How much maintenance loan will I get in 2026/27?

The short version

In England for 2026/27, a full-time student can get a Maintenance Loan of up to:

• £9,118 a year living with parents
• £10,830 a year living away from home, outside London
• £14,135 a year living away from home, in London
• £12,403 a year if you spend a year studying abroad as part of your course

That's the maximum. You get it in full if your household income is £25,000 or less. Above that, the loan shrinks gradually until it reaches a minimum amount everyone eligible can get.

What counts as household income?

For most students straight from school or college, household income means your parents' income (or one parent and their partner, if that's who you live with). It's based on a previous tax year, and you or your parents give the details on the application. If you're classed as an independent student (for example because you're older, married or have supported yourself for some years), it's your own income and your partner's, if you have one.

This is the bit that confuses families most, so we made a whole lesson on it: Household income assessment.

How the loan falls as income rises

Here's how it works for 2026/27, using GOV.UK's own examples:

• Living away, outside London: household income £25,000 or less gets £10,830. At £45,000 it's £7,739. At the top of the scale it bottoms out at £5,048.
• Living with parents: up to £9,118, £6,060 at £45,000, and a minimum of £4,013.
• In London: up to £14,135, with a minimum of £7,039.

For your exact figure, use the official student finance calculator on GOV.UK. It takes about five minutes and is less stressful than guessing.

The "parental contribution" nobody mentions

Here's the awkward truth. GOV.UK says students are expected to make up the difference between the loan they get and their actual living costs. In the example above, a student from a £45,000 household living away from home gets £3,091 less than the maximum. The system quietly assumes family will cover that gap, but nobody sends your parents a bill, so it's worth a calm conversation before term, not a panicked one in November.

When and how is it paid?

The Maintenance Loan is paid into your bank account in three instalments a year, one each term, with the first one after you register at uni. The Tuition Fee Loan of up to £9,790 goes straight to the university, so you never see it. Three big lump sums a year is a lot of money arriving at once, which is why the first instalment so often vanishes by week three. Our lesson How instalments work shows how to stretch it.

Extra money you might be missing

The Maintenance Loan isn't the only help. Depending on your situation:

• Bursaries and scholarships from your university, which you don't repay. Check your uni's website.
• Childcare Grant: up to £199.62 a week for one child, or £342.24 for two or more.
• Parents' Learning Allowance: up to £2,024 a year.
• Adult Dependants' Grant: up to £3,545 a year.
• Disabled Students' Allowance: up to £27,783 a year for extra study costs.

See Bursaries, grants and hardship funds for how to find them.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

Paying it back

The Maintenance Loan is repaid together with your Tuition Fee Loan, and only once you earn over the threshold. For new English students that's Plan 5: 9% of income over £25,000. Our Plan 5 repayment guide has worked examples. One more heads-up: if your course starts on or after 1 January 2027, student finance in England moves to the new Lifelong Learning Entitlement, so check the GOV.UK page for that system.

Want the whole picture? The student finance library covers it all in five-minute games.