Student Finance England, explained simply.

What Student Finance England covers

Student Finance England (SFE) is the government body that funds higher education for eligible students in England. For most people starting an undergraduate course, it provides two things: a tuition fee loan that pays your course fees, and a maintenance loan that helps with living costs. You don't pay anything upfront, and you only start repaying once you're earning above a set threshold.

The tuition fee loan

The tuition fee loan covers the cost of your course, up to £9,790 per year for 2026/27 at most institutions (this is the maximum; figures change yearly, so always confirm on gov.uk). You never handle this money — it's paid directly from Student Finance to your university or college. That means you can study for a degree without ever receiving a tuition bill.

• Available to eligible full-time and part-time undergraduates.
• Doesn't depend on your household income — everyone eligible can get the full amount.
• Repaid together with the maintenance loan, on the same income-based terms.

The maintenance loan

The maintenance loan helps with living costs — rent, bills, food, travel and study materials. It's paid in three instalments across the year, straight into your bank account, usually at the start of each term. Unlike the tuition loan, the amount depends on your circumstances:

• Where you live and study. The highest rates are for students living away from home and studying in London; lower rates apply if you live at home or study outside London.
• Household income. The full amount is means-tested — lower household income generally means a larger maintenance loan.
• Your age and status. Mature and independent students are usually assessed on their own (and any partner's) income rather than their parents'.

Who qualifies for Student Finance

Eligibility comes down to three things: your course, your residency and immigration status, and your previous study. Here's a quick guide to the groups we're most often asked about.

Residency and immigration status

To qualify for a tuition fee loan, you generally need to be "ordinarily resident" in England on the first day of your course and to have lived in the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man for three years before it starts. Additional routes and exceptions apply to particular groups, including refugees, people with certain forms of humanitarian protection, and some family members of UK nationals or settled persons.

Because status is the area where applications most often go wrong, it's the first thing we check. Getting it right the first time avoids rejections and delays that can push back your funding — and your start date.

Part-time and full-time study

Full-time students can apply for both a tuition fee loan and a maintenance loan. Part-time students can apply for a tuition fee loan, and — if the course is intensive enough (usually at least 25% of an equivalent full-time course) — may also qualify for a maintenance loan. Part-time study is a popular route for people balancing work and family, and it's fully fundable in many cases.

Second degrees and previous study

If you already hold a degree, standard funding is usually not available for a second one — but there are important exceptions:

• ELQ exemptions. Certain subjects (for example some healthcare, teaching and STEM courses) are exempt from the "equivalent or lower qualification" rule.
• Top-up degrees. If you hold an HND or Foundation Degree, a one-year top-up to honours can often be funded.
• Compelling Personal Reasons (CPR). If a previous course was left incomplete due to illness or other serious circumstances, extra funded years may be granted.
• Change of career into shortage areas. Some routes exist specifically to retrain into high-need professions.

How many years of Student Finance can you get?

As a general rule, Student Finance England funds the length of your course, plus one extra "gift" year, minus any years of higher education you've studied before — whether or not you were funded for them, and whether or not you finished.

A simple way to think about it: funded years = course length + 1 − previous years of study. So for a standard three-year degree you'd typically have up to four years of tuition-fee funding to draw on. A foundation year counts as one of those years, which is why foundation-year routes are still fully fundable for most people starting fresh.

What does "independent student" mean for Student Finance?

Your maintenance loan is means-tested on household income. For most younger students that means their parents' income. But if you're assessed as an independent student, only your own income (and a partner's, if you have one) is counted — your parents' income is ignored entirely.

You're generally treated as independent if any of these apply:

• You're 25 or older on the first day of the academic year.
• You're married or in a civil partnership (or have been).
• You have supported yourself for at least three years before your course (through work or benefits).
• You have responsibility for a child, or you're estranged from your parents.

Is Student Finance means-tested? Household income thresholds explained

The tuition fee loan is not means-tested — every eligible student can get the full amount, whatever the household income. It's only the maintenance loan (your living-costs money) that's means-tested.

Here's how the means test works in plain terms:

• Below a lower household-income threshold, you're entitled to the maximum maintenance loan for your circumstances.
• Above that, the loan tapers down gradually as household income rises.
• Even at higher household incomes, you're still entitled to a minimum maintenance loan — you're never left with nothing.

Crucially, your own earnings from a part-time job during your studies are not counted — you can work as much as you like without reducing your loan. "Household income" means your parents' income (if you're dependent) or your and any partner's income (if you're independent).

EU, settled and pre-settled status: can you still get Student Finance?

Eligibility depends on your status and residency, not your nationality. In broad terms:

How to apply — step by step

Documents you'll usually need

• Valid passport, or birth certificate plus other ID
• Evidence of immigration status where relevant (e.g. share code, BRP, settlement documents)
• National Insurance number
• Bank account details for maintenance payments
• Household income evidence, if applying for the means-tested maintenance loan
• Your course and university details

How repayments really work

This is the part that reassures most people. Student loans don't work like credit cards or overdrafts. Under Plan 5 (for most new students starting from 2023 onwards):

• You repay 9% of your income above £25,000 a year — and nothing on the amount below it.
• Repayments are collected automatically through the payroll system, like tax.
• If your income drops below the threshold, repayments pause automatically.
• Any remaining balance is written off 40 years after the April you were first due to repay, whether or not it's fully repaid. There is no write-off at a certain age, and the loan is cancelled on death.

In practice it behaves more like a graduate contribution than a traditional debt. For example, someone earning £30,000 repays roughly £37 a month — 9% of the £5,000 they earn above the threshold.

Work out your own repayments with our Student Finance calculator →

Common mistakes that delay funding

Student Finance FAQs