Undergraduate Student Finance for full-time students
The information provided on this page is applicable to students who are residents of England. The student support will vary for students from other parts of the UK. If you are resident in either, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland please refer to the information sources below:
- Students who are residents in Scotland can get information from the Student Awards Agency for Scotland.
- Students who are residents in Wales can find details at Student Finance Wales.
- Students who are resident in Northern Ireland should contact Student Finance Northern Ireland.
Additionally, students from another EU country may be entitled to a tuition fee loan to cover fees, however, generally speaking support for living costs would not be available. If you are a student from the EU for more information regarding what support is available please visit the Direct Gov website.
Tuition Fee Loans
When you start your studies you do not have to pay your tuition fees up front. You will be able to take out a loan through Student Finance England to pay them instead.
In order to qualify for student finance, including tuition fee loans, you have to satisfy certain residence requirements. For most people, this means you must be living in England on the first day of your course, have been living in the UK for three years immediately beforehand and do not have any restrictions on your stay in the UK.
There are also other ways you can meet the requirements, for example, if you are a refugee living in the UK, and you can find further details on the direct.gov website.
How we spend our money
As a University, most of our income comes directly from our students and their tuition fees. That’s why we like to tell you how our money comes in and more importantly, where we spent it.
In general, you'll only be able to get the finance package for higher education students if you're doing a first higher education qualification or 'topping up' a lower-level higher education qualification. Usually, this means financial help for the length of your course - plus, if necessary, one extra year to cover any false starts or transfers.
The maximum tuition fee loan available will reflect the maximum cap for full-time student fees. This is £9,250 for the 2024/25 academic year, and the Government has announced plans to increase this to £9,535 for 2025/26. The amount of tuition fee loan available to you is linked to the amount charged by your university for your chosen course. For example, if your tuition fees are £9,250 the maximum tuition loan available to you will be £9,250.
The loans are not means tested so if you are an eligible student you will be able to apply for the maximum amount, regardless of your household income.
Interest is charged from when the loan is taken out at the rate of inflation. Repayments of the loan will commence the April after graduation, and once you are earning in excess of £25,000 per annum.
If you take out a tuition fee loan, the money will be paid direct to the university on your behalf. If you do not take out a tuition fee loan you will need to make arrangements to pay the university yourself. You may be able to pay your fees in instalments by direct debit but you will need to arrange this when you enrol on your course.
How to pay your tuition fees directly
Support for Living Costs - Loan for living costs
In addition to the tuition fee loan, you can apply for a Maintenance Loan to support with student living costs. Maintenance Loans are paid directly into your bank account in three instalments each year. The loan can be used for any living costs. Most commonly students spend their Maintenance Loan on rent, travel costs, food, social life, course materials and any other day-to-day living expenses.
In order to get a loan to help with your living costs you need to meet the same residence and previous study requirements as previously mentioned. You also have to be aged under 60 when you start your course.
For the 2024/25 academic year, the maximum loan for living costs will be £8,610 if you are living in your parental home whilst studying or £10,227 if you are living away from home. These rates apply to students studying outside of London, and thus would apply to students studying at Birmingham City University. The Government has confirmed that it plans to increase maintenance loans by 3.1% for 2025/26, in line with inflation, to help with living costs.
65 per cent of the maximum loan amounts available are an automatic entitlement and the remaining 35 per cent is means-tested on household income.
The interest rates and repayment details are the same as for tuition fee loans.
You will not get the maximum amount of loan if your household income is over a certain level.
Please refer to the table below, which gives an indication of the level of support available in 2024/25 in relation to your living situation.
| Living situation | The maximum amount you can get for 2024/25 academic year |
| Living with your parents | Up to £8,610 |
| Living away from your parents, outside London | Up to £10,227 |
| Living away from your parents, in London | Up to £13,348 |
| You spend a year of a UK course studying abroad | Up to £11,713 |
| If you’re 60 or over on the first day of the first academic year of your course | Up to £4,327 |
You can get an estimate of how much you will receive by using the student finance calculator.
Additional Grants
Some students can get additional grants to support with the cost of living.
If you have an adult who is financially dependent on you, you may be eligible for an Adult Dependant's Grant of up to £3,438 for the 2024/25 academic year. The grant is means-tested on household income.
If you need child care during your studies, you may be eligible for a Child Care Grant. The grant is means-tested and could provide up to 85 per cent of your childcare costs. The maximum grant available is £193.62 per week for one child or £331.95 per week for two or more children.
You may also be eligible to receive a Parents' Learning Allowance to help with additional costs you may incur during your study because you have children. This may be up to £1,963 per year, again the actual amount will depend on household income.
Any support from the above sources is not repayable.
Repayment of loans
As stated earlier, you only have to start paying your tuition fee loan back after you have graduated or left your course. The amount you repay will depend on which repayment plan you're on and how much you earn.
If you start your course on or after 1 August 2023, you'll be on Plan 5, you will only start repaying your student loan if you are earning more than £25,000. Repayments will be nine per cent of the amount earned above £25,000.
Repayments will usually begin the April after you graduate or leave your course.
Interest will be added at a rate equal to inflation from the time you take out your loan until the date when repayment is due.
From then on, the interest rate will vary according to your earnings.
If you are earning £25,000 or less, the interest rate will reduce to the rate of inflation.
If you are earning more than £25,000 there will also be a real rate of interest added above the rate of inflation.
HM Revenue and Customs collect the repayments. Either your employer will take your payments direct from your salary or, if you are self-employed, HM Revenue and Customs will collect the repayments through the tax self-assessment system.
If you earn less than £25,000 per year or stop working at any point, you will not have to make any repayments during that period.
If any of your loan is left unpaid after 40 years, it is written off.
For some examples of repayments please refer to the table:
| Annual Salary | Amount of salary from which 9% will be deducted | Monthly Repayment |
|---|---|---|
| £27,000 | £425 | £5 |
| £30,000 | £3,425 | £30 |
| £35,000 | £8,425 | £65 |
| £40,000 | £13,425 | £100 |
| £45,000 | £18,425 | £140 |
| £50,000 | £23,425 | £175 |
| £55,000 | £28,425 | £215 |
| £60,000 | £33,425 | £250 |
Disabled Students' Allowance
(DSA) can help to pay for extra costs you may have to pay while studying as a direct result of a disability or specific learning difficulty. This can include:
- items of specialist equipment,
- a non-medical helper and
- other disability-related expenditure.
Get more information about Disabled Students' Allowance.
NHS and Ministry of Defence funded courses
Students on Nursing, midwifery and most allied health profession courses can access student loans, and there is an additional government grant for some healthcare students. Find out more.
The Ministry of Defence ELC scheme entitles service personnel and service leavers to receive financial help with the cost of their learning. Find out more information about the scheme.
How to apply
Apply online at Student Finance Direct or contact 0845 300 50 90.
Student Finance England can also give you further information about whether you qualify for any grants and how much loan you can take out to cover your tuition fees and/or living costs. Any grants and loans for living costs will be paid directly into your bank or building society account, usually in three instalments.
You do not need to wait until you receive an offer of a place before you apply for financial support.
