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Credit Utilisation: What It Is and How to Lower It
Credit utilisation is how much of your available credit you are using. It is one of the fastest-moving things on a UK credit file.
Updated 25 August 2026 · 3 min read
Credit scores (UK)
What is measured, what moves a score, and what nothing can move quickly.
The single most useful thing to know about UK credit scoring: lenders do not see the score the credit reference agencies show you. Each agency publishes its own number on its own scale for your benefit. Lenders receive your credit report and run their own scorecard over it, which is why you can be declined with an "excellent" agency score.
What this section covers
- What is actually on your credit report
- Which factors carry the most weight
- Credit utilisation, the fastest thing you can change
- How long negative information stays
Written for the United Kingdom. Terminology, protection limits and regulators differ between markets, so a guide from another country will not transfer cleanly.
UK credit scores guides
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How to Improve Your Credit Score in the UK
The steps that genuinely move a UK credit file, in the order worth doing them — starting with the free one most people have not done.
Updated 25 August 2026 · 4 min read
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What Is a Credit Score in the UK?
UK credit scores work differently from the US. Lenders do not see the number the agencies show you — here is what they actually use.
Updated 25 August 2026 · 3 min read
Calculators
Tools for credit scores
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Credit utilization calculator
What is my credit utilization?