Living costs in other UK nations
If you live in Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland, the way you get financial support may be different. Follow the links below for SAAS, SFW, and SFNI:
Loans to help with living costs
You can get student finance to help towards your living costs while you’re at university or college.
What's on this page?
A Maintenance Loan can 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.
Starting a course in 2026
Applications for full-time and part-time undergraduate student finance are now open.
Apply now for courses starting between 31 August and 31 December.
Starting a course on or after 1 January 2027
If you’re starting a higher education course on or after 1 January 2027, you could apply for the Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE) student finance from September 2026. Find out more about LLE.
What's available?
Depending on your circumstances, you may be able to apply for a Maintenance Loan. We’ll ask for information based on your household income if you apply for the maximum amount of Maintenance Loan.
Students who receive State Benefits, and are entitled to get 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 element.
Part-time students: How much you can get depends on where you live and study, your course intensity, and your household income. Student Finance England's guide to how you're assessed and paid explains how they work out what you can get.
Care leavers: If you’re a care leaver, we won’t use your household income when calculating how much Maintenance Loan you can get. You’ll be eligible for the maximum amount depending on where you’re living and studying.
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.
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.
Full-time courses starting from 1 August 2016
| Maximum Maintenance Loan for the 2026/27 academic year | Maximum Maintenance Loan for the 2025/26 academic year | |
|---|---|---|
| Living with parents | Up to £9,118 | Up to £8,877 |
| Studying in London, and not living with parents | Up to £14,135 | Up to £13,762 |
| Studying outside London, and not living with parents | Up to £10,830 | Up to £10,544 |
| Living and studying abroad as part of your UK course | Up to £12,403 | Up to £12,076 |
- If you're studying the final year of your course, you'll get less Maintenance Loan:
| Maximum final year Maintenance Loan for the 2026/27 academic year | Maximum final year Maintenance Loan for the 2025/26 academic year | |
|---|---|---|
| Living with parents | Up to £8,579 | Up to £8,353 |
| Studying in London, and not living with parents | Up to £13,096 | Up to £12,750 |
| Studying outside of London, and not living with parents | Up to £10,242 | Up to £9,972 |
| Living and studying abroad as part of your UK course | Up to £11,103 | Up to £10,810 |
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 higher education 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 higher education 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.
Part-time courses from 1 August 2018
For the 2026/27 academic year
| Study intensity | Living with parents | Studying in London, and not living with parents | Studying outside London, and not living with parents | Overseas |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100% | £9,118 | £14,135 | £10,830 | £12,403 |
| 75% to 100% | £6,838.50 | £10,601.25 | £8,122.50 | £9,302.25 |
| 66.6% to 75% | £6,072.59 | £9,413.91 | £7,212.78 | £8,260.40 |
| 50% to 66.6% | £4,559 | £7,067.50 | £5,415 | £6,201.50 |
| 33.3% to 50% | £3,036.29 | £4,706.96 | £3,606.39 | £4,130.20 |
| 25% to 33.3% | £2,279.50 | £3,533.75 | £2,707.50 | £3,100.75 |
You must be studying at a course intensity of at least 25% to get a Maintenance Loan.
You’ll also need to know the number of module credits you will gain in the academic year when you apply. If you’re not sure of your module credits or course intensity, you should check with your university or college.
Long Courses Loan
If your course lasts longer than 30 weeks and three days, you might be able to get a Long Courses 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 Courses 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 will work out whether you can get a Long Courses Loan when you apply for your main student finance. They’ll pay your Long Courses 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 | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 to 2027 | 2025 to 2026 | |
| Living with parents | £77 | £75 |
| Studying outside of London, living away from parents | £116 | £113 |
| Studying in London, living away from parents | £149 | £145 |
| Living and studying abroad | £161 | £157 |
Eligibility
Whether you can get student finance depends on your:
- personal circumstances
- your nationality or residency status
- course
- course intensity (part-time students)
- your university/college and course
Find more details about eligibility on the GOV.UK website.
How to apply
New students
- 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 send evidence.
If you want to apply for student finance that depends on your household income, Student Finance England will ask your parents or partner for their National Insurance number, and their personal income details. - Send any evidence you're asked for
Student Finance England may contact you, or your parents/partner, to ask for evidence to 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, sign in to your student finance account and apply online.
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 show them your student finance notification of entitlement.
- Student Finance England pays any Maintenance Loan 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.
How to change an application
You must tell Student Finance England about any change in your circumstances 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 England about any changes by filling in a ‘Change of Circumstances’ form, which you can download from your 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
Guide to Student Finance England
If this is your first time applying, you can use Student Finance England’s guide to help you understand how student finance works.