Guidance for students going through Clearing
Whether you go through Clearing after getting your exam results or you’ve not yet applied for university or college, you need to make sure your student finance is sorted.
Applies to England
If you’ve not applied for student finance yet
If you’re thinking of going to uni or college this year, you should apply for student finance as soon as possible. It’s easy to apply and only takes around 30 minutes. Just use your first choice of course and then change your application if you need to.
If you apply late your money might be late. Find out more about applying late.
If you’re applying for a higher amount of student finance that’s based on your household income, make sure to ask your parents or partner to provide their financial information as soon as possible to avoid delays to your application.
Your funding
Once you submit your application, we may award you the minimum amount of Maintenance Loan while we process your household income details. This is to make sure you get some money for the start of your course.
Once we’ve processed your household income details you’ll get the rest of your money as soon as possible after your course starts
Find out the minimum amount of Maintenance Loan:
| Living location | Minimum amount of Maintenance Loan | Maximum amount of Maintenance Loan* |
|---|---|---|
| Living with parents | £3,698 | £8,400 |
| Not living with parents and studying outside London | £4,651 | £9,978 |
| Not living with parents and studying in London | £6,485 | £13,022 |
| You spend a year of a UK course studying abroad | £5,524 | £11,427 |
*Maximum amount of Maintenance Loan is based on the household income
Use our student finance calculator to find out how much you could be entitled to for the 2023 to 2024 academic year. There are different rates if you spend a year of a UK course studying abroad.
When will I get paid?
To pay your Maintenance Loan, we’ll need:
- confirmation of registration from your university or college
- your National Insurance Number
- valid UK bank details
We pay the Maintenance Loan over 3 payments which are split at 33%, 33% and 34%. Payments are usually made at the start of each term.
Example
Olivia is studying at Newcastle University and living in student accommodation. She applied too late for her student finance to be based on her household income before the start of her course. She’s been awarded the minimum Maintenance Loan of £4,651, which means her first payment of 33% is £1,534.
6 weeks after Olivia applied, her household income of £35,000 was processed. Now she qualifies for an additional Maintenance Loan of £3,901. We will pay Olivia the difference of £1,288 which was missed from her first payment. Her second payment will now be £2,822 and third payment will be £2,908 to reflect her new entitlement.
If you’ve already applied for student finance
You won’t need to do anything unless your living location, university, college or course details change.
If your university, college or course changes
If you accept a place at university or college through Clearing, you’ll need to sign in to your student finance account and let us know of any changes. You must do this even if your UCAS application has changed - your student finance application is not linked to UCAS.
Sign in to change your applicaiton
You’ll need to change the university or college on the application as well as your course. You should also tell us the correct tuition fee being charged for your new course. For step by step guidance on how to change your application online check out our ‘how to’ guide.
If your living situation changes
It’s important that you update where you’ll be living on your application if this has changed, otherwise you might not get the right amount of Maintenance Loan.
You can update your living location through your online account. You’ll be asked to confirm where you will spend most of your time during the academic year under the ‘change your university/college and course’ section.
Check out our tutorial for guidance on how to make changes to your application.
Example
Toby applied for student finance to go to his first choice, Manchester University, which meant he would have to move away from home and live in student accommodation. Based on his course and living location he was awarded the maximum Maintenance Loan of £9,978.
On A-level results day Toby did not get the grades he expected and was offered a place at Birmingham University through Clearing, this means Toby will be able to live at home with his parents while he studies.
While Toby updated his university and course details online, he also told us about the change to his living location. After 6 weeks, we reassessed his entitlement and he now qualifies for the maximum Maintenance Loan of £8,400 for living at home.
Making changes to your application
Check out our walk-through film to find out how easy it is to update your student finance application online.
How to change your student finance application
For full-time students, follow these easy steps:
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Sign in to your online account
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Click ‘Undergraduate student finance applications’
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Select the application you wish to change
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Under the heading ‘Manage your student finance’, click ‘View and manage your applications’
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Click ‘Change your application’ and then click again
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Click ‘University/college and course’
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Click ‘Submit’ once you’ve entered and confirmed your changes
If you’re unable to make the changes online, you can upload a completed CO1 Form to your online account and we can make these changes for you.
Find more guidance on how to change your application for part-time and EU students.
It can take 6 to 8 weeks to approve any new applications or changes to existing applications. It’s important to apply or make changes as soon as possible.
After you’ve updated your application
We’ll review your application and let you know if there’s any change to the amount of student finance you’ll be paid.
If your application is based on your household income, make sure your parents or partner give us their income details as soon as possible. Don’t forget, you could also get more student finance if your household income has dropped.
If you’ve been awarded the minimum amount of Maintenance Loan to begin with, once your household income has been processed we’ll pay any money owed to you from the start of the course. Payments usually take 3 to 5 working days after your account is updated - you don’t need to wait till your next payment date.
If you’re a parent or partner of someone who’s applying for student finance
You’ll need to support their application with details of your household income so they can get as much student finance as possible. Visit our guide for more information on how to support an application.
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Last updated 4 July 2023 + show all updates
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Information updated for 2023 academic year.
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If your living situation changes - added information on where and how to make this change online.
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Added "How to change your student finance application" film
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Updated academic years and figures to match
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Updated change of circumstances film to updated 2021 version.
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Published updated guidance for students going through Clearing in academic year 2021 to 2022. Includes new Maintenance Loan amounts and guidance on how to change an application and what this means for a student's entitlement.
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First published.