How Is the Maintenance Loan Calculated? Student Finance England 2025/26 Explained

What the maintenance loan actually is

The maintenance loan is the part of Student Finance England (SFE) that pays toward your living costs while you study, such as rent, food, transport and bills. It is separate from the tuition fee loan, which goes directly to your university. The maintenance loan is paid into your bank account in three instalments, one at the start of each term.

The amount you get is decided by three things:

Where you live during term time (with parents, away from home outside London, or away from home in London)

Your household income in the previous tax year

Your year of study (final-year students get slightly less because the academic year is shorter)

The 2025/26 maintenance loan rates

These are the official Student Finance England rates for full-time undergraduates starting in 2025/26.

Where you live during term time	Maximum loan	Minimum loan

|---|---|---|

Living with parents£8,877£4,033Living away from home, outside London£10,544£5,068Living away from home, in London£13,762£6,853Studying abroad as part of your course£12,077£5,807

You get the maximum loan if your household income is £25,000 or less. As household income rises above £25,000 the loan tapers down towards the minimum loan, which everyone is entitled to regardless of income (subject to residency rules).

You can plug your own numbers into our maintenance loan calculator to see an instant estimate.

How household income changes the loan

Above the £25,000 threshold, SFE reduces your loan by roughly £1 for every additional £8.36 of household income (the exact taper varies slightly by location). The reduction stops once you hit the upper income threshold:

Living with parents: minimum loan reached at around £52,545

Outside London: minimum loan reached at around £58,307

In London: minimum loan reached at around £62,343

Worked example 1: Modest household income

Anna lives away from home in Manchester. Her parents' combined household income is £35,000.

Income above £25,000: £10,000

Outside-London taper: roughly £1,196 reduction

Estimated loan: £9,348 per year (£10,544 max minus the reduction)

Worked example 2: Higher household income, London

Ben lives in halls in London. His parents earn a combined £75,000.

£75,000 is above the £62,343 upper threshold for London

Ben gets the minimum London loan: £6,853 per year

Worked example 3: Living with parents

Priya stays at home in Birmingham while studying. Household income is £45,000.

Income above £25,000: £20,000

Home-rate taper: roughly £3,517 reduction

Estimated loan: £5,360 per year

What counts as household income

Household income is your parents' or partner's gross taxable income from the previous tax year, including:

Salary and bonuses (P60 figure)

Self-employment profits

Rental income

Pensions

Dividends and savings interest

The following are deducted before SFE assesses you:

Pension contributions

£1,130 per sibling in full-time education (or other dependent children)

Allowable expenses for self-employed parents

If your parents are divorced, only the parent (and any new partner) you mainly live with is assessed.

London weighting: why it matters

Studying in London adds roughly £3,200 a year to your maximum maintenance loan compared with the rest of England. This reflects higher rent: London halls average £180 to £300 per week, against £130 to £180 outside London. If you're choosing between cities partly on cost, our UK student cost of living comparison breaks down the real numbers.

Final-year students get less

The standard maintenance loan covers a 39-week academic year. Final-year students whose course ends earlier (typically 30 to 32 weeks) get a slightly smaller loan in their last year. Postgraduate students apply for the separate Postgraduate Master's Loan instead (up to £12,858 for 2025/26).

When the loan is paid

SFE splits your loan into three instalments paid into your bank account:

Around late September (start of autumn term)

Around early January (spring term)

Around mid-April (summer term)

You need to register with your university and your bank details must be verified before the first payment arrives. Most students plan to live on savings or a small overdraft for the first 1 to 2 weeks of term.

When and how to apply

Applications open in February or March for the following September

Deadline to guarantee funds in time is mid-May for new students and mid-June for continuing students

Apply at gov.uk/student-finance

You can apply even without a confirmed university place; SFE will adjust later

Maintenance loan vs maintenance grant

England no longer offers maintenance grants for most new undergraduates; the only support is the loan, which has to be repaid. Some groups (such as students with dependants, disabled students or NHS-funded courses) qualify for supplementary grants on top of the loan. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have separate, more generous grant systems.

What about international students?

The SFE maintenance loan is for UK Home and settled status students only. International students on a Student visa do not qualify. If you are an international student planning to study in the UK, see our UK scholarships guide and use the UK student budget calculator to plan your funding.

Repaying the maintenance loan

You repay your maintenance loan and tuition fee loan together once you earn above the income threshold. For Plan 5 (students starting from September 2023):

Threshold: £25,000 per year

Repayment rate: 9 percent of income above the threshold

Loan written off after: 40 years

Example: earning £30,000 means repaying 9 percent of £5,000, which is £450 per year or roughly £37.50 per month. Repayments stop automatically if your income drops below the threshold.

Frequently asked questions

You'll find the most common questions answered below, or use the interactive maintenance loan calculator to estimate your own entitlement in seconds.

*Sources: Student Loans Company published 2025/26 rates, gov.uk/student-finance guidance, gov.uk Plan 5 repayment rules (accessed 2026).*