Undergraduate student finance

Both full-time and part-time students can apply for Tuition Fee Loan. It covers the cost of your course fees for the duration of your studies.

The money is paid directly to your university every semester. You won’t have to repay anything until the April after you graduate, and even then you’ll only pay 9% of any earnings over £25,000 a year (£27,295 a year if you started your course on or before 31 July 2023).

If you're a part-time student, you can apply for a Tuition Fee Loan if you’re studying more than a quarter (25% intensity) of a full-time course each year.

Visit Student Finance England* to apply for a Tuition Fee Loan.

If you'd rather not take out a Tuition Fee Loan, you can pay your tuition fees directly to your university.

You could receive support to help pay for living costs while you're studying. Living costs include things like accommodation, food and travel.

Most full-time UK students can apply for a Maintenance Loan from the Government. Some EU students may also be eligible. Visit Student Finance England* to get started.

The exact amount you’ll receive depends on your personal circumstances, including where you live during term-time and your household income.

The total Maintenance Loan you borrow is added to your Tuition Fee Loan, and only repaid at 9% of your earnings over £25,000 (£27,295 for those who started a course on or before 31 July 2023).

There's more information about the Maintenance Loan on the Government's website, along with an online calculator that gives a more detailed idea of exactly how much money you could get.

View the 'How you're assessed and paid' guide (PDF).

If you're looking into ways to support yourself through university, ARU Temps can help you find part-time work that fits around your studies. It's a great way to gain experience and skills.

We also offer a range of scholarships and bursaries.

You'll find details of fees on individual course pages, though most full-time undergraduate degrees cost £9,535 per year (from September 2025). Check our tuition fees page for a general guide.

As well as tuition fees, there may be some extra, course-specific costs. You'll find details on individual course pages.

This is a grant if you have a partner or other adult depending on you financially (not including grown-up children) and is worth up to £3,263 a year depending on your household income.

Any amount you’re entitled to is paid to you in addition to your main student finance package. It’s paid directly into your bank account in three instalments, at the same time as any Maintenance Loan or other grants you get.

You can’t get this grant if the dependent adult is also a student receiving student finance funding.

You can apply for help with childcare costs, up to £183.75 per week for one child or up to £315.03 per week for two or more children.

You’ll need to complete the main application for student finance from Student Finance England, and then an additional Childcare Grant application form (CCG1) that you can download from your student finance account.

This allowance is to help with course-related costs like books, study materials and travel if you have dependent children. You can get up to £1,863 per year depending on your income and that of those you live with.

Any amount you’re entitled to is paid in addition to your main student finance package. It’s paid directly into your bank account in three instalments, at the same time as any Maintenance Loan or Grant you get.

If you have a disability we encourage you to get in touch during your application process so we can discuss what support we can offer you.

Our Disability and Dyslexia Service offers specialist support at weekday drop-in sessions, or you can email [email protected]

These grants help to pay the essential extra costs you may have as a direct result of your disability including a mental-health condition, or specific learning difficulty such as dyslexia or dyspraxia.

What you’re entitled to depends on your needs assessment, this is an informal meeting to discuss what equipment and support will help you. It can go towards essential extra costs like human support, travel, assistive technology and training, and it doesn’t have to be paid back.

If you’re going to study full-time and are applying for a loan you can process your DSA with your application to Student Finance England. If you’re not applying for a loan or you’re studying part-time you can still complete a DSA1 form with Student Finance England.

The NHS Learning Support Fund is available to students starting a course in midwifery, nursing, operating department practice, or paramedic science.

For more details, visit the NHS Business Services Authority website. You can set up a Learning Support Fund (LSF) account on the website, and use this to apply for funding.

The Funding Clinic is also a useful resource and will give you information tailored to your circumstances.

Nursing, midwifery, operating department practitioner (ODP) and paramedic science students can receive funding of £5,000 a year to help with living costs. Some students may be eligible for more, and this money does not have to be repaid.

You will still be able to access other financial support, such as the Tuition Fee Loan.

Find out more about the training grant.

Explore our nursing, midwifery, operating department practice and paramedic science degrees.

If you're studying BA (Hons) Social Work you can apply for the Student Finance England Maintenance Loan (more details under the 'Student loans' tab).

During your second and third years of study you might meet the criteria to access the income-assessed NHS Social Work Bursary, introduced by the Department of Health as an incentive to train in social work. As a university, we're offered a limited number of bursaries, so we cannot guarantee that you will get one. Bursaries are allocated according to your interview score and passing the preparation for practice module, which reflects current Department of Health guidance.

The Social Work Bursary is available if you:

• don’t get funding from your employer
• are studying an approved undergraduate course in social work
• don’t already have a higher education social work qualification
• are nominated by your university.

Your bursary will be paid in three instalments, at the start of each semester.

You can check your eligibility and apply for an undergraduate bursary on the NHS Business Services Authority website.

If you have any questions about social work bursaries, you can find answers 24 hours a day, seven days a week using Ask Us.