Student loans

As their name suggests, Tuition Fee Loans pay for your tuition fees while you’re at university. They are paid directly to the university by the Student Loans Company, so, once your loan has been approved, you won’t have to worry about remembering to pay your fees.

You need to apply to your relevant funding body for your Tuition Fee Loan, by filling in an online application. You don’t need to have been accepted on a course or made a firm decision about where you’d like to study when you apply for funding - you can use the details of the course you’re most likely to attend initially and can amend this at a later date if you need to.

Funding bodies:

• Student Finance England
• Student Finance Wales
• Student Awards Agency for Scotland
• Student Finance Northern Ireland

A Maintenance Loan is designed to contribute towards your living costs, such as accommodation, food, transport, bills and other day-to-day expenses, while you’re at university. These loans are only available to students who have been living permanently in the UK for at least the last three years. Both full and part-time courses are eligible, excluding distance learning courses (unless you are studying long distance due to a disability).

The first 45% of your loan will be the same regardless of your background, while the remaining 55% is means-tested (based on your household income). 

The Maintenance Loan amounts for September 2025 entry not yet known. The below are the figures for 2024/25 entry as a 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.

All students, even those from the highest income backgrounds, are entitled to a level of Maintenance Loan support. You need to apply for your Maintenance Loan through one of the four funding bodies listed above. Once your loan is approved, you will receive it in three instalments, typically one payment each term/semester. The Student Loans Company will pay it directly into your bank account. 

UK students undertaking a year in placement are generally entitled to a reduced Maintenance Loan. The level of loan is fixed (i.e. it isn’t means tested). The figures for September 2024 entry were:

• Students living in the parental home - £2,324
• Students undertaking their placement in London - £4,350
• Students undertaking their placement elsewhere (including overseas) - £3,098

The above bandings relate to both paid and unpaid placements.

Exceptionally, if you are undertaking an unpaid placement with a hospital, local health authority related to childcare or a prison, then you may be entitled to claim the full support of increased loan and maintenance grant. Please contact Student Finance if you think your placement may apply to one of the above.

If you are joining us from Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Channel Islands or the Isle of Man, please see the relevant funding bodies for details of Maintenance support.

Students from the Channel Islands and Isle of Man are subject to different funding arrangements to mainland UK students, and are not eligible for the Maintenance Loan, BU Maintenance Bursary or BU Financial Support Fund.

For information on the support available for tuition fees and living costs, you should contact your island education offices:

• Guernsey Government website
• Jersey Government website
• Isle of Man Government website

If you have previously studied at degree level, your eligibility for the Tuition Fee Loan and other financial support may be affected. Time spent in Higher Education will be deducted from the number of years remaining in your eligibility for funding. Please be aware that even partial years will count as one year of your funding entitlement used. Usually, you are only eligible for funding for your first undergraduate degree with one additional year if required. You can find out more about this on the UCAS website.

In some cases, if you are joining certain health courses, you may receive funding for a second degree.

You can usually apply for your funding from February/March and we recommend that you do so as soon as possible. This enables your funding authority to make a decision about the value of your loans and ensures you will receive your money at the start of term. Sign up to receive updates from Student Finance England.

Apply online. 

Your student loan will usually be paid once you have enrolled, but can take a week or two to come through after the start of term, so it’s sensible to budget for this.

The good news about tuition fee and maintenance loans is that you don’t have to repay either of them until you have graduated and are in full-time employment earning more than £25,000 a year, £2,083 a month or £480 a week (current threshold figure).

No student loan repayments will be taken until at least the April after you graduate, and only then if you are earning over the threshold. Once you hit this pay threshold, 9% of your income over the threshold will be deducted to go towards your student loan. This will be deducted at source, like tax, so it will automatically come out of your wages each month.

You’ll only have one repayment to make, as the Student Loans Company will combine the totals of your tuition fee and maintenance loans once you graduate. After 40 years, your loans will be written off, regardless of how much you have paid back.

If you leave the UK after you graduate, you need to inform the Student Loans Company of your new address and profession. The repayment thresholds vary outside the UK, so it is sensible to check these if you plan to settle outside the country.

Your student loan is not taken into consideration when calculating your credit rating. It therefore will not affect your ability to take out a mortgage, or any other form of loan later in your life.

If you’d like to find out more, MoneySavingExpert’s Mythbusting article looks at the realities of student loans and repayments in further detail.