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Guidance: Cost of living – student finance support

Student Loans Company

January 11
10:36 2023

Get the maximum amount of Maintenance Loan available to you

Apply for the maximum amount using your household income

If youve not provided your household income and have therefore only applied for the minimum amount of Maintenance Loan theres still time to get more if youre eligible!

Use our student finance calculator and our household income information to get an estimate of how much extra loan you may be entitled too.

How to submit your household income

If youve not already given us household income details as part of your application, you should complete the Applying for student finance based on household income form (NMT to MT) to change this.

To submit your household income details your parents or partner should also complete the Assessment of financial circumstances for parents and partners of students form (PFF2).

Download the NMT to MT and PFF2 forms for your academic year.

Both forms can be uploaded to your online account, visit our page for help uploading your documents.

Request the full loan amount youre entitled to

If you initially chose not to take the maximum loan available to you, you still have time to change this!

For example, if you were eligible for 4,000 but only requested 1,000 you can still apply for the additional 3,000.

To change the amount of loan youve requested, you can do easily from your online account:

  1. Sign in and select the application you wish to change.
  2. Under the heading Manage your student finance, click View and manage your applications then click Change your application.
  3. Scroll down the page, click Expand your application and select Change your application again.
  4. Click Loan amounts and enter the new total amount of loan you want (not just the difference).

As long as youve applied for student finance before the deadline (up to 9 months after the start of your academic year) you can make changes to your loan amount up to 1 month before the end of your academic year.

Get more loan if your household income has dropped

If you think your household income this tax year will be at least 15% lower than the year youve already given us details about, and youre not already getting the maximum Maintenance Loan, then you could be eligible for more loan.

Check out if youre eligible for a current year income assessment and find out how to apply.

Get more loan if youre now living away from your parental home

Did you know that where you live while youre studying has an effect on how much maintenance loan you can get? If you live away from home for the majority of the academic year you can get more loan. Find out exactly how much you can get based on your living location.

Its important you keep us up to date on where you are living so we know how to contact you and to make sure youre getting everything you are entitled to.

Complete a Change of Circumstances form (CO1) if youve changed address to make sure youre getting what youre entitled to. Follow our step by step instructions to locate the form.

Grants, bursaries and extra help

Speak to your university or college money advice service to find out if youre eligible for extra money. Each university or college has their own rules about bursaries, scholarships, grants and awards so you should speak with them directly. Many universities and colleges also have their own hardship funds that their students can apply for.

Depending on your circumstances, you could be entitled to extra help

We have grants available which offer extra help if youre a student with children or dependant adults, or if you have a disability, long-term health condition, mental health condition or learning difficulty.

Students with children or dependent adults can apply for:

To apply for these grants you should complete an Application for Dependants Grants form.

If you have a disability, long-term health condition, mental health condition or specific learning difficulty (such as dyslexia) you can apply for:

Find out how to apply for DSA on our dedicated page.

Once your application has been approved any funding youre entitled to will be back dated to the start of your course.

Bursaries, scholarships and grants

You might be able to access additional bursaries, scholarships and grants through other organisations or charities. Save the Student have created a list of the best places to find additional support.

Additional resources and support

For some students even the maximum amount of student finance may not be enough to cover all of your living costs. Which is why we encourage you to check that youve applied for everything you may be entitled to.

There are a number of third party organisations that offer helpful tips and support such as:

UK student bank accounts can also offer certain perks, have a look at the Money Saving Expert guide for the best student bank.

Remember to check out what discounts are available for students including retail, travel and council tax. You can find deals on the UCAS student discounts page.

Published 11 January 2023

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