B Roll Day 2

Get help with your student loan

How to apply for and manage loans for your studies from Student Finance England

Our Student Finance Support team can give you advice on apply for and managing your student loan money from Student Finance England.

If you're receiving funding from another funding body within the British Isles please visit their website for more information

If you're going to be a full-time undergraduate student and are an English resident, you can apply for a student loan from Student Finance England.

There are two types of student loan: a tuition fee loan to cover your tuition fees, and a maintenance loan to help with your living costs.

Tuition fee loan

A tuition fee loan covers your course tuition fees, which are currently £9,250 a year for 2024/25 and will be £9,535 a year for full-time UK students studying at Portsmouth in 2025/26. The loan is paid directly to the university. All fees are subject to annual increases. 

The amount you can borrow isn’t based on your household income. You don’t have to borrow the full amount if you want to fund some of your tuition fees yourself.

Part-time students

If you’re a part-time UK student, you can get a tuition fee loan if you’re studying at least 25% of a full-time course (30 credits a year).

Ask us if you’re not sure how many credits you're studying.

EU and international students

Student loans from the UK government aren't available to non-UK students that don't meet the residency requirements for home fee status, but other funding options may be available.

Maintenance loan

A maintenance loan helps cover your living costs, up to £10,227 a year for 2024/25 and up to £10,544 a year for 2025/26. It’s paid directly into your bank account in three instalments throughout the year.

The amount you get depends on where you study, where you live and your family income.

 

 

Applying for your loan

If you have not applied for student finance before you will need to register and create an account, then log in to complete your application.

Continuing students should log in and re-apply for the forthcoming academic year. You will normally receive an email reminding you to do this, but you don’t have to wait for this email in order to re-apply.

Once you've applied

When your application has been approved, you will be sent documentation detailing what you are eligible for. You will also receive a declaration form, which you will need to sign and return to the relevant address.

We cannot confirm your registration until the signed online declaration form has been logged on the student finance system. The University will also not receive payment of the tuition fee loan until this declaration has been logged.

If you need any help with filling out the application form, please contact the Student Finance team.

 

 

Receiving your loan payments

Maintenance loans and grants are paid termly, at the beginning of each term.

Payment of your grant or loan is dependent on the University confirming your registration or attendance.

Confirmation of registration and attendance

For you to receive the first instalment of your maintenance loan, we will need to confirm you have registered with the University. For further instalments, we will need to confirm you are still in attendance before each payment.

Registration and attendance confirmation is done electronically by the university throughout the year.

Help with dealing with Student Finance England

If you're having problems with your student loans or grant, please come and see our support team. With your permission, we can speak to Student Finance England on your behalf.

If you're awaiting confirmation of your registration, two things are needed before we can confirm your status to the Student Loans Company (SLC) and they can release your student loan funds.

  1. An approved application for student finance for Portsmouth - If you have a different university on your paperwork, please email a copy of your financial notification letter to dsaa-slc-liaison@port.ac.uk. The University will email you change of circumstances form to get this updated and also confirm your registration manually.
  2. Complete your online registration via Student View. If you're a new student, you also need to a copy of your ID for checking, as per the instructions. Once we've checked your ID, your status is updated to Registered, and we'll confirm your registration to .

Payment will be released into your bank account within 3 working days of registration being confirmed.

 

 

Changes in your circumstances

Repeating a year

Student Finance England offers support for the length of your course, plus one additional year if required, minus any years of previous study at university. Previous study is taken into account even if you did not receive funding for it or the study was undertaken overseas.

So for example, if you have to repeat a year of your course, then as long as you do not have any other previous study, you can receive funding for the extra year. If you have to repeat another year however, or if you have already repeated or studied a different course you will have to self-fund your tuition fees for this repeat year.  However, you will still be able to apply for a maintenance loan and extra support as the Parents Learning Allowance and Childcare Grant.

Student Finance England has discretion to extend your funding if you have compelling personal reasons for repeating a period of study, for example, ill health. This discretion can be applied each time you are unable to complete a year due to your compelling personal reasons. You will need to provide evidence of your compelling personal reasons such as a Doctor's letter.

Other changes

If you decide to take a study break, change course or leave your course, your eligibility for a student loan will change. Find out more about leaving the University.

 

More funding for your studies

Eligible students are able to apply for a postgraduate loan from the UK Government to help with the costs of masters courses.

Please note, this excludes MArch, PGCE, Integrated Masters, and students studying MSc Social Work who are in receipt of a social work bursary.

Student loans for Masters degrees are non means-tested. Loans are paid directly to you in termly instalments, over the duration of your course.

For advice contact the Student Finance Centre.

All eligible part-time undergraduate (or PGCE) students ordinarily resident in England who are UK nationals or have EU settled status or indefinite leave to remain, studying at least 25% of a full-time course (at least 30 credits per year) can apply for a tuition fee loan to cover their fees each year. This loan is not income assessed and is paid directly to the University.

For advice contact the Student Finance Centre.

Students starting a work placement (sandwich) year can apply for a tuition fee loan and also a reduced rate maintenance loan.

For advice contact the Student Finance Centre.

Get help with managing your money

The Student Finance Centre offers information, advice and guidance on managing your money, including making sure you’re getting the right support from your student funding body, and benefits you're eligible for. We also give out grants to students facing financial difficulties, which you don't need to pay back. Contact us via: