Student finance guidance for parents and partners

While at university or college, your child or partner will have two main costs – tuition fees and living costs. They can apply for student finance to help with both.

All eligible students can get a:

• Tuition Fee Loan to cover the full cost of the fees charged by their university or college
• basic rate of Maintenance Loan to help with living costs, such as rent and bills

The basic rate of Maintenance Loan doesn’t depend on your household income, but they can apply for more that does. Any loans they borrow have to be paid back, but not until they’ve finished or left their course, and their income is over the repayment threshold.

There is extra support available for students who have a disability, including a long-term health condition, mental health condition, or specific learning difficulty, or students who have children or an adult dependant who depends on them financially. These don’t usually have to be paid back.

A student’s university or college may also offer bursaries, scholarships, or other kinds of financial help – it’s always worth checking with them too.

You might need to give Student Finance England information about your income if your child or partner has applied for student finance that’s based on your household income.

You’ll be asked to give us your National Insurance number to support an application, so we can get your income details from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). We’ll use your household income for the tax year: 

• 2022-23 if you’re supporting a student’s 2024 to 2025 application
• 2021-22 if you’re supporting a student’s 2023 to 2024 application

You’ll need to let us know if you have:

• paid into private pensions
• made additional voluntary contributions
• children (other than the student) who depend on you financially

If you don't have a National Insurance number, then you’ll need to complete a paper form and provide supporting documents to show how much you’ve earned.

Your information will be used to work out if your child or partner can get extra Maintenance Loan on top of the basic Maintenance Loan.

If your income in the current tax year is likely to be at least 15% lower than the previous tax year, Student Finance England can assess your household income on what you estimate your income will be.

Supporting your child's application

If you’re supporting your child’s application, your household income is the combined income of you and:

• your child
• your spouse
• your partner 

If you’re married, Student Finance England will need information from your spouse even if you don’t live together, or they’re not the student’s parent.

If you live with your partner, they’ll need to give Student Finance England their information even if you weren't living together during the tax year being asked about.

If you’re separated or divorced, your child should tell us who they live with or have most contact with. If they spend an equal amount of time with both of their parents, they’ll be asked to pick who will support their application.

Remember, household income is based on your circumstances at the start of the academic year. This means that if you get married or start living with your partner before the start of the academic year, Student Finance England will need their details.

Household income doesn’t include any income the student might have from working themselves.

Supporting your spouse or partner’s application 

If your spouse or partner is applying for student finance, the household income is made up of your income only.

Household income doesn’t include any income the student might have from working themselves.

Once your child or partner has applied for student finance that depends on your household income, you’ll get an email within 24 hours with a link to submit your details.

You’ll need to create an account if you haven’t already got one. You must use your own account – you can’t use the same account as your child or partner. You should only give Student Finance England your details – if you live with a partner, they’ll ask for their details separately.

If you've given Student Finance England your details close to your child or partner's course starting, take a look at the process on what happens next.

Student Finance England might ask you to send evidence about your household income.

You can submit an estimate of your financial details for the current tax year, if you think your household income will be at least 15% lower than the previous tax year. Read Student Finance England's guide to find out how to do this, and to download a Current Year Income (CYI) application form.

Supporting a continuing student

You need to provide your details every year of your child or partner’s course. 

Your child or partner needs to reapply for student finance each year. When they reapply, you’ll get an email within 24 hours. The email will have a link to sign in to your account, where you can support their application with your details.

You usually don’t need to send Student Finance England evidence of your household income as they check your details with HRMC. They may contact you to ask for evidence of:

• your marital status – if you’re separated or divorced
• your income – if you’re living abroad or finalising your current year income assessment
• private pension and additional voluntary contributions

Don’t worry if this happens – it’s just part of their checks to make sure your child or partner gets the correct amount of funding they’re entitled to.

You should only upload financial evidence they ask for – they’ll destroy these securely once they’ve checked them. Uploading financial evidence, such as a P60, when this wasn’t requested will cause delays to the student getting their money.

If you have already uploaded a P60 when you weren’t asked for one, you should now provide your financial details online or complete a PFF2 form. 

It takes six to eight weeks to process applications, so it’s important you upload any evidence Student Finance England needs as soon as possible, so your child or partner gets the correct amount of money in time for the start of their course.

Once your part is complete, it can take six to eight weeks to process applications. 

Your child or partner will be able to track the progress of their application by logging into their online account and using their status tracker.