Discover student finance
Find out everything you need to know about student finance before our applications open for 2021 to 2022!
Be the first to discover when applications open
Full-time undergraduate student finance applications for the 2021 to 2022 academic year are expected to open at the end of March 2021. To make it easier for you to find out when you can apply, sign up for our mailing list!
Just submit your email address on the sign up page and we’ll send you an email alert when applications are open for 2021 to 2022.
Who can get student finance
You should be eligible for funding from Student Finance Wales if:
- you’re a UK national or you have settled or pre-settled status in the UK under the EU settlement scheme
- you normally live in Wales
- you’ve lived in the UK for 3 years before starting your course
- you’ll be studying an eligible higher education course at a UK college or university
- you do not already have a higher education qualification
Discover student finance
Wondering what funding you can apply for during your studies? Watch our Discover student finance film for everything you need to know before our applications open!
How much student finance you can get
During the academic year most students will have 2 costs to cover: tuition fee costs and living costs. We can help with both!
Tuition Fee Loan
For a full-time undergraduate course, you can get up to £9,250 as a Tuition Fee Loan which we’ll pay directly to your university or college.
Maintenance Loan and Welsh Government Learning Grant
You can apply for a Maintenance Loan and Welsh Government Learning Grant to help with your living costs, we’ll use your household income to calculate how much you can get. Household income is made up of your parents’ or partner’s income.
You don’t have to repay the Welsh Government Learning Grant, every student is eligible for a grant of at least £1,000.
Check our examples table for more information on how much is available:
| Household income | Living with your parents | Living away from home, studying outside London | Living away from home, studying in London | |||
| Grant | Maintenance Loan | Grant | Maintenance Loan | Grant | Maintenance Loan | |
| £18,370 or less | £6,885 | £1,905 | £8,100 | £2,250 | £10,124 | £2,806 |
| £25,000 | £5,930 | £2,860 | £6,947 | £3,403 | £8,643 | £4,287 |
| £35,000 | £4,488 | £4,302 | £5,208 | £5,142 | £6,408 | £6,522 |
| £45,000 | £3,047 | £5,743 | £3,469 | £6,881 | £4,174 | £8,756 |
| £59,200 or more | £1,000 | £7,790 | £1,000 | £9,350 | £1,000 | £11,930 |
| Total | £8,790 | £10,350 | £12,930 | |||
Extra help you could get
You can get extra support from Student Finance Wales if you have children or an adult who are financially dependent on you. There’s also extra help available for students with a disability. Find out more about what you can get in 2021 to 2022:
Childcare Grant
Childcare Grant is a grant that is based on your household income, you do not have to pay this back once you’ve finished your course. It does not affect how much Maintenance Loan you can get. The grant can help you pay for childcare during your studies.
You may be eligible for Childcare Grant if you:
- are a full-time student
- have children under 15, or under 17 if they have special educational needs
- use a childcare provider who is registered with Ofsted
Childcare Grant can help to pay for up to 85% of your weekly childcare costs, up to a maximum cap of:
- £179.62 per week for one child
- £307.95 per week for two or more children
Parents’ Learning Allowance
Parents’ Learning Allowance is a grant that could help you with any learning costs during your course, you do not have to pay this back once you’ve finished your course. You can apply for the grant at the same time as your main student finance application, it will not affect how much Maintenance Loan you get.
The maximum amount you can get is £1,821 and how much you get is based on your household income.
Adult Dependants’ Grant
Adult Dependants’ Grant is a grant you can get if you have an adult who is financially dependent on you, you do not have to pay this back once you’ve finished your course. The maximum amount you can get is £3,190, you can apply for this at the same time as your main student finance application.
Disabled Students’ Allowance
Disabled Students’ Allowance provides extra support to students with a disability, you can apply for it at the same time as your main student finance application. You do not have to pay this back once you’ve finished your course.
Disabled Students’ Allowance offers full-time undergraduate students a maximum allowance of £31,831 This can be used to help pay for:
- specialist equipment
- a non-medical helper such as a scribe or British Sign Language interpreter
- travel costs
Repaying your student loan
You won’t start repaying your student loan until the April after you’ve finished or left your course and you’re earning over the repayment threshold of £511 a week, or £2,214 a month.
How much you repay is based on how much you earn, not how much you’ve borrowed.
You’ll repay 9% of anything over the threshold amount. Find out more about repaying your student loan at www.gov.uk/repaying-your-student-loan
If you take out a Maintenance Loan in 2021 to 2022, you could have up to £1,500 cancelled from your student loan balance by the Welsh Government when you start repaying.
Once you make your first repayment, we will automatically cancel up to £1,500 off your Maintenance Loan.
You won’t be eligible for partial cancellation if you have any outstanding charges, costs, expenses or penalties in relation to your loan or if you’re in breach of your loan agreement.
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