The Maintenance Loan will probably be your main source of cash while you're at uni.

How to apply for a Maintenance Loan

Students from England, Northern Ireland or Wales can all apply for a Maintenance Loan online or by post. If you're from Scotland, there's no postal option, so you'll have to apply online.

That said, whether you apply online or by post, you may still need to send some supporting evidence in the mail. This is likely to be things like passports, birth certificates and so on.

We've got a full guide to applying for Student Finance (including Maintenance Loans). But if you're just after a link to your funding body, we've got you covered too.

Remember that you apply for funding from the part of the UK you ordinarily live in, not the part you'll be studying in.

All clear? Great. Here are the links to apply for a Student Loan from each of the UK's four funding bodies:

• England - Student Finance England
• Northern Ireland - Student Finance Northern Ireland
• Scotland - Student Awards Agency Scotland
• Wales - Student Finance Wales.

How to apply for a Current Year Income Assessment

If applying for Student Finance for the 2026/27 academic year, you'll need to provide your household income from the 2024/25 tax year (6th April 2024 - 5th April 2025).

But if you think your household income for the current tax year (6th April 2025 - 5th April 2026) will be significantly lower than in the 2024/25 tax year, you can apply for what's known as a Current Year Income Assessment. This will entitle you to larger Maintenance Loan payments throughout the entire academic year.

At the end of the 2025/26 tax year, you'll need to submit further evidence to prove what your household income was. If it was lower than expected, you may get some extra Maintenance Loan. But if it's higher than you estimated, you'll have to repay some straight away.

Here are the criteria for a Current Income Assessment in each country:

• England - Household income must have dropped by at least 15% (Student Finance England for more info)
• Northern Ireland - Household income must have dropped by at least 5% (Student Finance Northern Ireland for more info)
• Scotland - Household income must have dropped into a different bracket (Student Awards Agency for Scotland for more info)
• Wales - Household income must have dropped by at least 15%. But due to how the Welsh Student Finance system works you likely won't get any more cash. You'll just get an increased share of grant compared to loan (Student Finance Wales for more info).

And a heads up: if your household income was previously above the maximum threshold. In England, Northern Ireland and Wales, it needs to drop below this mark for you to become eligible for extra funding.

Similarly, across the UK, if your household income is already below the minimum threshold, you won't be eligible for a larger Student Loan. This is because you already receive the maximum amount.

Sources

Save The Student
Student Maintenance Loans 2026

By Save The Student
Save The Student is the UK's leading student money website, helping you budget your money, make sense of student finance, look for part-time jobs, find extra funding and more. Founded in 2007, the website provides free and impartial guides, tools and verified deals to tackle the real-life money problems students face at university.