Qualifying for student finance depends on your personal
circumstances and university or college information. These
include:
See Previous study
and postgraduate study if you've had student finance
for:
- an HND, HNC or foundation degree
- an Ordinary or Honours degree
Where
you live
To qualify you'll need to meet all of the residence
requirements. Generally, on the first day of the academic year in
which your course starts, you must:
- be a UK national or have 'settled status' in the UK (under the
terms of the Immigration Act 1971)
- be 'ordinarily resident' in England
- have been 'ordinarily resident' in the UK, the Channel Islands
or the Isle of Man for the three years immediately before starting
the course - and not wholly or mainly for the purpose of receiving
full-time education
Students who are settled in the UK may also be eligible if they
have exercised a right of residence in the European Economic Area
(EEA) or Switzerland before returning to the UK to study.
Settled status
'Settled status' means there are no immigration restrictions on
how long you can stay in the UK.
Ordinarily resident
You're 'ordinarily resident' in England if it's where you
normally live, even if you live abroad on a temporary basis. If you
don't normally live in England because you, your parents or partner
are Armed Forces personnel, you can still apply for financial
support. You can apply online if your or their enlistment to the
armed forces happened while you were living in England.
However this doesn't cover all circumstances - even if you don't
meet these criteria, you may still qualify for student finance.
Your university or
college
The university or college you plan to study at has to be one of
the following:
- a UK degree-awarding institution
- a college that gets government funding and provides a course
leading to a degree qualification
- a private institution offering specifically designated higher
education courses (ask your university or college if it
qualifies)
- a group of schools taking part in the School-Centred Initial
Teacher Training (SCITT) scheme
Your
course
To be eligible for student finance your course should lead to
one of the following qualifications:
- first degree, such as a Bachelor of Arts, Science or Education
(BA, BSc or BEd)
- Foundation Degree
- Certificate of Higher Education
- Diploma of Higher Education (DipHE)
- Higher National Certificate (HNC)
- Higher National Diploma (HND)
You'll also usually qualify if you're studying one of the
following courses:
- Initial Teacher Training
- the further training of youth and community workers
Further education and postgraduate courses don't qualify for
standard student finance - apart from special cases, like certain
postgraduate courses of Initial Teacher Training.
Your
age
To qualify for a student loan to help with accommodation and
living costs (called the Maintenance Loan), you need to be under 60
years old when you start your course.
There's no upper age limit to qualify for grants or the Tuition
Fee Loan.