Student Loans Company
Students studying at university or college can have different living costs depending on where and what they will be studying, their lifestyle and any financial commitments they might have.
Student Space offer advice and support to all students, including information on where to find extra funding to help with your living costs and budgeting tools. Why not check out their guidance on how to create a budget to find out what your living costs at university or college might add up to?
If youre not sure about what additional costs may be involved as a result of your studies, you should ask your university or college for more information. Examples could include:
-
accommodation costs such as rent
-
travel
-
course materials
-
food and drink
-
utilities such as gas and electricity bills
Find out what student finance you could get as a minimum and maximum in the 2023 to 2024 academic year in the sections below. To find out whats available in the 2022 to 2023 academic year check out our dedicated page.
What you could get as a minimum in the 2023 to 2024 academic year
Student Finance England (SFE) provide a Maintenance Loan to help you with your living costs. All eligible students qualify for a non-income assessed minimum amount of Maintenance Loan to help with these costs. The minimum amount you can get is:
| Living arrangements | Minimum Maintenance Loan |
|---|---|
| Living at home | 3,698 |
| Living away from home, outside London | 4,651 |
| Living away from home, in London | 6,485 |
Most students can get a higher amount of Maintenance Loan by providing details of their household income.
What you could get as a maximum in the 2023 to 2024 academic year
If you apply for student finance based on your household income then you may be entitled to even more Maintenance Loan to help with your living costs.
For example, full-time undergraduate students with a household income of 25,000 or less would get the maximum additional Maintenance Loan. Students with a household income above 25,000 would get a lower amount of loan based on their household income.
The tables below show some examples of what the difference is between the maximum Maintenance Loan and the amount you could get based on your household income.
Student living at home
| Household Income | Maximum Maintenance Loan | Amount available to you | Difference from maximum |
|---|---|---|---|
| up to 25,000 | 8,400 | 8,400 | 0 |
| 45,000 | 8,400 | 5,576 | 2,824 |
| 65,000 | 8,400 | 3,698 (only eligible for minimum amount) | 4,702 |
Student living away from home, outside London
| Household Income | Maximum Maintenance Loan | Amount available to you | Difference from maximum |
|---|---|---|---|
| up to 25,000 | 9,978 | 9,978 | 0 |
| 45,000 | 9,978 | 7,125 | 2,853 |
| 65,000 | 9,978 | 4,651 (only eligible for minimum amount) | 5,327 |
There are different rates for students living in London and for other circumstances such as if there are other students living in your household, youre in your final year of your studies or if you receive benefits. Use the student finance calculator to get an estimate on the amount of Maintenance Loan available to you based on your specific circumstances.
For some students even the maximum amount of Maintenance Loan may not be enough to cover all their living costs.
Making up the difference
Students are expected to make up the difference between the Maintenance Loan amount available to them and their total living costs.
Financial support may be provided by the students parents or partner. But there are several other sources of funding available for students who dont have access to household support, or for students who need more funding because even the maximum Maintenance Loan available isnt enough. These could be:
-
part-time employment
-
savings
-
university bursaries and scholarships
-
Local Authority support such as the Higher Education Bursary
You can find more information about some of the alternative sources of funding, and guidance on how to budget for university, at Student Space.
Example
Olivia is going to be studying at Newcastle University and will be living in student accommodation. She automatically qualifies for 4,651 minimum Maintenance Loan but decides to ask her parents to provide their income details to see if she can get more funding.
Her total household income is 35,000 which means she will qualify for an additional 3,901 of Maintenance Loan, making a total loan of 8,552.
However, she has estimated that she will need around 12,000 to cover her accommodation and living costs which means she will need to find an additional 3,448 to cover all her living costs.
To make up the difference, Olivia will ask her parents for financial support and look for part-time work.
Last updated 18 January 2023 +show all updates
-
Updated figures for the 2023 to 2024 academic year.
-
Reduced the size of the entitlement tables and added a link to the 2022 to 2023 content.
-
First published.