Course information

Funding is available to eligible students who are on a full-time HNC, HND, degree or equivalent level course. It is also available for a PGDE.

You must tell us if you change course or institution, or if your circumstances change at any time, as this might affect the funding you are entitled to.

If you have previously been on a full-time Higher Education course, we may not be able to give you full funding. The rules relating to previous study are complicated; if you are in any doubt about your entitlement, you should visit the relevant section of our website or contact us for advice before completing your application.

Residence eligibility

General residence conditions

To qualify for funding (tuition fees, student loan, bursary and living-costs grants), you must be:

• ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for the three years immediately before the first day of the first academic year of the course (the relevant date). For the majority of students, who start their course between 1 August and 31 December, the relevant date is 1 August.
• ordinarily resident in Scotland on the relevant date.

If you are not a UK or other EU national, as well as the above, you must be 'settled' in the UK within the meaning of the Immigration Act 1971, on the relevant date.

The courts have defined 'ordinarily resident' as 'habitual and normal residence in one place'. It means that you, your parents' or your husband, wife or civil partner live in a country year after year by choice, throughout a set period, apart from temporary or occasional absences, such as holidays or business trips.

We will not treat you as being ordinarily resident in Scotland if your main purpose in coming here has been to receive full-time education and that you would have otherwise been living elsewhere.

If you do not meet the general residence conditions set out above, you may still be eligible to apply to us for funding, if you meet any of the other conditions set out in Schedule 1 of the Student Allowances' (Scotland) Regulations 2007 (as amended). You can find a copy of this in the 'about us' section of our website.

The residence eligibility conditions are complicated and we may have to ask you for more information to establish your circumstances. If you are in any doubt about your eligibility, please contact us for advice or check the more detailed residency section of our website.

European Union students

To qualify for payment of tuition fees only, you must be studying a course in Scotland that you plan to graduate* from, and meet our residence eligibility conditions set out below.

• You are, on the relevant date (see the next bullet for what this means), a qualifying EU national or family member of such accompanying or joining that EU national in the UK (see our website for details of who is a qualifying EU national and what we mean by accompanying or joining); and
• you have been ordinarily resident in the EU (this can include the UK), the EU overseas territories, elsewhere in the EEA or Switzerland for the three years immediately before the first day of the first academic year of your course (the relevant date). For the majority of students who start their course between 1 August and 31 December, the relevant date is 1 August. If you are applying for funding as the family member of a qualifying EU national, you do not have to meet this condition if your qualifying EU family member does.

*We will not pay your tuition fees if you are studying in Scotland for one year as part of your course in your home institution, that you will return to to complete, if you are receiving tuition fee funding from EU public funds for your year of study in Scotland.

We will not pay your tuition fees if you already have a degree qualification for which you received funding from EU public funds. However, if you hold an ordinary degree, we may offer you funding for an honours year of the same or similar degree, with or without having a break in study. Contact us for advice.

Remember to get in touch if you have any doubts or questions about your eligibility.

Education and employment history

You must give us details of your education and employment history. This includes details of your secondary education and any college or university where you have been a student since you left school.

You must also give us details of your full-time or part-time employment/unemployment and education history for the last three years.

Please note - if you have finished or you are due to finish school this year, you will only be presented with relevant questions in the application.

Studying abroad/placements

Studying abroad

If your study abroad is compulsory, regardless of your household income, you will be eligible to claim the cost of your journey abroad and medical insurance. If you indicate on your application that you will be studying abroad as a compulsory part of your course, we will send you the appropriate form to claim these costs.

If you choose to take a voluntary period of study abroad as part of your course that is not an ERASMUS exchange, and it does not extend the total length of your degree in the UK, you can apply for the same level of living cost funding you would get if you were studying in the UK. We will not pay the cost of your journey abroad or medical insurance.

Students on placements

If you are on a full-year paid placement you can apply for a student loan, but we will not pay any bursary, additional loan or living cost grants. If you do not want a student loan, you should still apply to us to pay your tuition fees. For students on a full-year paid placement, we normally pay half the normal tuition fee straight to your institution.

If you are on a full-year unpaid placement (mainly in the public sector) you can apply for the full normal funding package available to you.

If you are on a part-year placement, either paid or unpaid, and you will be spending at least 10 weeks in your home institution, you can apply for the normal full funding package available to you. If you are in attendance for less than 10 weeks of the year at your institution, SAAS will pay half the normal tuition fees for that year.

If you are doing an Allied Health Profession course (speech and language therapy/pathology, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, radiography [diagnostic imaging - degree only, diagnostic radiography, therapeutic radiography, radiography and oncology], podiatry [chiropody], orthoptics, dietetics, paramedics, prosthetics and orthotics), you do not need to complete this section of the application. To apply for placement expenses you can pick up a form from your university or college or download one from our website.

Funding page

Eligible students taking full-time undergraduate courses at HNC level and above at a college or university throughout the UK can apply for:

• help with tuition fees
• living costs funding (student loan and bursary)
• certain other allowances

All eligible students are entitled to a basic level of funding. This includes tuition fees and a student loan of up to £4,750. You will not need to give us your household income details if the total is £34,000 or above for the previous tax year. If your household income is below £34,000 a year, to be assessed for the higher level of funding, which includes a bursary, we will require your household income details.

You should fill in this section to tell us what funding you want. The choices you make here will mean that you only fill in the sections of the form that are relevant to the funding you want. For example, if you only want to apply for your tuition fees, and are studying in Scotland, we will not show you the loan section of the form or ask you for details of your household income.

Tuition fees - studying in Scotland

Eligible students studying at an institution in Scotland, are entitled to free tuition. We will pay tuition fees straight to your institution.

The standard rate of tuition fees charged depends on what course you are doing as shown below.

• HNC, HND, or equivalent - £1,285
• Degree, PGDE or equivalent - £1,820
• Private Institutions - £1,205

We will not usually pay your tuition fees if you have previously been on a full-time Higher Education course, for example, if you already have a qualification and had help from public funds to do so.

Your institution may also charge fees that are different from the standard rate for the level of course you are doing (for example, institutions not funded by the Government, courses designated for graduate entry and so on). We will limit the amount we pay on your behalf to the appropriate standard rate for the level of course you are doing.

Tuition fees - studying in a UK college or university outside Scotland

You will have to pay up to £9,250 towards your tuition fees. You can choose to take out a student loan to pay all or some of your fees. The amount of tuition fee loan you can get does not depend on your household income.

If you are studying at an approved private college or university outside Scotland, you can take out a loan of up to £6,000 towards your tuition fees.

If you are not entitled to apply for help with your tuition fees, for example, if you are doing a second course of Higher Education, you will not be entitled to apply for a loan to pay them either.

EU tuition fees only

If you are an EU student coming here for education, you may qualify for payment of your tuition fees. You must meet the relevant residence conditions, as set out in the residence section above.

Loan and bursaries for living costs

The tables below will give you an idea of what living cost funding you can get, based on your household income, as a young or independent student.

Lone Parents' Grant

You may be entitled to this income-assessed grant if you're single, widowed, divorced or separated, your civil partnership has been dissolved or you no longer live with your partner, and you're bringing up children on your own (including children you act as a carer for). The amount we'll pay is up to £1,305 a year.

Dependants' Grant

You may claim this income-assessed grant for your husband, wife, civil partner or partner. You cannot claim this grant for another student. The highest amount that we can pay is £2,640 a year.

If your husband, wife, civil partner or partner has any income, this may affect your entitlement. We take account of their gross income from all sources. But, we'll ignore the first £1,160 of any income they have.

We pay the Dependants' Grant provisionally and we will reassess your grant when we receive confirmation, at the end of your year of study, of the actual income your husband, wife, civil partner or partner has received. You should tell us of any change in your circumstances during the year. If we reduce the Dependants' Grant after receiving this information, we'll ask you to repay whatever you've received over your entitlement.

Disabled Students' Allowance (DSA)

If you have a disability, you may be eligible to claim for certain extra expenses. You can get more information about the expenses we may pay from our website. Before we can pay this allowance, you'll need to fill in an application form to give us more information. We may also have to refer you to an assessment centre for advice on the equipment you may need. This can take time so you must apply as early as possible.

Care Experienced Student Bursary and Accommodation Grant

If you're a Care Experienced student, you may be entitled to additional funding if you have ever been looked after by a UK Local Authority

You'll need to provide evidence to confirm you're eligible for the Care Experienced Student Bursary, which is £8100. You would also be eligible to receive the Accommodation Grant, where we pay up to £105 a week to help with accommodation costs in the summer holiday. Further information can be found on our website.

Dependent or independent status

Dependent (Young) Students

Most school leavers will be classed as 'dependent'.

Under the Family Law (Scotland) Act 1985, parents have a general obligation to support their children, depending on the particular circumstances of the case. This obligation extends to children over 18 and up to 25 who are in further or higher education or training.

Independent Students

To be classed as an independent student you must meet one or more of the following conditions:

• You have reached the age of 25 before the 1 August of the academic year we are assessing you for.
• You have supported yourself from earnings or benefits outside of full-time education for any three years before the first day of the first academic year of your course. This can include Government training schemes and advanced research level postgraduate study where you received an award.
• You have a child of any age dependant on you at the start of the academic year, and who lives with you for the majority of the week.
• You are married, in a civil partnership or live with a partner (who is not a student) prior to the start of the academic year we are assessing you for.
• Your parents are no longer alive.
• You have been in the care of a local authority or voluntary organisation, or under a custodianship order, for the three months immediately before your 18th birthday (or immediately before the start of your course if you are under 18 when the course begins).

If you do not meet any of these conditions then we will class you as a dependent student.

Household income

Student income

We do not take into account any earnings from employment. We'll use your estimated unearned income for the coming academic year. The types of student income we include are:

• Income from property
• Pension income
• Benefits (see list below)
• Interest from bonds and trusts
• Interest from bank/building society and any investments
• Dividends
• Maintenance payments paid to you by an absent parent, husband, wife, civil partner or partner

Benefactor income

Whose income we take into account:

• If your parents live together, we'll use both their incomes.
• If your parents are separated, divorced or no longer live together, we'll use the income of the parent you normally live with.
• If your parent lives with a partner or you have a step-parent, we'll use their income as well as the parent you live with.
• If you are married or live with a partner, we'll use their income.

What income we take into account

In most cases, we'll ask to see your household income for the tax year beginning 6 April 2021 and ending 5 April 2023. For those who pay tax as they earn (PAYE), we take the total gross income. For those who are self-employed and those who have income from property, we take the taxable profit. For those who are unemployed, we only take certain benefits into account (see list below). For example, Jobseeker's Allowance. Full details of the income we take into account are on the application.

Types of benefits we take into account:

• Bereavement Allowance
• Carers Allowance
• Income Support
• Incapacity Allowance/Employment and Support Allowance
• Industrial Death Benefit
• Industrial Injuries Benefit
• Job Seekers Allowance
• Maternity Allowance
• Pension Credit
• Retirement Pension
• Severe Disablement Allowance
• Severe Disablement Occupational Allowance
• Un-employability Allowance
• Universal Credits Standard Allowance
• Widowed Parents' Allowance
• War Widow's Pension
• War Pension
• War Disablement Pension
• Working Tax Credit (excluding any childcare and disability element)

Drop in income during the academic year

If, at any time during the year, there is likely to be a drop in income of at least 15%, we may be able to reassess your funding based on an estimated income during the current financial year. We must see documents to confirm the income details for either the 2021/22 or 2022/23 financial years, whichever is relevant, that would demonstrate this drop before we can consider reassessment. This is not available if the income changes from year to year because of the type of employment, investments and so on. Contact us for more advice.

We can reassess your award if your parent/step-parent/parent's partner or husband/wife/civil partner or partner dies and we used their income to assess the award. If this applies to you, contact us for advice as soon as possible.

Evidence we need to see

Household income evidence

PAYE

The most common document we'll accept is your P60. This must be for the tax year ending 5 April 2023. If you have lost your P60, we'll accept your 'Month 12' payslip or 'week 52' payslip if it includes a 'year to date' (YTD) total for taxable pay. We can also accept an employment and benefits history from HMRC.

Self-employment

If you're in business on your own or in partnership, please give your net business profit for tax purposes for the last completed business accounting year. You must support this amount with a copy of your self-assessment tax calculation that you sent to HMRC showing the income for year ending between 6 April 2021 and 5 April 2023.

Income from property and land

We'll accept your HMRC self-assessment form (SA105). The figure we want is your 'taxable profit' which is currently in box 38. We'll also accept a letter from HMRC confirming your total income from all sources for the tax year ending 5 April 2023 (this is called an employment and benefits history).

Income from private, employers or state pensions (including Pension Credit)

If it is a private work pension, we'll accept a copy of your P60 from your pension provider. If it's a state pension, and you do not have a P60, we'll accept an end of year statement from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), covering the tax year ending 5 April 2023.

Replacement living costs benefits

You should prove your income with a copy of a P60U for the relevant year or a letter from DWP or Jobcentre Plus confirming the total amount of benefits received for the tax year ending 5 April 2023. We can also accept an employment and benefits history from HMRC.

Working Tax Credits

We need to see pages 1 to 4 of either your current year tax credit award notice or your tax credit annual review, covering the full 2021/22 tax year.

Maintenance payments

If you're making maintenance payments to another household, you should either send us a copy of your Child Support Agency (CSA) letter, if the CSA have been involved, or a copy of your bank statement which shows the regular payments you make.

If the maintenance payments are coming into the household, we do not need to see evidence. Do not include maintenance you receive for any children who are not students in further or higher education.

Single benefactor evidence

If there is income from only one benefactor on your application, we will need to see one of the following:

• If they receive tax credits, pages one and two of their current tax credit award or their current tax credit annual review (which ever applies), or
• Their current council tax notice that shows they receive a 25% discount, or
• An original mortgage statement/tenancy agreement that shows they jointly owned/rented a property and a new mortgage statement/tenancy agreement that shows they now live alone, or
• A letter from the council or housing association (which ever applies) that shows they have been given the tenancy as a lone parent or are receiving housing benefit as a lone parent; or
• A letter from the Department for Work and Pensions which clearly states they receive benefits as a lone parent.

  If they cannot give us any of the above, we can accept a signed letter on company header paper, from a professional person, confirming they are separated. A professional person can be a doctor, nurse, lawyer, solicitor, notary public, teacher, counsellor, police officer, family mediation worker, social worker, nursery teacher, student adviser or minister of religion.

Lone parent evidence

To prove you are entitled to this grant, you must give us a copy of the birth certificate of your eldest child who is still dependent on you AND a copy of one of the documents listed below.

• If you receive tax credits, pages one and two of either your current tax credit award or your current tax credit annual review (which ever applies), or
• A letter from the Department for Work and Pensions which clearly states you receive benefit as a lone parent; or
• A letter from the council or housing association (which ever applies) that shows you have been given the tenancy as a lone parent or are receiving housing benefit as a lone parent.

If you cannot give us one of the above, we can accept a letter, on company header paper, from a professional person, confirming that you are a lone parent. A professional person can be a doctor, nurse, lawyer, solicitor, notary public, teacher, counsellor, police officer, family mediation worker, social worker, nursery teacher, student adviser or minister of religion.

EU students evidence

We need to see a copy of your EU passport or EU Identity Card.

Nursing and midwifery diploma and degree students

Course information

You should give us the details of the course you will be studying. Funding is available to eligible students who are on a diploma or degree course in nursing or midwifery.

If you have previously received public funds for a course of Further or Higher Education, you can still get a bursary for courses under the Nursing and Midwifery Student Bursary scheme (NMSB). However, if you have previously received funding under the NMSB scheme, this may affect any future funding.

You must tell us if you change course or institution, or if your circumstances change at any time, as this might affect the funding you are entitled to.

Repeating a year

We normally make awards for the shortest time needed to complete your course. However, if you need to increase the time to complete your course, in certain circumstances, we will give you up to one more year of funding. If you need more than this, you should contact your institution, who in turn will contact the Scottish Government Health Directorate for approval, to allow you to receive funding to extend your studies further.

Nursing and midwifery diploma and degree students - residence eligibility

General residence conditions

To be eligible for funding, you must:

• have been 'ordinarily resident' in the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for three years immediately before the relevant date (the first day of the first academic year of the course). For the majority of students who start their course between 1 August and 31 December, the relevant date is 1 August.
• be ordinarily resident in Scotland on the relevant date.

If you are not a UK or other EU national, as well as the above, you must be 'settled' in the UK within the meaning of the Immigration Act 1971, on the relevant date.

The courts have defined 'ordinarily resident' as 'habitual and normal residence in one place'. It means that you, your parents, your husband, wife or civil partner live in a country year after year by choice, apart from temporary or occasional absences such as holidays or business trips. Living in the UK totally or mainly for the purpose of receiving full-time education, does not count as ordinarily resident.

If you do not meet the general residence conditions set out above, you may still be eligible to apply to us for funding, if you meet any of the other conditions set out in Schedule 1 of the Nursing and Midwifery Student Allowances (Scotland) Regulations 2007 (as amended). You can find a copy of this in the 'about us' section of our website.

If you are a European Union student studying in the UK, but not otherwise resident in the UK, the Scottish Government Health Directorate may pay your tuition fees, direct to your university, if you meet the residence conditions set out below.

To be eligible on residence grounds, you must:

• on the relevant date, (see the next bullet for what this means) be a qualifying EU national or family member of such accompanying or joining that EU national in the UK (see our website for details of who is a qualifying EU national and what we mean by accompanying or joining); and
• have been ordinarily resident in the EU (this can include the UK), the EU overseas territories, elsewhere in the EEA or Switzerland for the three years immediately before the first day of the first academic year of the course (the relevant date). For the majority of students who start their course between 1 August and 31 December, the relevant date is 1 August. If you are applying for funding as the family member of a qualifying EU national, you do not have to meet this condition if your qualifying EU family member does.

  You should apply to the institution you are studying at for help with your tuition fees. You should not make an application to SAAS. You will not be eligible for any other form of funding, for example, the bursary and any other allowances.

  The residence eligibility conditions are complicated and we may have to ask you for more information to establish your circumstances. If you are in any doubt about your eligibility, please contact us for advice or check the more detailed residency section of our website.

Nursing and midwifery diploma and degree students - education

You must give us details of your education history.

This includes details of your secondary education and any college or university where you have been a student since you left school.

If you are returning to Higher Education after a break in study, we will need details of any education you have done during this break.

Nursing and midwifery diploma and degree students - funding package

All eligible students receive a non-income assessed bursary.

Initial Expenses Allowance

We will pay you an extra £60 Initial Expenses Allowance in your first year of study. This will be included in the first instalment of your bursary.

Single Parents' Allowance

You may be entitled to this income-assessed allowance if you're single, widowed, divorced or separated, your civil partnership has been dissolved or you no longer live with your partner, and you're bringing up a child/children on your own. The amount we'll pay is up to £2,303 a year.

Please note - for a child to be dependent on you, this normally means they're still at school. However, in certain circumstances, you can retain your entitlement to Child Benefit if your child has left school and is in non-advanced education or approved training. In these circumstances, we can pay the Single Parents' Allowance until your entitlement to Child Benefit stops.

Dependants Allowance

You can claim this income-assessed allowance for your husband, wife, civil partner or partner and for any child you are legally responsible for. You cannot claim this allowance for another student. If your husband, wife, civil partner or partner is also in full-time education, you can claim the higher rate of dependants allowance for your first child.

The amounts are as follows:

• £3,640 for a husband, wife, civil partner or partner or, if you are single, one adult you've a legal responsibility for with little or no income from any sources; or
• £3,640 for the first child where there is no dependant husband, wife, civil partner or partner or other dependent child; and
• £557 for each other dependent child

If your dependants have any income, this may affect your entitlement. We take account of their gross income from all sources. However, we'll ignore the first £1160 of any income they have. You should tell us the type of income your dependants have for the academic year you are about to start. You must declare your husband's, wife's, civil partner's or partner's income, even if you're only claiming for your children.

Disabled Students' Allowance (DSA)

If you have a disability, you may be eligible to claim for certain extra expenses. You can get more information about the expenses we may pay from our website.

Before we can pay this allowance, you'll need to fill in an application form to give us more information. We may also have to refer you to an assessment centre for advice on the equipment you may need. This can take time so it is essential that you apply as early as possible.

Childcare Allowance for Parents

The childcare allowance is payable to any student who is a parent.

You may be entitled to this allowance if you pay for registered or formal childcare. You can receive up to £2,466 a year, depending on your childcare costs. You can download this form when you're making your application for funding.

Nursing and midwifery diploma and degree students - evidence we need to see

Single Parents' Allowance

To prove you are entitled to this grant, you must give us a copy of the birth certificate of your eldest child who is still dependent on you AND a copy of one of the documents listed below.

• If you receive tax credits, pages one and two of either your current tax credit award or your current tax credit annual review (which ever applies), or
• A letter from the Department for Work and Pensions which clearly states you receive benefit as a lone parent; or
• A letter from the council or housing association (which ever applies) that shows you have been given the tenancy as a lone parent or are receiving housing benefit as a lone parent.

If you cannot give us one of the above, we may accept a letter, on company header paper, from a person who knows your circumstances well in a professional capacity and can confirm categorically that you are a lone parent. A professional person can be a doctor, nurse, lawyer, solicitor, notary public, teacher, counsellor, police officer, family mediation worker, social worker, nursery teacher, student adviser or minister of religion.

Dependants' Allowance

Please try to be as accurate as possible when estimating your dependant's income for your academic year. We pay the Dependants' Allowance provisionally. This means we will ask you to confirm the income your dependant actually received, at the end of your year of study - we will then reassess your allowance.

If the amount you are entitled to is less than we previously paid you, we will ask you to give us the difference back. So that we do not pay you more than you are due, you should tell us about any change in your circumstances during the year.

Types of income we take into account:

• Bereavement Allowance
• Carers Allowance
• Income from employment
• Income Support
• Incapacity Benefit/Employment and Support Allowance
• Industrial Death Benefit
• Invalid Care Allowance
• Invalidity Benefit
• Jobseekers Allowance
• Maternity Allowance
• Pension Credit
• Retirement Pension
• Severe Disablement Allowance
• Statutory Sick Pay
• Statutory Maternity Pay
• Widowed Parents' Allowance
• War Widows' Pension
• War Pension
• War Disablement Pension (only need the amount that replaces living costs)
• Working Tax Credit (excluding the Child Tax Credit element)

You must supply copies of your children's full birth certificates with your first application.

Postgraduate

Eligible full-time and part-time postgraduate students can apply for a loan to pay their tuition fees and the Disabled Students' Allowance (if this applies).

Eligible full-time postgraduate students can also apply for a living costs loan. This is paid in addition to the tuition fee loan. The living costs loan is not available to part-time students.

Eligible full-time courses are one-year taught Postgraduate Diplomas and taught Masters courses*. Eligible part-time courses are two-year taught Postgraduate Diplomas and taught Masters courses; the course must not be completely distance learning.

Your application for a loan to pay your tuition fees is only valid for one academic session. If you are a part-time student doing your course over two years or if you are studying the Masters in Educational Psychology at Dundee or Strathclyde University (*exceptionally funded full-time over two years), you must apply for a fee loan in both years of your course.

Postgraduate - general eligibility

To be eligible for a loan to pay your tuition fees, you must:

• meet our residence conditions; and
• be studying an eligible course

If you are studying part-time, you must take no more than two years to complete your course.

Eligibility at the beginning of a course, determines your eligibility for the duration of that course. This means, if you start a course while ineligible to receive funding on residence grounds, you will continue to be ineligible to receive funding on residence grounds for the rest of that course.

Postgraduate - residence eligibility

General residence conditions

To meet the residence conditions, you must have been:

• ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for the three years immediately before the relevant date (the first day of the first academic year of the course); and
• ordinarily resident in Scotland on the relevant date.

European Union students

To qualify for a tuition fee loan only award, you must meet our residence eligibility conditions set out below.

• You are on the relevant date (see the next bullet for what this means), a qualifying EU national or family member of such, accompanying or joining that EU national in the UK (see our website for details of who is a qualifying EU national and what we mean by accompanying or joining); and
• you have been ordinarily resident in the EU (this can include the UK), the EU overseas territories, elsewhere in the EEA or Switzerland for the three years immediately before the first day of the first academic year of the course (the relevant date). For the majority of students, who start their course in the autumn term, the relevant date is 1 August. If you are claiming funding as the family member of a qualifying EU national, you do not have to meet this condition if your qualifying EU family member does.

The relevant date

The relevant date depends on when your course starts. The dates for session 2024-2025 are:

• 1 August 2024 for courses that start between 1 August 2024 and 31 December 2024
• 1 January 2025 for courses that start between 1 January 2025 and 31 March 2025

Additional residency information

If you are not a UK or other EU national you must be settled in the UK (as set out in the Immigration Act 1971) on the relevant date. To find out about getting settled status, you can visit the Home Office website at www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk or phone their helpline on 0870 606 7766.

We will not normally treat you as being ordinarily resident in the UK and Scotland if your main purpose in coming here has been to receive full-time education and that you would have otherwise been living elsewhere.

Eligibility at the beginning of a course determines your eligibility for the duration of that course. This means, if you start a course while ineligible to receive funding on residence grounds, you will continue to be ineligible to receive funding on residence grounds for the rest of that course.

There are exceptions to this rule for those who were seeking asylum in the UK who now have a form of leave to remain in the UK. For all others, you should contact us for advice before starting your course to see what funding may be available.

Remember to get in touch if you have any doubts or questions about your eligibility.

Postgraduate - funding package

Tuition fee loan

You can apply for a tuition fee loan to pay your tuition fees of up to £7,000 (£3,500 if you are studying part-time). To qualify for a loan to study part-time, you must take no more than two years to complete your course.

If you apply for a loan, we will pay the relevant amount, as indicated above, to your university on your behalf. The amount of loan we can give you does not depend on your household income.

If the amount your university charges you is higher than £7,000 (or £3,500 if you are studying part-time), you will have to pay the difference yourself.

Living costs loan

Eligible full-time postgraduate students can apply to us for a living costs loan of up to £4,500. To be eligible for the living costs loan, you must:

• be studying a full-time course that we fund; and
• meet our residence eligibility criteria; and
• be under 60 on the first day of the first academic year of your course (the relevant date)

If you change course and are aged 60 or over on the relevant date of your new course, regardless of which year you enter your new course, you will not be entitled to a living costs loan for your new course. The living costs loan is not available to part-time postgraduate students.

Disabled Students' Allowance (DSA)

If you have a disability, you may be eligible to claim for certain extra expenses. You can get more information about the expenses we may pay from our website. Before we can pay this allowance, you will need to fill in an application form to give us more information. We may also have to refer you to an assessment centre for advice on the equipment you may need. This can take time, so it is essential that you apply as early as possible.

Postgraduate - evidence we need to see

EU Students

You must provide a copy of your EU passport or EU identity card. However, if you received tuition fee funding from us at undergraduate level, you will have provided this.

Help video - SAAS account