University life has changed a lot since many of us attended – not least the cost! Tuition fees were first introduced in 1998, and have slowly risen over the years.

Tuition fees are charged per year, and are currently £9,250 for full-time undergraduates in England and Wales. If you're going to a university in Northern Ireland, then it costs £4,750 for Northern Irish students or £9,250 for other UK students.

If you're from Scotland then it's free for you to study at a Scottish university or £9,250 for other UK students – it also used to be free for EU students to study in Scotland but only for those who started their course in 2020/21 or earlier.

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As you’d expect, part-time students have a lower fee – a maximum of £6,935 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

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Despite the cost, more people are going to university than ever before. According to UCAS, 757,000 people applied for full-time undergraduate places in 2023, just 10,000 fewer than the record level of applications seen in 2022, and just over 550,000 of these applicants were accepted.

If you or your child is planning on going to university this year, the deadline to apply for student finance for new students was Friday 17th May, or for continuing students the deadline is Friday 21st June. The process may seem intimidating, so we've put together everything you need to know.

What is student finance?

The main cost of going to university or college for students can be divided into tuition fees and living costs. You can apply for a Government-funded loan through Student Finance to help you with both of these costs.

How much help with student fees can I get?

Tuition fees

With tuition costs running at £9,250 a year, you're not expected to cough up the whole amount up front when you enrol at university, thankfully! Instead your university or college sets your tuition fee, and you can apply for a Tuition Fee Loan which is paid directly to them in three instalments throughout the year. You have to pay the amount back later on, when you are earning an income.

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Tuition fee loan

You are likely to be eligible for a tuition fee loan if your course is one of the following:

  • a first degree, for example BA, BSc or BEd
  • a Foundation Degree
  • a Certificate of Higher Education
  • a Diploma of Higher Education (DipHE)
  • a Higher National Certificate (HNC)
  • a Higher National Diploma (HND)
  • a pre-registration postgraduate healthcare course
  • an Initial Teacher Training course
  • an integrated master’s degree

Use the government’s Student Finance Calculator to find out how much you could qualify for, depending on when your course starts, whether you will be living with your parents, if you will be studying in London, how much your parents earn, whether you have any dependents and what course you are studying.

Maintenance loan

You may be eligible for support with your living costs in the form of a maintenance loan. How much you can get will depend on whether you live at home while you study, whether you study in or outside of London and your household income.

For the 2024 to 2025 academic year, you can get:

  • Up to £8,610 for students living at home with parents
  • Up to £10,227 for students living away from home, outside London
  • Up to £13,348 for students living away from home, in London
  • Up to £11,713 for students spending a year of a UK course studying abroad.

    Note: the above figures are maximum amounts. Maintenance loan amounts are calculated based on your household income, so if your household earns less than £25,000 a year, you'll be entitled to more than someone whose household earns over £50,000. As a general rule, the higher your household income, the less maintenance loan you will receive.

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    For the year 2024-2025, households with an income after pensions and various other costs of up to £50,778 will not be expected to pay towards living costs. Any income above that will be expected to be contributed to the student's living costs, which is calculated at £1 for every £3.81 of the total income over £50,778, until 72% of the full Maintenance Loan remains.

      EU students may be able to receive help with their living costs if they have settled status or they’ve lived in the UK for over three years before starting university. For more information, see the government’s support page for EU students.

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      When will I have to pay it back?

      You will only have to start repaying your student loan after you leave university and are earning a certain amount. The earliest you will have to start making payments is the first April after you leave your course.

      For students from England and Wales who started or are starting university after 1st August 2023, you will only repay when your pre-tax income is over £480 a week, £2,083 a month or £25,000 a year. You pay 9 per cent of your income over the threshold per month and if you stop working or your earning lowers below the threshold, your payments will stop automatically. For Scottish students, you'll need to be making £31,395 before you have to start paying back your loan.

      If you are earning over the threshold, you will have to pay 9% of your income per month. Any debt still remaining is written off 40 years after the first April you are due to repay.

      What other help is available?

      In some cases, there are other funding resources available. If you fit the criteria for any of the following, you may be entitled to extra funding:

      • Bursaries and grants. There are a range of schemes, usually run by universities, charities or businesses, that can help you with funding towards your fees if you meet their criteria. These criteria can range between anything from being part of a low-income family to being talented at a certain sport. For more information, get in touch with your university and see what's on offer.
      • Disabled Students’ Allowance. This gives extra support and funding to some students whose ability to study is affected by a disability, health issue or learning difficulty.
      • Travel Grants. You may be able to claim travel expenses if your course requires you to travel regularly, e.g. if you’re studying medicine and travelling to hospital placements. Talk to your university for more information.
      • Special Support Grant. This offers extra funding for some single parents, those on housing or income support or people with a disability. You’ll be told if you qualify for this grant when you apply for student finance.