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You may be eligible for student finance including:

• a Tuition Fee Loan to help pay your course tuition fees
• a Maintenance Loan to help with your living costs
• extra funding such as a grant or allowance, for example, if you’re on a low income, are disabled or have children

Which student finance you qualify for depends on:

• your university or college
• your course 
• if you’ve studied a higher education course before
• your age 
• your nationality or residency status

Your university or college

This should be a university, college or other institution that offers a qualifying course.

Your course

Check with your university or college if you’re not sure whether your course qualifies for funding.

If you’re studying full time

You may be eligible for student finance if your course is in the UK and one of the following:

• a first degree, for example BA, BSc or BEd
• a foundation degree
• a Certificate of Higher Education
• a Diploma of Higher Education (DipHE)
• a Higher National Certificate (HNC)
• a Higher National Diploma (HND)
• an Initial Teacher Training course
• an integrated master’s degree
• a pre-registration postgraduate healthcare course
• a level 4 or 5 course with Higher Technical Qualification approval

If you’re studying part time

Your course needs a ‘course intensity’ of 25% or more for you to be eligible for student finance.

You may be eligible for a Tuition Fee Loan if your course is in the UK and one of the following:

• a first degree, for example BA, BSc or BEd
• a foundation degree
• a Certificate of Higher Education
• a Diploma of Higher Education (DipHE)
• a Higher National Certificate (HNC)
• a Higher National Diploma (HND)
• an Initial Teacher Training course
• an integrated master’s degree
• a level 4 or 5 course with Higher Technical Qualification approval

You may be eligible for a Maintenance Loan if your course is in the UK and one of the following:

• a first degree, for example BA, BSc or BEd
• an Initial Teacher Training course (if it’s degree level or above)
• an integrated master’s degree
• a foundation degree in dental hygiene and dental therapy
• a DipHE in dental hygiene and dental therapy or operating department practice
• a level 4 or 5 course with Higher Technical Qualification approval

You are not eligible for student finance if you’re doing a degree apprenticeship.

If you’ve studied before

You’ll usually only get student finance if you’re doing your first higher education qualification - even if your previous course was self-funded. You may still be eligible for limited funding in certain circumstances and for some courses.

If you changed course, stopped your studies or are repeating a year

If you stopped your course within the first year, you’ll get funding for the same course or a new course when you go back.

You might also get funding if you:

• suspended your course or withdrew before it finished - and you’re going back to study any course
• are repeating a year of your course at the same university, college, or institution.

How to work out what funding you’ll get

If you’re eligible for a Maintenance Loan or grant, you’ll usually get it for every year of your new course.

Any Tuition Fee Loans you’re eligible for will be applied to the final years of your new course.ÌýYou can calculate how many years you’ll get them for by taking the total number of years you’re applying for and adding one year. Then, take away the number of years you studied for previously. If you studied for part of a year, you should count it as a whole year.

If you already have a degree

You may be eligible for limited funding in certain circumstances.

You may get limited funding if you’re ‘topping up’ a higher education qualification, for example you’ve finished an HNC, HND or foundation degree and now want to do an Honours degree.

You may also get limited funding if you hold an Honours degree or a higher level of qualification and start a new course. This could be a part-time Honours degree, a joint Honours degree or an Integrated Master’s degree in one of the following (or 2 if it’s a joint Honours degree):

• agriculture and related subjects
• architecture (if it’s a MArch RIBA Part 2 course)
• biological sciences
• computer science
• mathematical sciences
• medicine and allied subjects
• physical sciences
• technologies
• courses leading to qualification as a veterinary surgeon

You could also be eligible if you’re starting a healthcare course on or after 1 August 2017.

Your age

There’s no upper age limit for Tuition Fee Loans or grants.Ìý

If you’re 60 or over

You may get limited funding for Maintenance Loans if all of the following apply:

• you’re 60 or over on the first day of the first academic year of your course 
• you’re studying full time
• your course started on or after 1 August 2016

The amount you can apply for depends on your household income.

Your nationality or residency status

You may be eligible for either: 

• a Tuition Fee Loan and a Maintenance Loan (also known as ‘full support’)
• a Tuition Fee Loan only (also known as ‘tuition fee only funding’)

The type of help you can get depends on your nationality and residency status.

If you’re a UK national or Irish citizen or have ‘settled status’ in the UK

You can apply for both a Tuition Fee Loan and Maintenance Loan if you meet the university, course and age requirements. Both of the following must also apply:

• your home is in England
• you’ve been continuously living in the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man for 3 years before the first day of your first academic year (apart from temporary absences such as holidays)

If you have a different nationality or you live outside the UK

Use the undergraduate student finance checker to find out the type of help you can get depending on your nationality and residency status. It will tell you:

• if you can apply
• what type of loan you can apply for