Say where you will live and what your household earns, and the page estimates your Maintenance Loan for the 2026 to 2027 academic year. It shows how much your household income takes off the full amount, and what you would still have to cover yourself.
Estimate your Maintenance Loan
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Your Maintenance Loan
Your loan shows up here once you enter your household income.
What to enter
- Where you will live
- Pick living with your parents, living away outside London, or living away in London. The full loan for 2026 to 2027 is £9,118, £10,830 and £14,135.
- Household income
- For a dependent student this is the gross yearly income of your parents, including a parent’s partner. If your parents are separated, it is the parent you depend on. If they do not give details, you will not get the full loan.
- Pension payments, other children and a parent who studies
- These come off the household income before the loan is worked out. Each other dependent child, and a parent who is also a student, takes off £1,130.
- Your yearly living costs
- Optional. Enter what you expect to spend on rent, food and the rest, and the page shows whether the loan covers it.
A worked example
Here is a made-up student living away from home outside London, with a household income of £38,000 before tax. The full loan is £10,830.
The income over £25,000 is £13,000. Divided by £6.47, that takes off £2,009, which leaves a Maintenance Loan of £8,821. Add the Tuition Fee Loan of up to £9,790 and the student borrows about £18,611 in the year.
If a parent pays £2,000 a year into a private pension, that comes off the household income first. The loan would then be £9,130, which is £309 more.
The loan at different incomes
The same loan at three household incomes, for each place you might live.
| Household income | With parents | Away, outside London | Away, in London |
|---|---|---|---|
| £25,000 | £9,118 | £10,830 | £14,135 |
| £38,000 | £7,131 | £8,821 | £12,091 |
| £60,000 | £4,012 | £5,421 | £8,632 |
The loan does not fall forever. Each living arrangement has a lowest level, and the page works out roughly where your income reaches it.
| Living arrangement | Full loan | Lowest share of it | Income where it stops falling |
|---|---|---|---|
| Living with my parents | £9,118 | 44% | £58,393 |
| Living away from home, outside London | £10,830 | 46.6% | £62,416 |
| Living away from home, in London | £14,135 | 49.8% | £70,124 |
How the loan is calculated
- Your household residual income is the gross household income minus pension payments, minus the allowance for each other dependent child, and minus the allowance if a parent is also a student.
- If that is £25,000 or less, you get the full loan for where you live.
- Above that, the loan falls by £1 for every set amount of residual income. The amount is £6.54 if you live with your parents, £6.47 if you live away outside London, and £6.36 if you live away in London. The reduction is rounded down to the pound.
- The loan stops falling at a lowest level: 44% of the full amount living with parents, 46.6% living away outside London, 49.8% in London.
- The Tuition Fee Loan is added separately. It does not depend on household income and is paid to your university.
Loan = full loan – (residual income – £25,000) ÷ divisor, never below the lowest level
Assumptions to keep in mind
- This page is for England. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland run their own systems and the figures differ.
- It covers a dependent student starting a full-time course on or after 1 August 2016, in a full year of study. Independent students, final-year students, students entitled to certain benefits, part-time students and postgraduates are assessed differently.
- The figures are for the 2026 to 2027 academic year. Student finance is changing for courses that start on or after 1 January 2027, so a later start may differ.
- The result is an estimate. Student Finance England makes the decision using the details you give it, and it checks your household income.
- It does not include grants, bursaries or extra help for disability, children or travel.
Mistakes that give the wrong loan
Using the student’s income instead of the household’s
For a dependent student the loan is worked out from your parents’ income. Your own part-time pay is a different matter.
Using income after tax
The assessment starts from gross income, the figure before tax and National Insurance. Using your take-home pay would give a loan that is too high.
Forgetting the deductions
Pension payments and an allowance for each other dependent child can lower the household figure. If they apply and you leave them out, your loan can look smaller than it should.
Treating the loan as free money
You repay a Maintenance Loan once you earn above your plan threshold. It is a loan against your future pay.
Assuming the loan covers your costs
GOV.UK says you may not get the full amount, and you may have to cover the rest from work, family or other support. Check the loan against what rent and food will really cost.
Questions students ask
How much Maintenance Loan can I get?
For 2026 to 2027, the full loan is £9,118 if you live with your parents, £10,830 if you live away outside London and £14,135 if you live away in London. Household income above £25,000 reduces it.
Does the Tuition Fee Loan depend on household income?
No. GOV.UK says Tuition Fee Loans do not depend on household income. For a full-time student it covers fees of up to £9,790 in 2026 to 2027 and is paid straight to the university.
What counts as household income?
For a dependent student it is your parents’ gross income, including the income of a parent’s partner, with some amounts taken off. If your parents are separated or divorced, it is the parent you are financially dependent on. If your circumstances change during the year, your assessment can be done again.
Is this for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?
No. The page uses the rules and amounts for students who apply to Student Finance England. The other nations have their own funding, so check theirs.
How do I pay it back?
You repay it as a percentage of what you earn above a threshold, and only once you are earning above it. The student loan repayment calculator shows what you would pay each month and whether the loan is written off before you clear it.
