Eligibility

Whether you qualify for student finance depends on:

  • your university or college
  • your course
  • if you’ve studied a higher education course before
  • your age
  • your nationality or residency status

Your university or college

This should be a university, college or other institution that offers a qualifying course.

Your course

Check with your university or college if you’re not sure whether your course qualifies for funding.

If you’re studying full-time

You may be eligible for student finance if your course is in the UK and one of the following:

  • a first degree, for example BA, BSc or BEd
  • a Foundation Degree
  • a Certificate of Higher Education
  • a Diploma of Higher Education (DipHE)
  • a Higher National Certificate (HNC)
  • a Higher National Diploma (HND)
  • an Initial Teacher Training course
  • an integrated master’s degree
  • a pre-registration postgraduate healthcare course
  • a level 4 or 5 course with Higher Technical Qualification approval

Check on the student finance calculator to find out which loans and grants you could be eligible for.

If you’re studying part-time

Your course needs a ‘course intensity’ of 25% or more for you to be eligible for student finance.

You may be eligible for a Tuition Fee Loan if your course is in the UK and one of the following:

  • a first degree, for example BA, BSc or BEd
  • a Foundation Degree
  • a Certificate of Higher Education
  • a Diploma of Higher Education (DipHE)
  • a Higher National Certificate (HNC)
  • a Higher National Diploma (HND)
  • an Initial Teacher Training course
  • an integrated master’s degree
  • a level 4 or 5 course with Higher Technical Qualification approval

You may be eligible for a Maintenance Loan if your course is in the UK and one of the following:

  • a first degree, for example BA, BSc or BEd
  • an Initial Teacher Training course (if it’s degree level or above)
  • an integrated master’s degree
  • a Foundation Degree in dental hygiene and dental therapy
  • a DipHE in dental hygiene and dental therapy or operating department practice
  • a level 4 or 5 course with Higher Technical Qualification approval

You are not eligible for student finance if you’re doing a Degree Apprenticeship.

If you’ve studied before

You’ll usually only get student finance if you’re doing your first higher education qualification - even if your previous course was self-funded. You may still be eligible for limited funding in certain circumstances and for some courses.

If you changed course, stopped your studies or are repeating a year

If you stopped your course within the first year, you’ll get funding for the same course or a new course when you go back.

You might also get funding if you:

  • suspended your course or withdrew before it finished - and you’re going back to study any course
  • are repeating a year of your course at the same university, college, or institution.

If you stopped your studies for a personal reason (for example, you were ill or pregnant) you might get funding for all of your course - you should apply online with supporting evidence.

You can calculate the amount you will get by taking the total number of years of the course you are applying for and adding one year. Then take away the number of years you studied for. If you studied for part of a year you should count it as a whole year.

Example

If you are applying for a 3 year course and have studied 5 months of a different course, you’ll get 3 years of funding.

If you are applying for a 4 year course and have studied 2 years of a different course, you’ll get 3 years of funding.

If you already have a degree

You may be eligible for limited funding in certain circumstances.

You may get limited funding if you’re ‘topping up’ a higher education qualification, for example you’ve finished an HNC, HND or Foundation Degree and now want to do an Honours degree.

You may also get limited funding if you hold an Honours degree or a higher level of qualification and start a new course. This could be a part-time Honours degree, a joint Honours degree or an Integrated Master’s degree in one of the following (or 2 if it’s a joint Honours degree):

  • agriculture and related subjects
  • architecture (if it’s a MArch RIBA Part 2 course)
  • biological sciences
  • computer science
  • mathematical sciences
  • medicine and allied subjects
  • physical sciences
  • technologies
  • courses leading to qualification as a veterinary surgeon

You could also be eligible if you’re starting a healthcare course on or after 1 August 2017.

Your age

There’s no upper age limit for Tuition Fee Loans or grants.

If you’re 60 or over

You may get limited funding for Maintenance Loans if all of the following apply:

  • you’re 60 or over on the first day of the first academic year of your course
  • you’re studying full-time
  • your course started on or after 1 August 2016

The amount you can apply for depends on your household income.

Your nationality or residency status

You may be able to get help with:

  • your tuition fees and living costs (full support)
  • tuition fees (tuition fee-only funding)

The type of help you can get depends on your nationality and residency status.

When you’re eligible for full support

You can apply for full support if all the following apply:

  • you’re a UK national or Irish citizen or have ‘settled status’ (no restrictions on how long you can stay)
  • you normally live in England
  • you’ve been living in the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for 3 years in a row before the first day of the first academic year of your course (apart from temporary absences such as holidays)

You may be eligible for full support if you’re a UK national who:

  • was living in the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein on 31 December 2020, or returned to the UK between 1 January 2018 and 31 December 2020 immediately after living in the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein
  • has been living in the UK, the EU, Gibraltar, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein for 3 years in a row immediately before the first day of the first academic year of your course

If you’re a family member of the UK national, you may also be eligible for full support so long as you also meet these requirements.

You may also be eligible if your residency status is one of the following:

  • refugee (including family members)
  • humanitarian protection (including family members)
  • migrant worker or frontier worker from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein (including family members) with settled or pre-settled status
  • child of a Swiss national and you and your parent have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme
  • child of a Turkish worker who has permission to stay in the UK - you and your Turkish worker parent must have been living in the UK by 31 December 2020
  • a stateless person (including family members)
  • an unaccompanied child granted ‘Section 67 leave’ under the Dubs Amendment
  • a child who is under the protection of someone granted ‘Section 67 leave’, who is also allowed to stay in the UK for the same period of time as the person responsible for them (known as ‘leave in line’)
  • granted ‘Calais leave’ to remain
  • a child of someone granted ‘Calais leave’ to remain, who is also allowed to stay in the UK for the same period of time as their parent (known as ‘leave in line’)
  • you or your parent have been given settled status (‘indefinite leave to remain’) because you or your parent have been the victim of domestic violence
  • you or your parent have been given settled status (‘indefinite leave to remain’) as a bereaved partner
  • you or your family member have been granted leave under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) or the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS)
  • you or your family member have been granted leave to enter or remain in the UK under the Ukraine Family Scheme, the Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme or the Ukraine Extension Scheme

You could also be eligible if you’re not a UK national and are either:

  • under 18 and have lived in the UK for at least 7 years
  • 18 or over and have lived in the UK for at least 20 years (or at least half of your life)

You must have been living in the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for 3 years in a row before the first day of the first academic year of your course. You must have had a form of leave to enter or remain during this time.

When you’re eligible for tuition fee-only funding

You can apply for tuition fee-only funding if you have one of the following:

  • pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme and you’re an EU national or the family member of an EU national

  • Irish citizenship

You must have been living in the UK, the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland for 3 years in a row before the first day of the first academic year of your course.

You may also be eligible for tuition fee-only funding if either of the following apply to you:

  • you’ve lived in Gibraltar or the other British Overseas Territories
  • you’re a person of Chagossian descent and have British citizenship
  • you’re the family member of a person with settled status and you’ve lived in the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man for 3 years in a row before the first day of the first academic year of your course

Use the student finance calculator to see what finance you can get.

Apply

Apply for student finance or find out how to apply.

  1. Step 1 Check if you're eligible

  2. Step 2 Find out how much loan you could get

    Find out the maximum tuition fee and maintenance loan you could get if you're a:

    How much maintenance loan you get depends on where you'll study and your household income.

    1. Use the student finance calculator to estimate your maintenance loan

    You'll have to pay back any loan you get.

    1. Find out how much you'll repay
    2. Find out when you'll start repaying
  3. and Check if you can get extra help

  4. Step 3 Prepare your application

  5. Step 4 Apply

    1. Apply online

    You'll need to create a student finance account if you're a new student or sign into an existing account if you're a returning student.

    It can take up to 6 weeks to process your application. You might have to provide extra evidence.

  6. Step 5 Update your details if your circumstances change

    You must update your application if your circumstances change. For example if you:

    • change your course through clearing
    • change where you're going to live - for example with your parents instead of halls
    1. Find out how to update your application
  7. Step 6 Make sure you can be paid

    After you register at your university or college you'll usually get your maintenance loan paid directly into your bank account at the start of each term.

    Use your student finance account to:

    • update your bank details - for example if you open a student account
    • check how much you'll be paid
    • check when you'll be paid
    1. Sign in to your student finance account
  8. Step 7 Check what to do while you're studying

    You'll need to reapply for student finance for each year of your course.

    You must keep your details up to date throughout your course because some changes can affect your loan payments, for example if your household income or bank details change.

    1. Check how to update your details
    2. Find out what to do if you suspend or leave your course
  9. Step 8 Check what to do when you stop studying

    When you stop studying the Student Loans Company (SLC) will create a student loans repayment account for you.

    Make sure your contact details are up to date in your repayment account. The log in details will be the same as for your student finance account.

    1. Sign in to your student loan repayment account
    2. Update your employment details
  10. Step 9 Repay your loan