Living costs for part-time students

You can get student finance to help towards your living costs while you’re at university or college. Content provided by Student Finance England.

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Part-time student finance applications for academic year 2023 to 2024 are now open, apply now!

Student finance can help pay for things such as rent, food, books, travel, and other costs.

Any loan you borrow has to be paid back, but not until the April four years after the start of your course, or the April after you finish or leave your course, whichever comes first, and only when your income is over the repayment threshold.


Introduction to student finance for part-time students 2023 to 2024

Introduction to student finance for part-time students | Student Finance England

Find out what student finance you can get if you’re starting a part-time course in 2023/24.

What's available?

If you’re starting a part-time course on or after 1 August 2018, you can apply for a Maintenance Loan to help with your living costs.

How much you can get depends on where you live and study, your course intensity, and your household income. Student Finance England's guide to how you're assessed and paid explains how they work out what you can get.

It’s important you let us know if there are any changes to your living arrangements as it will affect your student finance. This is so we can make sure you get the right amount of student finance. You can update any changes in your online account.

The following tables show the minimum amount you can get based on where you live while studying, and your course intensity. You could get more depending on your household income.

For the 2023/24 academic year

Study intensity Living at home Studying in London, and not living at home Studying outside London, and not living at home Overseas
100% £3,698 £6,485 £4,651 £5,524
75% to 100% £2,773 £4,863 £3,488 £4,143
66.6% to 75% £2,462 £4,319 £3,097 £3,678
50% to 66.6% £1,849    £3,242  £2,325  £2,762
33.3% to 50% £1,231 £2,159 £1,548 £1,839
25% to 33.3% £924 £1,621 £1,162 £1,381

For the 2022/23 academic year

Study intensity Living at home Studying in London, and not living at home Studying outside London, and not living at home Overseas
100% £3,597 £6,308 £4,524 £5,374
75% to 100% £2,697 £4,731 £3,393 £4,030
66.6% to 75% £2,395 £4,201 £3,012 £3,579
50% to 66.6% £1,798 £3,154 £2,262 £2,687
33.3% to 50% £1,197 £2,100 £1,506 £1,789
25% to 33.3% £899 £1,577 £1,131 £1,343

You must be studying at a course intensity of at least 25% to get a Maintenance Loan.

You’ll also need to know the number of module credits you will gain in the academic year when you apply. If you’re not sure of your module credits or course intensity, you should check with your university or college.

Eligibility

Whether you can get student finance depends on your:

  • personal circumstances
  • course
  • course intensity

Personal circumstances

Nationality and residency

UK nationals

You’ll be eligible for student finance if all of the following apply:

  • you normally live and work in England
  • you’ve been living in the UK, the Channel Islands, or the Isle of Man for three years before starting your course

And you’re:

  • a UK national or Irish Citizen, or
  • have settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, or
  • granted indefinite leave to remain for other reasons

Lived outside the UK, EU, or EEA?

You can also apply if you’ve been living in the UK, the EEA, Gibraltar or Switzerland for the past 3 years and are:

  • the child of a Swiss national and you have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme
  • an EEA or Swiss worker, or the family member of an EEA or Swiss Worker, and you have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme or you are an Irish Citizen
  • a family member of a UK National - both you and your family member must have lived in the UK, EEA, Gibraltar or Switzerland for the past 3 years
  • the child of a Turkish worker and you and your Turkish worker parent were in the UK by 31 December 2020, with your parent being granted extended leave to remain beyond that date

If you’ve lived outside the UK, EU, or EEA on a temporary basis, you must have returned to the UK by the start of your course to be eligible for student finance.

You can apply if you have one of the following Home Office statuses:

  • Humanitarian protection or the family member of someone with this status
  • Stateless status or the family member of someone with this status
  • Refugee status or the family member of someone with this status
  • Calais leave or the dependent child of someone with Calais leave
  • Classed as ‘leave to remain’ under the section 67 of the Immigration act or the dependent child of someone with this status
  • You've been given settled status ('indefinite leave to remain') because you've been the victim of domestic violence
  • You or your family member have been granted Leave to Enter or Remain under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) or the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS)
  • You or your family member have been granted leave to enter or remain in the UK under the Ukraine Family Scheme, the Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme or the Ukraine Extension Scheme

EU nationals

Most EU, other EEA and Swiss nationals starting courses on or after 1 August 2021 will not be eligible for support from Student Finance England.

Students whose courses start before 1 August 2021 will continue to get student finance for the rest of their course. Find out more on GOV.UK.

You could also be eligible if you’ve been living in the UK for the past three years with long residence and are:

  • under 18 on the first day of your course and have lived in the UK for at least seven years
  • 18 or over on the first day of your course and have lived in the UK for at least half their life or at least 20 years

To be eligible for support under the long residence category, you must have limited Leave to Remain (including Discretionary Leave to Remain) and have lived in the UK for three years before the first day of your course. You must also live in England on the first day of your course.

You may be eligible for tuition fee only support if you've been living in the UK, the EEA, Switzerland or overseas territories for the past 3 years and you’re:

  • an EU national or a family member of an EU national or a family member of a person of Northern Ireland and you have pre-settled or settled status under the EU Settlement scheme
  • an EU national or a family member of an EU national who has resident status in Gibraltar
  • an EEA or Swiss worker or a family member of an EEA or Swiss worker; or
  • a child of a Swiss national or the child of a Turkish worker and you do not qualify for full support

UK nationals and their family members who have resident status in Gibraltar and lived in the UK, Gibraltar, the EEA or Switzerland for the past three years can also apply for tuition fee funding.

You may also be able to get tuition fee funding if you are a:

  • family member of a UK national
  • family member of a person with settled status in the UK
  • family member of a person of Northern Ireland
  • family member of an Irish Citizen

You must have been living in the UK and Islands for the past 3 years and your family member is resident in the UK on the first day of the first academic year of the course.

You can also apply if you are a UK national, an Irish Citizen or you have settled status in the UK and you have been living in any of the following for the past 3 years:

  • the UK, Islands and/or the specified British Overseas Territories
  • the UK Islands and/or Ireland

You can also apply if you have Irish Citizenship and have been living in any of the following for the past 3 years:

  • the UK, the EEA, Switzerland or the Overseas Territories, and were resident in the UK on or before 31 December 2020
  • the UK, the EEA, Switzerland or Gibraltar, and were resident in the EEA or Switzerland on or before 31 December 2020

You’ll need to tell us all the addresses you’ve lived at in the last five years, and send us original evidence to prove this.

  • Examples of evidence you can send include:
    • Council Tax bills
    • utility bills
    • P60s
    • wage slips
    • letters from HMRC
    • Child Tax Credits letters
    • Child Benefit letters
    • tax returns
    • tax calculations
    • bank statements

If you were under 18 at the start of the five year period before your course starts, we can also accept:

  • signed/stamped letters on headed paper from your school or college confirming dates of attendance (it must confirm the exact dates)
  • a Child Benefit or Child Tax Credits award letters addressed to your parents, with your name listed on the letter
  • school reports

Your university/college and course

Your course must be at an eligible uni or college in the UK, and must be one of the following:

  • first degree, e.g. BA, BSc, or Bed
  • foundation degree
  • Certificate of Higher Education
  • Postgraduate Certificate of Education (PGCE)
  • Initial Teacher Training (ITT)

You could be eligible for help with living costs if the following Level 4 or 5 qualification has HTQ approval:

  • Diploma of Higher Education (DipHE)
  • Higher National Certificate (HNC)
  • Higher National Diploma (HND)
  • National Vocational Qualification (NVQ)
  • Certificates or Diplomas

This list is not complete exhaustive. To find out if your course is HTQ approved and qualifies for undergraduate student finance, speak to your university or college. 

If you’re studying a degree apprenticeship course, you can’t get student finance from Student Finance England. Find out more about degree apprenticeships.

If you’re not sure whether your course qualifies for student finance, check with your university or college.

Course intensity

To be eligible, you must be studying at a course intensity of at least 25% of the equivalent full-time course for each year of study, taking no longer than four times the length of time it would take to complete the course if studied full-time (up to a maximum of 16 years). This is measured by the number of part-time units (such as credits, credit points, or modules) you're studying.

If you're studying a part-time distance learning course, you'll only be able to get a Maintenance Loan if you're studying long distance because you have a disability.

If you’re unsure about your course intensity, you should speak to your uni or college.

Armed Forces

You might also be eligible if you're:

  1. a spouse or civil partner living with a member of the UK Armed Forces serving overseas
  2. a child, step-child, or adoptive child living with a member of the UK Armed Forces serving overseas
  3. a dependent parent living with either a child who is a member of the UK Armed Forces serving overseas, or the child’s spouse or civil partner who is a member of the UK Armed Forces serving overseas

From 1 August 2018, students studying a distance learning course will also be able to get a Tuition Fee Loan if they’re:

  • a member of the UK Armed Forces who usually lives in England but is serving in Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland
  • a relative living with a member of the UK Armed Forces serving in Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland

How to apply

When you apply for student finance, you'll need to agree to Student Finance England's terms and conditions.
The easiest way to apply for student finance is online at www.gov.uk/studentfinance as soon as the application service opens. If you’re a continuing student, Student Finance England will send you an email to let you know when it’s time to reapply.

New students

  1. Set up a student finance account
    When you register, you’ll be given a unique Customer Reference Number, and you'll need to create a password and secret answer. You should keep these safe, as you’ll need them to sign in to your account to check the progress of your application and reapply for student finance next year.
  2. Fill in and submit your application
    The first time you apply, you’ll be asked for proof of identity. You can easily do this by giving Student Finance England your valid UK passport details. If you don’t have a UK passport, you may have to send them evidence. If you want to apply for student finance that depends on your household income, Student Finance England will ask your parent(s) or partner for their income details.
  3. Send any evidence Student Finance England asks for
    They may contact you, your parents or your partner, to ask for evidence to support your application.
  4. Sign your declaration
    Student Finance England can’t pay you until you do! They’ll process your application and send you a Student Finance Entitlement letter, telling you how much you can get.

Continuing students

To reapply for student finance, sign in to your student finance account and apply online.

If you’re applying for the first time, you can do this online at www.gov.uk/studentfinance.

How to change an application

You must tell Student Finance England about any change in your circumstances which might affect your student finance.

The most common examples are:

  • you’ve changed university or college
  • you’ve changed your course (but stayed at the same university)
  • you’ve left your course
  • your name or contact details have changed

Before your initial course start date, you can tell Student Finance England about any changes by filling in a ‘Change of Circumstances’ form, which you can download from www.gov.uk/apply-for-student-finance/change-an-application.

After your course start date, you’ll need to ask your university or college to tell us about any of the following changes:

  • your tuition fee amount
  • your course details
  • your course intensity
  • you repeat a year
  • you leave higher education
  • suspend your studies

How it's paid

You need to register at your university or college before Student Finance England can make your first payment. You’ll usually do this in the first week of your course, and you may have to take your Student Finance Entitlement letter with you.

Student Finance England will pay any Maintenance Loan you can get directly into your bank account, in three instalments, usually two weeks after the start of each term. If you’re eligible for a course grant, they’ll pay this into your bank account in one lump sum.

You can find your expected payment dates in your online account, but some banks take longer to clear funds. If your money isn’t in your account in three working days, you should contact your bank – they should be able to let you know when your money will arrive.