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Undergraduate student loans and finance

Most undergraduates can apply for loans to cover their tuition fees and living costs.

Student loans content

There are two main types of undergraduate student loans:

  • Tuition fee loans cover a university’s teaching charges. 
  • Maintenance loans are designed to help cover living costs, including your accommodation.

Your eligibility for these loans - also called student finance - will depend on several things, including where you live, your personal circumstances and how you plan to study.

You can check your eligibility and how much loan you could get on the government website.

Student finance loans need to be repaid, but only once your earnings reach an agreed level.

You may also be entitled to extra financial help from the government, or able to apply for a scholarship or bursary from Manchester Met.

  • Tuition fee loans

    As you might expect with the name, these loans cover the cost of your tuition fees.

    You have to apply for each year of your course, and have successfully completed the previous year to be eligible.

    To make sure the first instalment is paid by the start of term, you usually need to have applied by the end of May. Deadlines for applications can change each year, so check the government website.

    The loan is paid directly to the University by the Student Loans Company.

    If you are studying part-time, the value of your loan will reflect how much of your course you plan to complete each year.

  • Maintenance loans

    Maintenance loans are designed to help cover your living costs - accommodation, food, bills, entertainment, course materials and other day-to-day expenditure.

    You have to apply for each year of your course. The loan is paid direct to you in instalments at the start of each semester.

    The value of your loan will take account of:

    • whether you are living at home
    • your family circumstances, including household income and if you have dependants
    • whether you are studying part or full-time

    If you have additional costs because of a disability, you may be entitled to the Disabled Students’ Allowance.

    If adults or children depend on you, you may qualify for additional grants. Eligibility is based on your household income.

  • Apply for a loan

    Who you apply to depends on where you have been living in the UK:

    The process and eligibility criteria varies between countries. Visit the website for your country to find out the details.

  • Confirming your registration

    To get your maintenance funding, the University needs to confirm your registration with Student Finance. If you’re a new full-time student, you’ll get your first payment after Welcome Week once you have collected your ID card. For part-time students, your first payment comes about two weeks after you get your ID card, based on your confirmed credits. The rest is paid in instalments at the beginning of each term for both full-time and part-time students. 

    Just remember, confirming registration and attendance are different. The University confirms your registration once a year, while attendance is confirmed three times a year for tuition fee loan payments. 

  • Reporting changes to student finance

    The University is obliged to notify Student Finance if you: 

    • Do not enrol on your course 
    • Withdraw from your course 
    • Suspend your studies 
    • Transfer to a new course 
    • Make any other amendment to your studies which may impact for your fees and funding 

    We automatically update Student Finance about any changes through an electronic form, so you don’t need to request it. If you have questions about attendance registration, tuition fee loans, or change of circumstance, just contact us at tflqueries@mmu.ac.uk.