credit

How UK Credit Scores Work: Experian vs Equifax vs TransUnion

By MoneyMattersDaily Editorial · Published September 12, 2026 · 5 min read

There’s no single “UK credit score.” There are three credit reference agencies — Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion — each running its own model on its own scale, built from data that overlaps but isn’t identical. The same person can be “Excellent” with one agency and merely “Good” with another, and neither number is wrong. This is confusing enough on its own, and right now it’s more confusing than usual: Experian overhauled its entire scale in late 2025, and TransUnion is in the middle of doing the same thing as this is being written.

Why three different numbers exist for the same person

Each agency builds its score from its own credit report, and no agency has access to every lender’s data — a card or loan reported to Equifax might not be reported to Experian, and vice versa. On top of that, each agency weighs the same information differently in its own model. The result: three genuinely different assessments of the same financial history, not three copies of the same number relabeled.

Current score ranges and bands (September 2026)

Experian: 0–1,250. Experian moved to this scale in a rollout that ran from November 2025 through the end of that year, up from its old 0–999 range. The change added weight for behavior like rental payments, mortgage overpayments, and reduced overdraft use — financial habits its old model didn’t fully account for.

Equifax: 0–1,000. Equifax has used this scale since April 2021, when it moved up from an older 0–700 range.

TransUnion: 0–710 today, changing to 0–999 starting this month. TransUnion’s current scale and the incoming one will both be live simultaneously for a while — the new system is rolling out gradually from late September 2026 through June 2027, so some people will see two different TransUnion scores side by side during the transition.

None of these rescalings change what lenders actually decide — Experian and TransUnion have both said explicitly that eligibility for credit isn’t affected by the new ranges, only how that same underlying risk assessment gets displayed as a number and a band.

Why a “good” score with one agency isn’t automatically good with another

Because the scales don’t line up numerically, comparing raw numbers across agencies is meaningless — a TransUnion score of 650 (Excellent on the old scale) and an Experian score of 650 (Fair) describe very different creditworthiness despite being the same number. What actually transfers across agencies is the underlying behavior: on-time payments, low utilization, and a longer credit history push you toward the top band with all three, even though the exact number and label you land on differs. What actually hurts your credit score and how credit utilization is calculated cover the mechanics that move all three scores in the same direction, even if the US-style examples in those posts use FICO’s scale rather than a UK agency’s.

Which one should you actually check?

There’s no single right answer, because you don’t get to choose which agency a lender pulls from — and many lenders check more than one, or use a fourth score entirely (a bespoke internal model built on top of the credit report data, not the headline consumer-facing score from any agency). The practical approach: check all three periodically rather than picking a favorite. Experian and Equifax both offer free ongoing access to your score and report through their own consumer apps; TransUnion’s consumer-facing score is most commonly accessed through free third-party apps like Credit Karma (UK) or ClearScore, which pull from TransUnion’s data under license.

Common mistakes

• Comparing raw numbers across agencies. A 650 means something completely different depending on which agency it’s from — always check the band, not just the number.
• Panicking over a score drop that’s actually a rescaling. If your Experian or TransUnion score changed dramatically in late 2025 or over the next several months, check whether it’s a genuine change in your credit behavior or just your old score being remapped onto a new scale — the agencies have both said this doesn’t reflect an actual change in creditworthiness.
• Only ever checking one agency. A clean Experian report doesn’t guarantee a clean Equifax or TransUnion one, since a missed payment or account that’s misreported to only one agency won’t show up anywhere else.
• Treating a mid-tier band as a problem. “Fair” or “Good” (rather than “Excellent”) on any of these scales still qualifies most people for mainstream credit — it just means somewhat less favorable rates than the top band, not rejection.

Getting started

Set up free accounts with Experian and Equifax directly, and a free TransUnion-data app like ClearScore or Credit Karma UK, then check all three. Expect them to disagree — that’s normal, not a sign one of them is wrong — and focus on the behaviors that move all three in the same direction rather than chasing a specific number on any single scale.

Last updated September 2026. TransUnion’s rescaling is actively rolling out — if your TransUnion score or band looks different from the current-scale numbers above, you may already be on the new 0–999 system; check which scale your report displays before comparing it to older figures. Confirm current bands directly with each agency, since consumer-facing scoring systems do change, as this post itself demonstrates.