Living costs for full-time students
You can get student finance to help towards your living costs while you’re at university or college. Content provided by Student Finance England.
You can get student finance to help towards your living costs while you’re at university or college. Content provided by Student Finance England.
Full-time undergraduate applications for 2024 to 2025 are now open!
Apply online now, it takes less than 30 minutes to complete.
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.
The following information is for full-time students – find out about help with living costs for part-time students.
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.
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.
How much you can get depends on when you started your course, where you live, and your household income.
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.
Maximum Maintenance Loan for the 2024/25 academic year | Maximum Maintenance Loan for the 2023/24 academic year | |
---|---|---|
Living with parents | Up to £8,610 | Up to £8,400 |
Studying in London, and not living with parents | Up to £13,348 | Up to £13,022 |
Studying outside London, and not living with parents | Up to £10,227 | Up to £9,978 |
Living and studying abroad as part of your UK course | Up to £11,713 | Up to £11,427 |
If you're studying the final year of your course, you'll get less Maintenance Loan.
Maximum final year Maintenance Loan for the 2024/25 academic year | Maximum final year Maintenance Loan for the 2023/24 academic year | |
---|---|---|
Living with parents | Up to £8,102 | Up to £7,904 |
Studying in London, and not living with parents | Up to £12,367 | Up to £12,065 |
Studying outside of London, and not living with parents | Up to £9,672 | Up to £9,436 |
Living and studying abroad as part of your UK course | Up to £10,485 | Up to £10,229 |
You might be able to get extra Maintenance Loan if any of the following apply while you're on your course:
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:
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.
If your course lasts longer than 30 weeks and three days, you might be able to get a Long Course 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 Course 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 Course Loan when you apply for your main student finance.
They’ll pay your Long Course 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 | |
---|---|---|
2024 to 2025 | 2023 to 2024 | |
Living with parents | £73 | £71 |
Living outside of London, away from home | £110 | £107 |
Living in London, away from home | £141 | £138 |
Living abroad | £152 | £148 |
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 undergraduate applications for 2024 to 2025 are now open!
Apply online now, it takes less than 30 minutes to complete.
When you apply for student finance, you'll need to agree to Student Finance England's terms and conditions.
It’s important to apply as soon as possible so your funding is in place for starting your course.
You should re-apply online as soon as possible to get some money in time for starting your course.
You must tell Student Finance England about any change in your circumstances which might affect your student finance.
The most common examples are:
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:
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 take along your student finance entitlement letter.
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.