UKCISA - international student advice and guidance

Basics

Last modified: 17 August 2016

Government Student Support provision exists in each of the four UK countries, England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The rules about eligibility for Student Support are broadly similar in each case. However, there are some significant differences between each country, and the type/level of financial support available varies.

You apply for support from the government of the UK country in which you normally reside; this may be different from the country you choose to study in.

After eligibility has been established, the relevant authority will assess your income to calculate the level of support to which you are entitled. We cannot describe the calculations used to assess levels of support; information on this is contained in guidance issued by the relevant government department or agency.

Certain courses attract additional help or alternative support. If you are in financial hardship, and you are eligible for Student Support, you might be able to apply for further help through your institution. They can access additional Government support such as Access to Learning Funds (England), Discretionary Funds (Scotland), Financial Contingency Funds (Wales), and Support Funds (Northern Ireland).

The Student Support package also includes extra grants for students with particular needs, for example disabled students and those with dependants.

Eligible courses

Last modified: 02 December 2015

Student Support is only available if you are studying on a designated course, namely:

undergraduate degree;
Higher National Diploma (HND);
Higher National Certificate (HNC);
Diploma of Higher Education;
a teacher training course.

In Scotland only, Student Support is also available for

Certificate in Higher Education
Diploma, or Advance Diploma

All of the above are higher education courses. If you are studying on a further education course, check with your institution whether any funding is available - for example, Further Education Awards or Educational Maintenance Allowance or Discretionary Learner Support.

You may not be eligible if you have previously received Student Support (or a mandatory award) to study a higher education course. The same applies if you have already studied a course at the same or lower level, including qualifications you have obtained in other countries. Read more information about the 'equivalent or lower qualification' policy (for England-only) at the HEFCE website

Funding for healthcare courses

Last modified: 18 August 2017

Admission on healthcare courses, such as Nursing or Midwifery, can depend very much on whether you will be granted funding. In England, the former NHS Bursary scheme has now closed to new applicants (ie those starting in August 2017 onwards). However, students on eligible healthcare courses can apply for the general Student Support available to other students.

If you wish to follow a healthcare course as a full fee-paying student, check with the institution in advance if they accept fee-paying students onto the course.

NHS bursary reform

Applying for NHS bursaries, or new 2017-onwards funding

Incorrectly refused, and those not eligible

Last modified: 24 February 2017

How to challenge an incorrect refusal of Student Support

Not eligible for Student Support

Applying in England: Basics

Last modified: 17 August 2016

Applying in England: Who is entitled?

Last modified: 12 July 2017

If you meet all the requirements of one or more of the following categories, you will be entitled to some level, and amount, of Student Support. This is only a brief summary of persons who are entitled. If you are unsure about whether you are entitled to Student Support, or if you need further information, check your situation with an adviser at your institution, your Students' Union or our Students' Advice Line.

1. England: Settled status and living in the UK and Islands

2. England: EU nationals and family

3. England: Non-UK EU nationals living in the UK and Islands

Depending on which conditions you satisfy under this category, you may be eligible for either full Student Support or only the loan for tuition fees. To be eligible:

(a) you must be an EU national, but not a UK national, on the first day of the first academic year of the course; and

(b) you must be ordinarily resident in England on the first day of the first academic year of your course; and

(c) for any academic year starting on/after 1 August 2016 -

for the grant/loan for tuition fees, you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands for the three-year period before the first day of the first academic year of the course; or
for full Student Support, you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands for the five-year period before the first day of the first academic year of the course (unless you made your application for Student Support, or have previously been assessed as eligible for support, before 25 March 2016, in which case you only need to have been ordinarily resident for a three-year period);

and

(d) if during any part of the period in (c) [above], the main purpose for your residence was to receive full-time education, you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK or elsewhere in the EEA and/or Switzerland immediately prior to that period of ordinary residence in the UK and Islands. It does not matter if you were in the EEA and/or Switzerland mainly in order to receive full-time education during this earlier period.

Notes:

If you become an EU national because your country joins the EU, you are treated as if you were an EU national on the first day of the first academic year of the course, even if you started the course before your country joined the EU.
If you become an EU national after the start of your course because your country joins the EU, seek advice about whether you will become eligible for Student Support.
If you do not meet the requirement in (c) to have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands for three/five years because you have, instead, been ordinarily resident elsewhere in the EEA and/or Switzerland, see category 2 (above) for an alternative possible provision.

4. England: People with the right of permanent residence in the UK

5. England: Non-UK EEA and Swiss workers, and family

6. England: Settled status and exercised a right of residence in the EEA/Switzerland

7. England: Child of a Swiss national

8. England: Child of Turkish worker

9. England: Refugees, and family

If you satisfy all the conditions under this category, you will be eligible for full Student Support. To be eligible:

(a) you must be ordinarily resident in England on the first day of the first academic year of your course; and

(b) you must:

have been recognised as a refugee by the UK Government and have remained ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands since then; or
be the spouse / civil partner of such a refugee and have been in that relationship on the date on which he/she made his/her application for asylum; or
be the child of such a refugee, or the child of such a refugee's spouse / civil partner, and be able to show that on the date that refugee made his/her application for asylum, you were:
- under 18 years of age; and
- the refugee was your parent, or your parent's spouse / civil partner.

If your permission to be in the UK has run out, you are still eligible for Student Support if you can show that you applied to extend or change your immigration status before your permission to be here expired, and you are still waiting for a decision on that application, or that you are in the process of appealing against a Home Office decision to refuse you further immigration permission.

Becoming eligible

If you are, or if your parent (or your parent's spouse / civil partner) is, or your own spouse / civil partner is, granted refugee status after the start of your course, seek advice about whether you will become eligible for Student Support.

Refugee Status: where someone gains British citizenship

The Immigration Rules revoke someone's Refugee Status once s/he subsequently obtains a new nationality, eg when a refugee gains British citizenship. If you have, or a relevant family member has, Refugee Status and you are, or the person with that status is, considering applying for British (or any other) citizenship, you should be aware that such an application could have an effect on your fees status or your eligibility for Student Support.

10. England: People granted humanitarian protection, and family

We amended this category in early-April 2017. This is because this category was restructured by a Government amendment to the Student Support regulations, with effect from 3 March 2017. Sub-paragraph (b) no longer requires the student to be ordinarily resident in the UK on the first day of the first academic year of the course. Instead, the requirement is that the student is ordinarily resident in England on that date; therefore, a narrower area. This brings this category 10 into harmony with the requirements in Category 9(a) (above).

If you satisfy all the conditions under this category, you will be eligible for full Student Support. To be eligible:

(a) you must be ordinarily resident in England on the first day of the first academic year of the course; and

(b) you must be:

a "person granted humanitarian protection", which means a person:
- who has been granted leave to remain in the UK under the Immigration Rules, on the grounds of 'humanitarian protection'; and
- whose leave to remain is 'extant', or in respect of whose leave to remain an appeal is pending; and
- who has been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands throughout the period since being granted their humanitarian protection;

or

the spouse or civil partner of a "person granted humanitarian protection" (as above), and you must have been the spouse or civil partner of that person on the date on which they applied for asylum;

or

the child of a "person granted humanitarian protection" (as above), or a child of that person's spouse or civil partner, and, at the time the person granted humanitarian protection applied for asylum, you must have been under 18 years old and the child of that person or of someone who was the spouse or civil partner of that person on that date;

and

(c) you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands for three years before the first day of the first academic year of your course.

Notes:

If the immigration permission of the "person granted humanitarian protection" has run out, he/she (or an appropriate family member of that person, as in (b)2. and (b)3. above) will still eligible for Student Support if that person:
- applied to extend/change his/her immigration status before his/her permission to be here expired and a decision is still awaited on that application; or
- is in the process of appealing against a Home Office decision to refuse further immigration permission.
If you are, or if your parent (or your parent's spouse / civil partner) is, or your own spouse / civil partner is, granted humanitarian protection after the start of the course, seek advice about whether you will become eligible for Student Support.

11. England: Long Residence

This category was originally introduced in 2016 for any academic year beginning on/after 1 August 2016. Read more about why this category was introduced.

We amended this category in early-April 2017. This is because this category was restructured by a Government amendment to the Student Support regulations, with effect from 3 March 2017. An effect of this amendment is that sub-paragraph (b) no longer appears to require the student to be ordinarily resident in England on the first day of the first academic year of the course.

If you satisfy all the conditions under this category, you will be eligible for full Student Support. To be eligible:

(a) on the first day of the first academic year of the course, you must be either:

(i) under the age of 18 and have lived in the UK throughout the seven-year period preceding the first day of the first academic year of the course; or

(ii) aged 18 years old or above and, preceding the first day of the first academic year of the course, have lived in the UK throughout either:

(aa) half your life; or

(bb) a period of twenty-years;

and

(b) you must be ordinarily resident in England; and

(c) you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands throughout the three-year period preceding the first day of the first academic year of the course; and

(d) your residence in the UK and Islands must not have been, during any part of the period referred to in paragraph (c), wholly or mainly for the purpose of receiving full-time education [unless you are to be treated as having been ordinarily resident in the UK & Islands due to either you, or a relevant family member, having been temporarily employed outside the UK & Islands].

Just for Kids Law have written two blogs about this new category, giving advice for people who are applying for the:

Applying in Scotland: Basics

Last modified: 23 February 2017

Applying in Scotland: Who is entitled?

Last modified: 12 July 2017

Update: This layer was modified on 23 June 2017, to add new category 15 ('Long residence') to the list of eligibility categories.

If you meet all the requirements of one or more of the following categories, you will be entitled to some level, and amount, of Student Support. This is only a brief summary of persons who are entitled. If you are unsure about whether you are entitled to Student Support, or if you need further information, check your situation with an adviser at your institution, your Students' Union or our Students' Advice Line.

1. Scotland: Settled status and living in the UK and Islands

2. Scotland: EU nationals and family

3. Scotland: Non-UK EU nationals living in the UK and Islands and family

4. Scotland: Those with the right of permanent residence in the UK

5. Scotland: Non-UK EEA/Swiss workers and family

6. Scotland: Settled status and exercised a right of residence in the EEA/Switzerland

If you satisfy all the conditions under this category, you will be entitled to full Student Support. To be eligible:

a) you must be settled in the UK; and

b) you must have left the UK and exercised a right of residence in another EEA member state or Switzerland or, if you have the right of permanent residence, have gone to the country in the EEA or Switzerland of which you or your family member is a national.

Note: You have exercised a right of residence if you have been a worker, a self-employed person, a student or a self-sufficient person somewhere in the EEA or Switzerland, other than the UK;

and

c) if you are a UK national, you were ordinarily resident in Scotland immediately before exercising your right of residence elsewhere in the EEA and/or Switzerland.

Note: If you satisfy this, there is an additional requirement that you were not in Scotland on this date mainly in order to receive full-time education and that your residence there on that date must not be attributable to, or connected with, any period of residence in Scotland mainly for full-time education within the immediately preceding three years;

and

d) you have been ordinarily resident in the EEA and/or Switzerland for the three-year period before the relevant date. (If, during that three-year period, you were ordinarily resident in the EEA or Switzerland mainly in order to receive full-time education, you must have been ordinarily resident in the EEA and/or Switzerland immediately before that three-year period.

Note: This is the category that entitles you to full Student Support if you are a British citizen or the family member of a British citizen if you have been living outside the UK but elsewhere in the EEA and/or Switzerland. Family members of UK nationals do not have to have settled status in the UK, and family members who were born outside the UK are eligible for Student Support under this category. This means that you can qualify for Student Support under this category if:

you are the family member of a UK national who has exercised a right of residence after having been settled in the UK; and
you have been ordinarily resident in the EEA and/or Switzerland for the three-year period before the relevant date; and
if, during that three-year period, you were ordinarily resident in the EEA or Switzerland mainly in order to receive full-time education, you must have been ordinarily resident in the EEA and/or Switzerland immediately before that three-year period (this does include time spent there in full-time education).

7. Scotland: Children of Swiss nationals

8. Scotland: Children of Turkish workers

9. Scotland: People with refugee status and family

10. Scotland: People who are refused refugee status but allowed to remain in the UK and family

11. Scotland: Temporary protection

12. Scotland: Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, and children of asylum seekers

13. Scotland: Iraqi nationals granted indefinite leave to enter the UK under the Locally Engaged Staff Assistance Scheme (Direct Entry), and family

14. Scotland: Syrian (Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme) nationals, and family

15. Scotland: Long residence

Applying in Wales: Basics

Last modified: 24 February 2017

Read government information about student finance for those applying in Wales

Applying in Wales: Who is entitled?

Last modified: 12 July 2017

If you meet all the requirements of one or more of the following categories, you will be entitled to some level, and amount, of Student Support. This is only a brief summary of persons who are entitled. If you are unsure about whether you are entitled to Student Support, or if you need further information, check your situation with an adviser at your institution, your Students' Union or our Students' Advice Line.

1. Wales: Settled status and living in the UK and Islands

2. Wales: EU nationals and family

3. Wales: Non-UK EU nationals living in the UK and Islands

4. Wales: EU nationals and family with the right of permanent residence in the UK

5. Wales: Non-UK EEA and Swiss workers, and family

6. Wales: Settled status and exercised a right of residence in the EEA and Switzerland

7. Wales: Child of a Swiss national

8. Wales: Child of Turkish worker

9. Wales: Refugees, and family

If you satisfy all the conditions under this category, you will be eligible for full Student Support. To be eligible:

(a) you must be ordinarily resident in Wales on the first day of the first academic year of your course; and

(b) you must:

have been recognised as a refugee by the UK Government and have remained ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands since then; or
be the spouse / civil partner of such a refugee and have been in that relationship on the date on which he/she made his/her application for asylum; or
be the child of such a refugee, or the child of such a refugee's spouse / civil partner, and be able to show that on the date that refugee made his/her application for asylum, you were:
- under 18 years of age; and
- the refugee was your parent, or your parent's spouse / civil partner.

If your permission to be in the UK has run out, you are still eligible for Student Support if you can show that you applied to extend or change your immigration status before your permission to be here expired, and you are still waiting for a decision on that application, or that you are in the process of appealing against a Home Office decision to refuse you further immigration permission.

Becoming eligible

If you are, or if your parent (or your parent's spouse / civil partner) is, or if your own spouse / civil partner is, granted refugee status after the start of your course, seek advice about whether you will become eligible for Student Support.

Refugee Status: where someone gains British citizenship

The Immigration Rules revoke someone's Refugee Status once s/he subsequently obtains a new nationality, eg when a refugee gains British citizenship. If you have, or a relevant family member has, Refugee Status and you are, or the person with that status is, considering applying for British (or any other) citizenship, you should be aware that such an application could have an effect on your fees status or your eligibility for Student Support.

10. Wales: ‘Persons with leave to enter or remain’ (humanitarian protection or discretionary leave), and family

If you satisfy all the conditions under this category, you will be eligible for full Student Support. To be eligible:

(a) you must be ordinarily resident in Wales on the first day of the first academic year of the course; and

(b) you must be:

a "person with leave to enter or remain", which means a person:
- who has -
  - applied for refugee status but has, as a result of that application, been informed by the Home Office that, although he/she is considered not to qualify for recognition as a refugee, it is thought right to allow him/her to enter or remain in the UK on the grounds of humanitarian protection or discretionary leave, or
  - not applied for refugee status but has been informed by the Home Office that it is thought right to allow him/her to enter or remain in the UK on the grounds of discretionary leave; and
- who has been granted leave to enter or to remain accordingly; and
- whose period of leave to enter or remain has not expired, or has been renewed and the period for which it was renewed has not expired, or in respect of whose leave to enter or remain an appeal is pending;
- who has been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands throughout the period since he/she was granted leave to enter or remain;

or

the spouse or civil partner of a "person with leave to enter or remain" (as above), and you must have been the spouse or civil partner of that person on the date on which they applied for asylum or discretionary leave;

or

the child of a "person with leave to enter or remain" (as above), or a child of that person's spouse or civil partner, and, at the time the person with leave to enter or remain applied for asylum or discretionary leave, you must have been under 18 years old and the child of that person or of someone who was the spouse or civil partner of that person on that date;

and

(c) you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands for three years before the first day of the first academic year of your course.

Notes:

If the immigration permission of the "person with leave to enter or remain" has run out, he/she (or an appropriate family member of that person, as in (b)2. and (b)3. above) will still eligible for Student Support if that person:
- applied to extend/change his/her immigration status before his/her permission to be here expired and a decision is still awaited on that application; or
- is in the process of appealing against a Home Office decision to refuse further immigration permission.
If you are, or if your parent (or your parent's spouse / civil partner), or your own spouse / civil partner, is granted humanitarian protection or discretionary leave after the start of the course, seek advice about whether you will become eligible for Student Support.

Applying in Northern Ireland: Basics

Last modified: 24 February 2017

Read government information about student finance for those applying in Northern Ireland

Applying in Northern Ireland: Who is entitled?

Last modified: 12 July 2017

If you meet all the requirements of one or more of the following categories, you will be entitled to some level, and amount, of Student Support. This is only a brief summary of persons who are entitled. If you are unsure about whether you are entitled to Student Support, or if you need further information, check your situation with an adviser at your institution, your Students' Union or our Students' Advice Line.

1. Northern Ireland: Settled status and living in the UK and Islands

2. Northern Ireland: EU nationals and family

3. Northern Ireland: Non-UK EU nationals living in the UK and Islands

4. Northern Ireland: People with the right of permanent residence in the UK

5. Northern Ireland: Non-UK EEA/Swiss workers, and family

6. Northern Ireland: Settled status and exercised a right of residence in the EEA and Switzerland

7. Northern Ireland: Child of a Swiss national

8. Northern Ireland: Child of Turkish worker

9. Northern Ireland: Refugees, and family

If you satisfy all the conditions under this category, you will be eligible for full Student Support. To be eligible:

(a) you must be ordinarily resident in Northern Ireland on the first day of the first academic year of your course; and

(b) you must:

have been recognised as a refugee by the UK Government and have remained ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands since then; or
be the spouse / civil partner of such a person and have been the spouse / civil partner of the refugee on the date on which he/she made an application for asylum; or
be the child of such a person, or of such a person's spouse / civil partner, and, on the date on which that person applied for asylum, you were:
- under 18 years of age; and
- the refugee was your parent, or your parent's spouse / civil partner.

If your permission to be in the UK has run out, you are still eligible for Student Support if you can show that you applied to extend or change your immigration status before your permission to be here expired, and you are still waiting for a decision on that application, or that you are in the process of appealing against a Home Office decision to refuse you further immigration permission.

Becoming eligible

If you are, or if your parent (or your parent's spouse / civil partner) is, or if your own spouse / civil partner is, granted refugee status after the start of your course, seek advice about whether you will become eligible for Student Support.

Refugee Status: where someone gains British citizenship

The Immigration Rules revoke someone's Refugee Status once s/he subsequently obtains a new nationality, eg when a refugee gains British citizenship. If you have, or a relevant family member has, Refugee Status and you are, or the person with that status is, considering applying for British (or any other) citizenship, you should be aware that such an application could have an effect on your fees status or your eligibility for Student Support.

10. Northern Ireland: People who apply for refugee status and are refused but who are allowed to remain in the UK, and family

If you satisfy all the conditions under this category, you will be eligible for full Student Support. To be eligible:

(a) you must be ordinarily resident in Northern Ireland on the first day of the first academic year of the course; and

(b) you must be:

a "person with leave to enter or remain", which means a person:
- who has been informed by the Home Office that, although he/she is considered not to qualify for recognition as a refugee, it is thought right to allow him/her to enter or remain in the UK; and
- who has been granted leave to enter or to remain accordingly [This can be in the form of any type of immigration leave (immigration permission), for example humanitarian protection or discretionary leave, but these are only examples]; and
- whose period of leave to enter or remain has not expired, or has been renewed and the period for which it was renewed has not expired, or in respect of whose leave to enter or remain an appeal is pending;
- who has been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands throughout the period since he/she was granted leave to enter or remain;

or

the spouse or civil partner of a "person with leave to enter or remain" (as above), and you must have been the spouse or civil partner of that person on the date on which they applied for asylum;

or

the child of a "person with leave to enter or remain" (as above), or a child of that person's spouse or civil partner, and, at the time the person with leave to enter or remain applied for asylum, you must have been under 18 years old and the child of that person or of someone who was the spouse or civil partner of that person on that date;

and

(c) you must have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands for three years before the first day of the first academic year of your course.

Becoming eligible

If you are, or if your parent (or your parent's spouse / civil partner) is, or if your own spouse / civil partner is, granted leave after the start of your course, seek advice about whether you will become eligible for Student Support.

Definitions: for Student Support assessment

Last modified: 05 June 2017

This section has explanations about words and terms which occur in our information on Government Student Support. These explanations should not be read in isolation but, instead, combined with the appropriate Student Support category.

Awards for postgraduate study

Last modified: 09 August 2017

This section gives you information about the funding available if you are studying in the UK as a postgraduate student.

Government loans

Other funding

EEA migrant workers

Last modified: 02 December 2015

Brexit: Impact on student finance

The funding bodies in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, have all given reassurances to EU nationals about continuing student finance eligibility.

Students in 2016/17

Between June and August 2016, each of the funding bodies confirmed that EU students:

currently on courses and receiving student finance will continue to be eligible for student finance for the duration of their study on that course; and
commencing university study on an eligible course in Autumn 2016 will also be eligible for student finance in the normal way and, furthermore, will continue to be eligible for student finance for the duration of their study on that course.

Students starting in 2017/18

In Autumn 2016, the funding bodies throughout the UK made further statements:

England confirmed that "EU students applying for a place at an English university or further education institution in the 2017 to 2018 academic year will continue to be eligible for student loans and grants - and will be for the duration of their course [...] even if the UK exits the European Union during that period";
Wales made a similar statement to England;
SAAS in Scotland confirmed that "eligible EU students will continue to have access to free tuition, including tuition fee support [...] and [SAAS] will provide funding in the normal way. These students will be eligible to apply for funding from SAAS for the duration of that course. This applies [...] to students starting a new course from 2017-18". The statement is no longer publicly available but see 'Swinney demands student immigration guarantee' at gov.scot;
Northern Ireland confirmed that "the rules applying to EU nationals, or their family members, who have applied for a place at university from this August 2017 to study a course which attracts student support are unchanged. [...] EU nationals, or their family members, who are assessed as eligible to receive grants and/ or loans [...] will then be eligible for the duration of their study on that course".

Students starting in 2018/19

In March 2017, Scotland confirmed that "EU nationals choosing to study in Scotland and enrolling in 2018-19 have been guaranteed free tuition for the duration of their entire course".
In April 2017, England reconfirmed its position for 2016/17 and 2017/18 (as above), and also confirmed the same funding package for EU students commencing study in 2018/19.
In April 2017, Wales confirmed that "EU nationals who intend to begin studying in the academic year 2018/19 will be eligible for support from loans and grants" and that these students "will not have the terms of their funding changed if the UK leaves the EU during their studies".

Brexit: Impact on fee status assessments

Government Student Support

Basics

Eligible courses

Funding for healthcare courses

Incorrectly refused, and those not eligible

Applying in England: Basics

Applying in England: Who is entitled?

Students from the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man

Becoming eligible

Refugee Status: where someone gains British citizenship

Applying in Scotland: Basics

Applying in Scotland: Who is entitled?

Students from the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man

Becoming eligible

Refugee Status: where someone gains British citizenship

Applying in Wales: Basics

Applying in Wales: Who is entitled?

Students from the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man

Becoming eligible

Refugee Status: where someone gains British citizenship

Applying in Northern Ireland: Basics

Applying in Northern Ireland: Who is entitled?

Students from the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man

Becoming eligible

Refugee Status: where someone gains British citizenship

Becoming eligible

Definitions: for Student Support assessment

Awards for postgraduate study

Research councils

Social work and social care councils

EEA migrant workers

Brexit: Impact on student finance

Students in 2016/17

Students starting in 2017/18

Students starting in 2018/19