Maintenance loans are designed to cover your living costs and, if you jump through all the hoops and don’t make a mess of the form, you could get up to £4,625 per year of study. The amount changes every year but as a general rule if you’re hitting the capital, you’ll get an extra £2,000 or so to keep you afloat in the city's bright lights and if you're opting to live at home, you'll get a bit less. Based on the assumption that Hotel Ma 'n' Pa are less likely to charge their munchkins for water, electricity and rent and give them free reign of the fridge too.
Final year students also get less wonga, given that the Student Loans Company (SLC), the Government, your uni and anyone else of an annoyingly grown-up persuasion, expects you to get off your sorry behind and find a job. Luckily final year revision and essay stress means more nights in front of the computer and less evenings out on the razz, which helps save a buck or two anyway.
75% of the maintenance loan isn't ‘means-tested’. In other words, you can get it pretty much regardless of who you are, whatever your folks earn, and whatever your Local Educational Authority (LEA) decided about giving you an award. There are conditions and rules and all sorts of red tape to go through, but most students will get a basic £3,580 per year of study.
The other 25% 'is income assessed' - assessing various factors like what your parents earn. The top whack you can get is around £1,155 – although it goes up if you study in London, and rises most years more or less in line with inflation.
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