A student living away from home outside London can borrow up to £10,830 in maintenance support in England for 2026/27, receive up to £12,590 in Wales as a mix of loan and grant, and borrow up to £8,352 in Northern Ireland. The same student, in the same accommodation, studying the same subject.
Every figure below is taken from the government body that pays it, for the 2026/27 academic year, and each is attributed in the section it appears in. Where a figure depends on household income, the income bands are given too, because the headline maximum is what almost nobody actually receives.
England: what Student Finance England pays in 2026/27
Two separate products. The Tuition Fee Loan goes to your university; the Maintenance Loan goes to your bank account.
| Support | 2025/26 | 2026/27 |
|---|---|---|
| Tuition Fee Loan, full-time | Up to £9,535 | Up to £9,790 |
| Tuition Fee Loan, accelerated degree | Up to £11,440 | Up to £11,750 |
| Maintenance Loan, living with parents | Up to £8,877 | Up to £9,118 |
| Maintenance Loan, away from home, outside London | Up to £10,544 | Up to £10,830 |
| Maintenance Loan, away from home, in London | Up to £13,762 | Up to £14,135 |
| Maintenance Loan, year abroad | Up to £12,076 | Up to £12,403 |
| Maintenance Loan, aged 60 or over | Up to £4,461 | Up to £4,582 |
Source: GOV.UK, “Student finance for undergraduates: New full-time students”, 2026 to 2027 academic year.
The income thresholds nobody quotes
The maximum is paid only where household residual income is £25,000 or less. Above that the loan tapers, and the taper rate differs by where you live. Student Finance England’s own 2026/27 assessment guide sets it out precisely:
- Living with parents: reduced by £1 for every £6.54 of income above £25,000, until 44% of the full loan remains.
- Away from home, outside London: reduced by £1 for every £6.47 above £25,000, until 46.6% remains.
- Away from home, in London: reduced by £1 for every £6.36 above £25,000, until 49.8% remains.
The floor matters as much as the taper. You do not lose the loan entirely at a high household income — you drop to the non-means-tested minimum and stay there. The guide gives the income at which that floor is reached for a full year: £58,347 living with parents, £62,410 away from home outside London, and £70,131 away from home in London.
Source: GOV.UK, “Student finance: how you’re assessed and paid 2026 to 2027”, section 5.6.
One change to know about for 2026/27: if you are a care leaver, your household income will no longer be used to calculate your Maintenance Loan, so you can take the maximum. GOV.UK also flags that the system is changing for courses starting on or after 1 January 2027, which is a separate set of rules from everything above.
Wales: a loan and a grant, not just a loan
Wales is structurally different, and the difference is worth understanding even if you are not Welsh-domiciled, because it explains why cross-border comparisons of “the maintenance loan” are misleading. Welsh students get a combined package, part of which never has to be repaid, and the total is the same regardless of household income — only the loan-to-grant split changes.
| Household income | Living with parents (loan + grant) | Away, outside London | Away, in London |
|---|---|---|---|
| £18,370 or less | £3,665 + £7,020 | £4,330 + £8,260 | £5,395 + £10,325 |
| £25,000 | £4,639 + £6,046 | £5,505 + £7,085 | £6,906 + £8,814 |
| £35,000 | £6,108 + £4,577 | £7,279 + £5,311 | £9,185 + £6,535 |
| £45,000 | £7,578 + £3,107 | £9,052 + £3,538 | £11,465 + £4,255 |
| £59,200 or more | £9,665 + £1,020 | £11,570 + £1,020 | £14,700 + £1,020 |
| Total in every band | £10,685 | £12,590 | £15,720 |
Source: Student Finance Wales, “What’s available”, full-time undergraduate tuition fee and living cost students, 2026 to 2027. Student Finance Wales describes these as estimates; your notification of entitlement is the binding figure. The Welsh Tuition Fee Loan for 2026/27 is up to £9,790, matching England.
Read the bottom row again. A Welsh student from a household earning over £59,200 still receives a non-repayable grant of £1,020. There is no equivalent in the English system.
Northern Ireland: a much lower fee, and a much lower loan
Northern Ireland runs the most distinctive package in the UK, and the headline is the tuition fee. Universities and colleges in Northern Ireland can charge Northern Irish students up to £4,985 a year — roughly half the English cap.
| Support (2026/27) | Full year | Final year |
|---|---|---|
| Maintenance Loan, living with parents | Up to £6,471 | Up to £5,850 |
| Maintenance Loan, outside London, not with parents | Up to £8,352 | Up to £7,731 |
| Maintenance Loan, in London, not with parents | Up to £11,699 | Up to £10,646 |
| Maintenance Grant (non-repayable) | Up to £3,569 | Up to £3,569 |
| Tuition Fee Loan, studying in Northern Ireland | Up to £4,985 | Up to £4,985 |
The Maintenance Grant pays in full at a household income of £19,203 or less, tapers between £19,204 and £41,065, and stops above £41,065. Taking the grant reduces the loan you can borrow. Northern Irish loans are repaid once you earn over £26,900 a year — a materially lower threshold than students elsewhere face.
Source: Student Finance NI, “A Guide to Financial Support for Full-Time Students in Higher Education 2026/27”.
Scotland: a different agency and a different shape
Scottish-domiciled students do not apply to Student Finance England. They apply to the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS), and the package is built differently again: a bursary and a loan rather than a single maintenance loan, with the split determined by household income. We have not reproduced Scottish amounts on this page, because we hold ourselves to quoting figures we have confirmed against the paying body’s own published statement and we were not able to do that for Scotland at the time of writing. Take the current rates from SAAS directly rather than from any figure quoted second-hand, including ours.
When to apply, and what happens if you are late
You can apply before you have a confirmed place, and applications for 2026/27 are open. The deadline depends on when your course starts:
| Course start date | Apply by |
|---|---|
| Between 1 August and 31 December | 31 May after your course started |
| Between 1 January and 31 March | 30 September after your course started |
| Between 1 April and 30 June | 31 December after your course started |
| Between 1 July and 31 July | 31 March after your course started |
Source: GOV.UK, “Student finance: how to apply — When to apply”. GOV.UK states that applications take four weeks to process, and that applying close to or after the start of your course means you will initially be paid only the minimum amount, with the rest following once household income has been checked.
What this means if you are writing a dissertation this year
Final-year students hit two money problems at once. The maintenance loan arrives in three termly instalments that do not align with when dissertation costs actually land, and final-year rates in Northern Ireland are lower than full-year rates because the final academic year is shorter. If your project needs transcription, participant incentives, printing or software, budget for it in the term you will spend it, not the term you are paid.
Most of the costs students assume are unavoidable are not. Software your university already licenses, datasets that are free to registered students and open-access literature cover most undergraduate projects — our guides to free UK data sources by subject, getting UK Data Service data and SPSS, R and jamovi compared set out what you can use without paying. Paid proofreading is the expense most worth interrogating before you commit to it; our comparison of dissertation proofreading services explains why your own department’s policy should decide that before price does.
If the deadline rather than the budget is the pressure, Tesify drafts your dissertation chapter by chapter so the writing is not what runs out of time. Everything stays 100% written by you, and it is free to start.
Frequently asked questions
How much is the maintenance loan in England for 2026/27?
Up to £9,118 living with your parents, £10,830 living away from home outside London, £14,135 living away from home in London, and £12,403 for a year of a UK course spent studying abroad. The maximum applies at a household income of £25,000 or less.
What household income do you need for the full maintenance loan?
£25,000 or less in England for 2026/27. Above that it tapers at a rate that depends on where you live, down to a non-means-tested minimum.
At what income does the English maintenance loan stop reducing?
At roughly £58,347 living with parents, £62,410 away from home outside London and £70,131 away from home in London, for a full year. Beyond those points you receive the minimum rate rather than nothing.
How much is the tuition fee loan for 2026/27?
Up to £9,790 for full-time students in England and Wales, up to £11,750 for an accelerated degree in England, and up to £4,985 for Northern Irish students studying in Northern Ireland.
Why do Welsh students get a grant when English students do not?
Because Wales funds living costs as a combined grant and loan whose total is the same at every household income, varying only the split. Even at the top income band a Welsh student receives a £1,020 non-repayable grant.
When is the student finance deadline for 2026/27?
For a course starting between 1 August and 31 December, it is 31 May after your course started. Applying late does not disqualify you but does mean you are paid the minimum amount first.
Does my household income affect the tuition fee loan?
No. The Tuition Fee Loan and Disabled Students’ Allowance do not depend on household income. Only the maintenance element and certain grants are income-assessed.
Do I need a confirmed university place to apply?
No. GOV.UK states explicitly that you do not need a confirmed place to apply, and applying early is how you avoid being paid the minimum at the start of term.
Are these figures the same for part-time students?
No. Everything above is for full-time undergraduates. Part-time support is calculated differently in all four nations.