borrower stops paying. A higher target return always means a higher risk of loss. Confirm current rates and live loan availability with Lendwise directly.

Getting your money back

Education loans can run for several years, so your capital is committed for the term. Lendwise operates a secondary marketplace where you may be able to sell loan parts early, but only if another investor wants to buy them, which cannot be guaranteed, particularly in stressed conditions.

The risks to understand

Unsecured lending is the key risk here. Unlike the property-backed platforms in our comparison, there is no collateral behind these loans, so diversification across many borrowers matters more than ever. Your capital is at risk and the money is not FSCS protected. Read our risk warning and understand the model fully before investing.

Pros

  • + Higher target returns than most property-backed platforms
  • + Genuinely differentiated: education finance with a social-impact angle
  • + AutoLend spreads your money across many borrowers
  • + Secondary marketplace may allow earlier exit
  • + IFISA available with transfers in accepted

Cons

  • − Loans are unsecured: no property or asset backing them
  • − Repayment depends entirely on borrower creditworthiness
  • − Higher target rates signal higher risk, not a free lunch
  • − Early exit depends on secondary-market demand
  • − Not covered by the FSCS

Our verdict

Lendwise is the most distinctive platform in our comparison: you lend to people funding postgraduate study and professional qualifications, earning a higher target return with a genuine social-impact angle. The trade-off is that these loans are unsecured. There is no property to fall back on, so returns rest entirely on borrowers repaying. Higher target rates reflect that higher risk. Your capital is at risk, returns are not guaranteed, and the money is not FSCS protected.

Visit Lendwise

Plain link: no affiliate relationship in place. Capital at risk. Not FSCS protected.

Gareth Hoyle

Gareth Hoyle

Founder & Editor

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About the author

I have worked in search and online publishing since 2006 and am Managing Director of a UK digital marketing agency. Over nearly two decades I have built a reputation for rigorous, data-led analysis of online markets.

Beyond my agency work, I am an active early-stage investor through the UK's SEIS and EIS schemes, and provide digital due diligence services to venture capital and private equity firms, work that centres on independently verifying claims and assessing risk. That same evidence-first discipline shapes how every provider on this site is researched and reviewed.

I built peertopeerisa.co.uk because the existing coverage of Innovative Finance ISAs was either thin comparison tables or platform-owned marketing. My aim is a genuinely independent, plain-English reference that always leads with the risks.

I am not a financial adviser and nothing on this site is personal financial advice. When I hold a view, I show my working and the sources behind it.

  • Working in search & online publishing since 2006
  • Managing Director, UK digital marketing agency
  • Active SEIS/EIS early-stage investor
  • Provides digital due diligence to VC & PE firms
  • Conference speaker on AI and digital strategy

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How we keep this honest

peertopeerisa.co.uk is independent. We provide general information and comparison only, not regulated financial advice. Peer-to-peer lending is a high-risk investment: your capital is at risk and your money is not FSCS protected. Some links are affiliate links, which never affect what we write.