Applying for student finance
The Money Advice team offer support on applying for student finance including information on how to apply, evidence submission and helpful videos for parents and supporters.
How to apply
There are differences in the funding you can apply for if you’re from England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey, The Isle of Man or the EU.
There are also differences in funding depending on whether you study full time or part time and you will need to meet certain eligibility criteria based around nationality and residency requirements.
Any previous higher education study could impact on your entitlement to student finance.
Supporting evidence
Additional evidence submission
Normally student finance will not request any additional documents to support an application. Although when completing the online form passport, national insurance numbers and bank account details will be required.
Digital evidence submission
On some occasions Student Finance will request further evidence to be uploaded digitally to the online application or via recorded postal delivery. Digital uploads, for certain evidence, is now available for full-time and part-time undergraduate students with Student Finance England and Wales.
Please watch the video below for guidance on uploading your evidence.
Do upload: marital status evidence, child’s birth certificate, name change evidence.
Do not upload: passport, birth certificate, national identity card. These must all be sent by post only.
If Student Finance request a passport or birth certificate to prove identity, you must send this by registered post.
Delays in student finance and the online payment status
If your finance is delayed it could be because an income check is awaiting a parent’s or partner’s income details. The delay could also be due to a specific course entry requirement such as a DBS check or Occupational Health Report. Other delays could also be because Student Finance have not fully completed the assessment of the basic maintenance loan.
After the basic loan assessment, Student Finance will also conduct an extra assessment on the income related part of the maintenance loan. Delays here could be due to the time involved in conducting a full income assessment or a parent’s or partner’s income details have not yet been fully submitted.
If you require further help due to a delay, please see the information from the Money Advice team.
If you check your student account and the status is showing as ‘payment in progress’ or ‘scheduled’, this means the maintenance loan has been released to your bank and paid within three – five working days after stage 2 enrolment. It is worth noting that the university will automatically notify Student Finance of your enrolment and attendance on the course.
If you require further help due to a delay, please see further maintenance loan information from the Money Advice team.
Book an appointment with the Money Advice teamThe University will automatically notify Student Finance of your enrolment and attendance on the course.
Blocked accounts
If your student account status is ‘blocked’ this means that the National Insurance number or bank account number cannot be verified. In this case, you should check your number and if the numbers need changing, you will need to get in touch with Student Finance to discuss this.
Information for students, parents, and partners/ sponsors
Student Finance England have a range of videos and other information offering advice for students, parents, and partners/sponsors as well as information explaining how to apply.
UCAS have also produced a helpful guide for parents and sponsors.
Help for student parents and students with disabilities
You may be eligible for extra help through the following supplementary allowances:
- Disabled Students’ Allowances (full time and part-time students)
- Parents’ Learning Allowance (full time students only)
- Childcare Grant (full time students only)
- Adult Dependants’ Grant (full time students only)
How to claim the student finance childcare grant
To apply for a Childcare Grant, please follow these steps:
Apply online as part of your main Student Finance application.
- Send in evidence to Student Finance . You’ll be told what evidence you need to provide when you apply. Normally this is evidence of having a child such as a birth certificate.
- Student Finance will then update your account and state the amount of the Childcare Grant awarded for the year.
- You can then create an online account with the Childcare Grant Payment Service (CCGPS). You’ll will receive an email with instructions on how to create an account. The grant will be paid into this account.
Applicants may use the paper form instead if they:
- have already applied for student finance but didn’t apply for a childcare grant at the same time
- wish to apply for another child
You can download the form from the Student Finance form finder.
More information for students with childrenContact Student Finance England
You can contact Student Finance for updates by phone, Facebook or Twitter. The main contacts are updated on the Student Finance website.
Your online account will update your final award notification and allow you to track your application. The details of the assessment progress and additional information required may not show on your account so contacting Student Finance is the main way of gaining detailed feedback.
The phone lines can be very busy, so secure Facebook and Twitter may well be a more suitable secure option.
Find out how to contact Student Finance