Loans Maintenance Loan

Full-time undergraduates and part-time undergraduates can apply for a Maintenance Loan to help cover their living costs. It will be issued at the start of each term and will be paid directly into your bank account.

• Home students who meet the residency requirements may apply for the loan. 
• EU students who have been granted settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme and meet the residency requirements may apply for the loan.
• Some EEA/Swiss students with pre-settled status who are migrant workers and meet the residency requirements may be able to apply for the loan. Check out gov.uk for more information or email our Student Money and Accommodation Advice team – smaa@londonmet.ac.uk. 

Full-time students

The amount you can borrow depends on a number of factors, including:

• if you live with your parent(s) and start a course in 2023-24 you may receive up to £8,400.
• if you live outside the parental home and start a course in 2023-24 you may receive up to £13,022.
• if you retain an underlying eligibility for benefits (single parents, certain disabled students, student couples with children), live outside your parental home and start a course in 2023-24 you may receive up to £14,202.
• you must be under 60 at the start of the course to be eligible to apply for the full loan; if you are over 60 you may be eligible for a Maintenance Loan of up to £4,221 if you start a course in 2023-24.

It is possible to apply for some of the loan without being means-tested; in this case, you could apply without your household income being taken into consideration. If you would like the full loan you will need to submit details of your household income to Student Finance England.

Part-time students starting courses in 2023-24

New part-time students may be able to receive a Maintenance Loan. 

The amount of loan you can receive will depend on your intensity of study. If you study 25 per cent of a full-time course, you will receive at most 25 per cent of the maximum Full-time Maintenance Loan rate. If you study 50 per cent of a full-time course, you will receive at most 50 per cent of the maximum Full-time Maintenance Loan rate. If you study 75 per cent of a full-time course, you will receive at most 75 per cent of the maximum Full-time Maintenance Loan rate.

If you are aged 60 or over on the first day of the first academic year of your course you will not be eligible for the Part-time Maintenance Loan.

Repaying student loans

The full-time Tuition Fee Loan and Maintenance Loan do not need to be repaid until you have finished your course and are earning more than £25,000 per year.

The earliest you'll start to repay your loans as a full-time student is the April after you have left your course. As a part-time student you may start making repayments while you're still studying (from the April four years after the start of your course), provided your earnings at that point are more than £25,000 per year.

You will pay 9 per cent of your annual income over the repayment threshold of £25,000. If your income falls below £25,000 your repayments will stop.

The interest on the loans will be calculated at the rate of inflation. From 1 September 2023 to 30 November 2023 the maximum interest rate will be capped at 7.3%. For December 2023 the interest rate will be capped at 7.5%.

Any outstanding balance on your loans will be written off 40 years after the April you were first due to repay.

Previous study

If you have previously studied at degree level anywhere in the world you may find that you are not entitled to the Tuition Fee Loan. If you already hold a degree you may find that you are not entitled to receive any funding at all for your course. If you are not entitled to funding you will need to pay the tuition fees yourself.

How to apply

You will need to apply online for your Maintenance Loan. For more information, visit the student finance section of the gov.uk website.