Rules that Govern UK Student Loans
The UK government, in its efforts to make further education affordable to students of average income has undertaken various steps to provide loans to cushion educational finance. A significant step towards this end was the formalizing of the Student Loans scheme. However, student loans are not available to everyone – there are some conditions you need to meet. If you’re from England and studying in the UK this page provides a general guide to whether you are likely to qualify based on where you live, the type of course you are doing and some other factors. Your eligibility will be assessed when you apply.
Eligibility is based on two checks, one on personal eligibility and one on course and institution eligibility. These checks are carried out by Student Finance England when you apply – or by your local authority, if you started in the 2008/2009 academic year or earlier. Student Finance England (or your local authority) will look at your immigration status or nationality, and whether you meet certain residence conditions. When deciding whether you qualify for the Student Loan for Maintenance, they will also consider your age.
Personal eligibility is tested once, at the start of your course – although it may need to be reviewed if, for example, you only have a temporary right to live in the UK. Student Finance England will also look at the qualification you’re studying for and the university or college where you’re doing your course. This is tested each academic year. There are additional rules for particular types of student finance, including some Student Loans and grants.
To qualify for student finance as a student from England, you will 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 EEA or Switzerland before returning to the UK to study. You are ‘ordinarily resident’ somewhere if it’s where you normally live. It doesn’t matter if you’re out of the country temporarily from time to time. ‘Settled status’ means that there are no immigration restrictions on how long you can stay in the UK. But this does not cover all circumstances – even if you don’t meet these criteria, you may still qualify for student finance.
Different rules will usually apply if you normally live outside England, you are doing your course outside the UK, or you are doing a postgraduate course (though you’ll qualify for elements of the student finance package if you are doing a postgraduate course of Initial Teacher Training).