Maintenance Support
The Student Loans Company administers the following Maintenance Support:
- Maintenance loan
- Maintenance Grant
- Welsh Assembly Learning Grant (HE)
- Special Support Grant
- Higher Education Grant
- Higher Education Bursary (NI)
- Part-time Course Grant
- Welsh Assembly Learning Grant FE
- Further Information
Maintenance loan
The maintenance loan is the main student loan product for living costs for full-time undergraduate students and those on initial teacher training courses.
It comprises the non-financially assessed portion, which all students who are eligible for the loan can receive; the financially assessed portion, which depends on household income; and a provision for extra weeks' study, which is also financially assessed.
Maximum entitlement is affected by place of residence, (parental home, away from parental home or away from parental home in London), year of course (final or non-final), and entitlement to other financial support, such as NHS bursaries. Maintenance loans are paid directly to the student in three instalments.
Maintenance Grant
The Maintenance grant helps higher education students, in particular those from poorer backgrounds, with their general living costs whilst they study.
Welsh Assembly Learning Grant (HE)
The Welsh Assembly Learning Grant is a brand which covers all the non-repayable financially-assessed maintenance support for further and higher education students domiciled in Wales. In addition to ALG (FE), it comprises products identical to Maintenance Grant and Special Support Grant in England and Northern Ireland.
Special Support Grant
The Special Support Grant is the same as the Maintenance Grant except that no part of it is substituted with maintenance loan. It provides support for general living costs for entrants who receive means-tested benefits during term-time.
Higher Education Grant
The Higher Education Grant is a means-tested grant for living costs to help students entering higher education.
Higher Education Bursary (NI)
The Higher Education Bursary applies to students from Northern Ireland. It is a means-tested grant for students from low-income backgrounds that largely replaces the student loan.
Part-time Course Grant
This is a financially-assessed grant for course costs (books and materials etc) for part-time students. A course is designated for part-time grants if it lasts at least one year, it leads to an HE qualification, and it requires no longer than twice the time required to study the course full time.
Welsh Assembly Learning Grant FE
Assembly Learning Grant for Further Education (ALG FE) is a specific product aimed at mature FE students from Wales. It provides a financially-assessed support grant for people studying below Higher Education level and who are not of school age. The amount of ALG (FE) paid depends on household income and whether the student is studying part-time or full-time.
Further Information
For details of where to get further information on student finance, select your area;
