The UK government offers loans to help students pay for their studies through Student Finance England (SFE). This page provides an overview of the types of loans and funding available, as well as the eligibility criteria.
What's available?
There are student loans available for undergraduate and postgraduate students. These cover or contribute to tuition fees and living expenses. There are also additional allowances available for students with disabilities or children.
STUDENT LOANS
Undergraduate
If you have home fee status, there are two loans available to you through SFE for Undergraduates:
Tuition Fee Loan
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This covers the cost of your tuition fees for each academic year. You will not receive this money directly, instead SFE pays this to the university.
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Usually fixed amount of £9250
Maintenance Loan
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Contributes to your costs for studying at university including, transport, accommodation, food and study materials.
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You will need to apply for this and complete a means-tested form which will evaluate your household income, location and course duration.
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You can receive up to £13,348 (2024/5)
Postgraduate
If you have home fee status, there are loans available to you through SFE for Postgraduates:
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The Master's loan covers up to £12,471 (2024/5)
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The Doctoral loan covers up to £29,390 (2024/25)
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The loans are designed to contribute to both the cost of tuition fees and, your day to day expenses.
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The money is paid directly to you and it is your responsibility to allocate it to your costs accordingly
Please note, it is important to check the cost of your tuition fees for a Masters course and whether the loan offered can cover this cost alongside your living expenses.
You will need to reapply for Student Finance each year of your studies, but don’t worry as they provide lots of email reminders so long as you keep an eye out.
If you would like to know how much you can receive, use the Student Finance Calculator on the gov.uk website.
Additional Allowances
There is also additional funding for studentswho have a disability or dependent child and are on low-income. This funding is not a loan therefore you do not need to repay it.
Students with disabilities
Undergraduate and postgraduate students can apply for the Disabled Student's Allowance (DSA), if your disability affects your ability to study. Examples include, but are not limited to:
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specific learning difficulty, e.g., dyslexia or ADHD
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mental health condition, e.g., anxiety or depression
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physical disability, e.g., if you have to use crutches, a wheelchair or a special keyboard
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sensory disability, e.g., if you’re visually impaired, deaf or have a hearing impairment
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long-term health condition, e.g., cancer, chronic heart disease or HIV
To be eligible you will need to:
Your household income does not affect how much DSA you receive. If your course is longer than one year, you shouldn’t need to reapply for the DSA for each year unless your circumstances change and require another needs assessment e.g., changing mode of study, course or your disability.
Students with children
Undergraduates in England are able to apply for the Parents' Learning Allowance (PLA), if:
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you have dependent children
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you are taking a full-time or Initial Teacher Training (ITT) course
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your household income is less than £18,835.98 per year (2024/25)
Please note you do not need to be paying for childcare to be eligible.
This funding is designed to support undergraduate students with dependent children, and in order to receive funding for each year of study you must reapply each academic year.
Can you apply?
Your eligibility for funding or loans from Student Finance England (SFE) depends on factors, such as where you live and your course.
Most importantly, you will need to have Home fee status. Generally, this will be the case for most UK residents but, most EU students starting new courses (2024/25) will not be eligible. There are some exceptional circumstances which you can read about below.
Home Students
Students are classified as 'Home' students, if you:
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Are a UK national with settled status i.e., there are no restrictions on how long you can stay in the UK
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Have lived in the UK for at least 3 years before your course start date
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Are ‘ordinarily resident’ in the UK
Temporary absences from the UK are acceptable, but there are no fixed criteria for what counts as a temporary absence. Instead, Student Finance Funding bodies make all of the eligibility decisions on a case-by-case basis although their decisions can be appealed.
Although a majority of students who have Home Fee Status are eligible for SFE, you can read more about the other requirements for Undergraduate SFE and Postgraduate SFE.
EU Students
Since 1st August 2021, most EU students living outside the UK will not be eligible for home fees and student finance funding. This means you must apply for a student visa and will no longer be able to get a tuition fee loan from the UK. You are likely to be charged the same tuition fees as other international students.
However, some EU students may be eligible for Home fee status but they must have a pre-settled or settled status under the EU settlement scheme. This is often if you are joining a family member in the UK.
Eligibility rules for Home Fee Status offers more detailed information into the criteria.
Extra Year of support
If you have exceeded the number of years of funding you have, and need to apply for an extra year of funding you can complete a Compelling Personal Reasons (CPR) form.
Common reasons for applying include:
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mental health
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illness
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bereavement
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pregnancy
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a caring responsibility
This list does not include all acceptable reasons. They review each application on an individual basis. However, applications cannot be based on:
You will need to send a cover letter with your customer reference number (CRN); explaining the situation and how it affected your studies. You should include official evidence such as:
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a letter on headed paper from a professional person, such as a doctor or a social worker, who can confirm the situation
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a letter on headed paper from someone at your university or college who can confirm your situation and when you left the course
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photocopies of birth or death certificates
It can take 6 – 8 weeks to process your application and let you know the outcome.
You can read more about how to apply on 'Going back to uni or repeating a year'
Fee Remission
In very exceptional circumstances the university may offer a fee remission, if students experience a serious and sudden change in their financial situation during their course.
This means that, when starting your course, you were confident in your ability to pay your fees but, are no longer able to do so. The maximum remission available is 80% of the outstanding fees.
You will need to meet certain criteria, of which here are some – but not all:
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Be fully enrolled and if required have a valid CAS or visa from the University
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Demonstrate you have made every reasonable effort to meet your fees from other sources, e.g., evidence of completing, or actively seeking paid part-time work
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A single remission of fees should be sufficient to permit you to complete your programme without further financial support from the University
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Have adhered to the Student Code of Conduct throughout your programme, and engaged with your studies
The University will not normally consider currency fluctuations as valid reasons for sudden changes.
You will need to complete and send your application with evidence within the application window, this closes 2 weeks prior to the panel date. You can find the full list of Panel dates for 2024/25, and all the criteria on the Fee Remission Application Information.