Website of the UK government

Checking if you’re personally eligible

The rules on eligibility are complex, but as a general guide your personal eligibility depends on:

• the place where you’re ‘ordinarily resident’
• whether you have taken a higher education course before
• your age

Residence

To qualify for student finance as a student from England, you will normally need to meet all three of the conditions on residence. This means that on the first day of the academic year in which your course starts, you must usually:

• 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)
• be a UK national or have 'settled status' in the UK (under the terms of the Immigration Act 1971)
• be ‘ordinarily resident’ in England
  

You’re '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.

Even if you don’t meet these criteria, you may still qualify for the standard student finance package. Ask your local authority, or your university or college, for advice.

Some students' applications will be handled by the Student Loans Company rather than their local authority. The link below will give you contact details for your local authority - or tell you if you need to contact the Student Loans Company for advice.

• Contact your local authority (student finance applications) Opens new window

Previous study

If you have studied before, this may affect your eligibility for student finance.
You may not be able to get financial help if you have taken a course of higher education in the past and either:

• you got student finance from the government while you were doing it
  or:
• the college or university received funding from the government
  

In general, you’ll be entitled to financial help for the length of your course – plus, if necessary, one extra year to cover things like false starts and transfers.

If you are unsure about whether your previous study affects your eligibility for student finance, speak to your local authority, college or university.

Your age

To qualify for a Student Loan to help with accommodation and living costs (called the ‘Student Loan for Maintenance’), you need to be aged under 60 when you start your course.

There’s no upper age limit on grants and Student Loans for Tuition Fees.

Next step: check that your course and institution are eligible

Eligibility for student finance depends on the course you do and the college or university you go to as well as your personal situation.

Follow the link below to confirm that your course and institution are eligible.

• Student finance: course and institution eligibility

Back to ‘Do you qualify for student finance?’

• Do you qualify for student finance?