Student Loans Company
You may be asked for information about your household income if your child or partner has applied for student finance in England.
Your information will be used to work out if your child or partner can get extra money on top of the Tuition Fee Loan and the basic Maintenance Loan.
If you do not share information about your household income, your child or partner will only get the minimum amount of student finance.
Theres a different process if your child or partner is applying in Scotland, applying in Wales or applying in Northern Ireland.
Create an account or sign in
After your child or partner applies, youll get an email from Student Finance England (SFE) within 24 hours.
Youll need to wait for the email before you create a student finance account or sign in. You cannot use the same account as your child or partner.
If youve had student finance or supported an application before, youll need to sign in to your student finance account. You can reset your login details if youve forgotten them.
What information youll need
Youll be asked for your National Insurance number once youve signed in.
SFE will use this to get information about your income from the previous tax year from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
Youll also need to say if you have:
- paid into private pensions
- made additional voluntary contributions
- children (other than the student) who depend on you financially
If you do not have a National Insurance number, youll need to complete a form and provide evidence to show how much you earned.
If your income has gone down by at least 15% since the relevant tax year, you can apply for a current year income assessment instead. You must still give details of the year SFE has asked you about.
What happens next
SFE will write to your child or partner when all your information has been confirmed. They cannot share details of the loan with you without your child or partners consent.
If your information is still being processed when your child or partner starts their course, theyll still get the Tuition Fee Loan and the basic Maintenance Loan (if theyre eligible).
You can check current application processing times to find out when you can expect to hear back.
Supporting a continuing student
Your child or partner needs to apply for student finance each year.
When they apply, youll get an email within 24 hours. The email will have a link to sign in to your account, where you must give:
- your marital status
- any changes to the information you provided the previous year
- details of any private pensions, additional voluntary contributions and other child dependants
If you gave income details for the current tax year
You can use the same income details that you provided last year.
If your income has dropped by at least 15% again, you can send in a new current tax year income assessment form.