You can get student finance to help towards your living costs while you’re at university or college. Content provided by Student Finance England.
What's on this page?
- What's available?
- Maintenance Loan
- Long Course Loan
- How to apply
- How to change an application
- How it's paid
A Maintenance Loancan help pay for things such as rent, food, books, travel, and other expenses. Any loan you borrow needs to be paid back, but not until you’ve finished or left your course, and your income is over the repayment threshold.
The following information is for full-time students– find out about help with living costs for part-time students.
What's available?
Everyone who is eligible for student finance can get at least some Maintenance Loan, but you can apply for more that’s based on your household income.
Students are who are eligible to receive State Benefits, who are entitled to receive the means-tested element of funding, may be eligible for an increased amount of maintenance loan. If eligible, their maintenance loan will be made up of the Maintenance element and the Special Support (SSL) element.
Student finance in your final year of study
In your final year of uni or college, you'll get less Maintenance Loan than you had in other years. This is because student finance usually covers the breaks between each year, but you're no longer entitled to it once your course has ended.
Check if you're eligible
Maintenance Loan
How much you can get depends on when you started your course, where you live, and your household income.
It’s important you let us know if there are any changes to your living arrangements as it will affect your student finance.This is so we can make sure you get the right amount of student finance. You can update any changes in your online account.
Courses starting from 1 August 2016
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Courses starting from 1 August 2016
Maximum Maintenance Loan for the 2022/23 academic year Maximum Maintenance Loan for the 2023/24 academic year Living with parents Up to £8,171 Up to £8,400 Studying in London, and not living with parents Up to £12,667 Up to £13,022 Studying outside London, and not living with parents Up to £9,706 Up to £9,978 Living and studying abroad as part of your UK course Up to £11,116 Up to £11,427 If you're studying the final year of your course, you'll get less Maintenance Loan.
Maximum final year Maintenance Loan for the 2022/23 academic year Maximum final year Maintenance Loan for the 2023/24 academic year Living with parents Up to £7,689 Up to £7,904 Studying in London, and not living with parents Up to £11,736 Up to £12,065 Studying outside of London, and not living with parents Up to £9,179 Up to £9,436 Living and studying abroad as part of your UK course Up to £9,950 Up to £10,229 You might be able to get extra Maintenance Loan if any of the following apply while you're on your course:
- You’re a single parent, or single foster parent, of a child or young person under 20 who is in full-time education below highereducation level, or on an approved training course.
- You have a partner who is also a full-time student, and one or both of you is responsible for a child or young person under 20 who is in full-time education below highereducation level, or on an approved training course.
- You have a disability and qualify for the Disability Living Allowance, Disability Premium, or Severe Disability Premium.
- You qualify for Personal Independence Payment or Armed Forces Independence Payment.
- You’re deaf and qualify for a Disabled Students’ Allowance.
- You’ve been treated as incapable of work for a continuous period of at least 28 weeks.
- You have a disability and qualify for income-related Employment and Support Allowance.
- You’re waiting to go back to a course, having taken agreed time out from that course due to an illness or caring responsibility that has now ended.
If your course started before 1 August 2016, the amount of Maintenance Loan you can get will be reduced by 50p for every £1 of Maintenance Grant you get.
Estranged students
You could apply as an estranged student if:
- you haven’t had any contact with either of your parents for 12 months or more; or
- your relationship with your parents has broken down within the last 12 months and you don’t expect this to change in the near future
If you apply as an estranged student you won’t need to send your parents’ financial information, and it could affect how much Maintenance Loan you can get.
You may also be assessed as estranged if you later stop contact with your parents or meet any of the estrangement criteria later in the academic year. Each estrangement application is looked at on a case by case basis.
If you think you may be estranged then you can read the Stand Alone student finance guide.
Long Course Loan
If your course lasts longer than 30 weeks and three days, you might be able to get a Long Course Loan as well as your Maintenance Loan.
How much you can get depends on your household income, and where you’re living while studying. You’ll be able to get a Long Course Loan if you’re getting the extra Maintenance Loan that’s based on your household income.
You don’t need to complete a separate application – Student Finance England willwork out whether you can get a Long Course Loan when you apply for your main student finance.
They’ll pay your Long Course Loan to you at the same time they pay your Maintenance Loan.
This table shows the maximum weekly amount you can get:
| Where you're living while studying | Maximum amount per additional week | |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 to 2023 | 2023 to 2024 | |
| Living with parents | £69 | £71 |
| Living outside of London, away from home | £104 | £107 |
| Living in London, away from home | £134 | £138 |
| Living abroad | £144 | £148 |
It’s important you let us know if there are any changes to your living arrangements as it will affect your student finance. This is so we can make sure you get the right amount of student finance. You can update any changes in your online account.
How to apply
When you apply for student finance, you'll need to agree to Student Finance England's terms and conditions.
New students
The quickest and easiest way to apply is online atwww.gov.uk/studentfinanceas soon as the application service opens.
- Set up a student finance account
When you register, you’ll be given a unique Customer Reference Number, and will need to create a password and secret answer. You should keep these safe, as you’ll need them to log in to your account to check the progress of your application, and reapply for student finance next year. - Fill in and submit your application
The first time you apply, you’ll be asked for proof of identity. You can easily do this by providing your valid UK passport details. If you don’t have a UK passport, you may have to sendevidence.
If you want to apply for student finance that depends on your household income, Student Finance Englandwillask your parents or partner for their National Insurance number, and their personal income details. - Send any evidence you're askedfor
Student Finance England may contact you, or your parents/partner, to ask forevidenceto support your application. If you’ve had no contact with your parents for over a year, you might be able to apply as an ‘independent student’.
Continuing students
To reapply for student finance, log in to your student finance account and apply onlinewhen the service opens.
If you’re applying for the first time, you can do this online atwww.gov.uk/studentfinance.
How to change an application
You must tell Student Finance England about any change in your circ*mstances which might affect your student finance.
The most common examples are:
- you’ve changed university or college
- you’ve changed your course (but stayed at the same university)
- you’ve left your course
- your name or contact details have changed
Before your initial course start date, you can tell Student Finance Englandabout any changes by filling in a ‘Change of Circ*mstances’ form, which you can download fromyour online account.
After your course start date, you’ll need to ask your university or college to tell Student Finance England about any of the following changes:
- your tuition fee amount
- your course details
- your course intensity
- you repeat a year
- you leave higher education
- suspend your studies
How it's paid
You need to register at your university or college before Student Finance England can make your first payment.
You’ll usually do this in the first week of your course, and you may have to take along your student finance entitlement letter.
Student Finance Englandpays any Maintenance Loan and/or Maintenance Grant you can get directly into your bank account, in three instalments, usually at the start of each term.
You can find your expected payment dates in your online account, but some banks take longer to clear funds.
