Resources

Guide to undergraduate funding

Guide to funding for placement years

Guide to compelling personal reasons

How much funding can I get?

In order to pay the 'home' rate of tuition fees and get student funding, you must meet the eligibility criteria. If you are starting a course in the 2024/25 academic year, please see the information on the Student Finance England website, which outlines the eligibility categories (scroll down towards the bottom of the page). The UKCISA website also has some information about the eligibility criteria.

Your entitlement may also be affected if you have undertaken study at the same level (or higher) previously, or if you have a higher education qualification.

Some elements of student funding, including a portion of the maintenance loan, are means-tested and the amount you receive will depend on household income.

There is also additional funding if you have dependants or a disability, if you meet the relevant criteria - as well as the opportunity to receive extra funding if you are studying a particular course such as social work or certain healthcare or teaching courses.

If you undertake a placement year as part of a 'sandwich' course, the position regarding tuition fees, funding (maintenance loan and grants) and arrangements such as disability support are different for the placement year.  Please read our guidance leaflet on this page for more information.

If you are unsure about your eligibility, what you may be entitled to, how student funding interacts with benefits, what counts as income for benefits purposes, or you have any other funding questions, please contact the Advice Service who can provide a funding check and/or benefits calculation.

Please read our detailed guide to undergraduate funding and guide to funding for placement years for more information.

If you have any queries in relation to this, please contact us.

You can also find information and apply for undergraduate funding online through Student Finance England.

Can I get funding to repeat a year?

If you have failed a year of your course or had to take a break in study, and you have not previously repeated any years, you should be able to use your 'additional year' (previously known as a 'gift year') to fund the tuition fees for an additional year of study. All Student Finance England funded students are allocated tuition fee funding for the length of their course plus an extra year, minus any years of previous higher education study (a part-year of previous study counts as a year).

If you have previously been enrolled on a different Higher Education course you may be subject to 'Previous Study rules' which may prevent you from receiving sufficient tuition fee funding for a new course.

The effect of previous or repeat study applies to tuition fee support; you may still be eligible for support with your living costs (though see our full guide if you already have an equivalent or higher level qualification and are looking for funding for a new course). If you are only repeating part of a year, however, this can affect your funding for living costs too. There is more information about this online. If this applies to you, please contact us.

If you have experienced illness or other extenuating circumstances during the year you can apply to Student Finance England to grant you discretionary additional tuition fee funding for Compelling Personal Reasons (CPR). If you think this applies to you please contact us for further information and support. You can also read our guide to compelling personal reasons.

To apply for support on the grounds of Compelling Personal Reasons you will need to provide evidence of your situation from a professional agency/person, for example a letter from your GP giving details of your diagnosis and the dates it affected you (these need to be within the relevant affected academic year). You will also need to write to SFE explaining why you are applying and which year it is for.

If you only need to repeat part of the year, you should still remain enrolled on a full-time course and therefore be eligible for full-time funding subject to the rules around previous study. However, you may only get funding for part of the year depending on when you are required to be in attendance. There is more information about this online. To check your individual circumstances, please contact us for advice.

Paying your tuition fees

If you are experiencing issues with paying your tuition fees, contact us to discuss your funding. You should also see our section on tuition fee debt.

I haven't received my loan?

You will not receive any loan payments until a few days after you have enrolled on your course. You can check your online account and make sure you have submitted all the requested documents and declaration.

You can contact the agency providing the loan:

Keep a record of any contacts you have with the agency.