Full-time Maintenance Loan

What's available

Students can apply for a Maintenance Loan to help with their living costs. How much they can get depends on where they live while studying. They can also apply for a higher amount that's based on their household income.

The following table shows the maximum Maintenance Loan amounts for courses that started after 1 August 2016.

Student's living arrangements Maximum Maintenance Loan for the 2023/24 academic year Maximum Maintenance Loan for the 2024/25 academic year
Living with parents £8,400 £8,610
Studying in London and not living with parents £13,022 £13,348
Studying outside London and not living with parents £9,978 £10,227
Living and studying abroad for at least one term as part of their UK course £11,427 £11,713

It's important that students let us know if there are any changes to their living arrangements as it will affect their student finance. This is so we can make sure they get the right amount of student finance. Students can make these changes in their online account.

Students may be eligible for more Maintenance Loan if they:

  • are 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
  • have a partner who is also a full-time student and one or both of them 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
  • have a disability and qualify for the Disability Living Allowance, Disability Premium or Severe Disability Premium
  • qualify for Personal Independence Payment or Armed Forces Independence Payment
  • are deaf and qualify for Disabled Student Allowance
  • have been treated as incapable of work for a continuous period of at least 28 weeks
  • have a disability and qualify for income-related Employment and Support Allowance
  • are 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
  • are studying a course that lasts longer than 30 weeks and three days in an academic year

 

Estranged students

Students can apply as an estranged student if:

 

  • they haven't had any contact with either of their biological/adoptive parents for 12 months or more; or
  • their relationship with their biological/adoptive parents has broken down within the last 12 months and they don't expect this to change in the near future

 

If they apply as an estranged student they won't need to send their parents' financial information. We'll only need the students financial information to work out how much they can get.

A student may also be assessed as estranged if they later stop contact with their 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 a student thinks they may be estranged then they can read the Stand Alone student finance guide at standalone.org.uk/guides/student-guide

As part of their application we'll ask if any of the above apply to the student and ask them to send evidence to prove their circumstances.

 

Care Leavers

Students who have been in the care of their local authority since the age of 16 may be able to apply for student finance as a care leaver.


Students in their final year of study

Students in their final year will get less Maintenance Loan than previous years. This is because, during study, student finance covers the break between academic years. Students are no longer entitled to financial support once their course has ended.