Who qualifies


Whether you can get student finance depends on:

  • your nationality and residency
  • your course
  • your university or college
  • your previous study

Your nationality and residency

You can apply for funding if all of the following apply:

  • you’re an EU national or family member of an EU national, or a family member of a Person of Northern Ireland
  • you have settled or pre-settled status under the EU settlement scheme, or you’ve made a valid application to the EU settlement scheme and have temporary protection, as evidenced by a Certificate of Application
  • you’ve lived in the UK, the EEA, Switzerland or the Overseas Territories for the 3 years prior to first day of first academic year of your course
  • you’re studying in Wales

UK nationals and EU nationals and their family members who are resident in Gibraltar and lived in the UK, Gibraltar, the EEA or Switzerland for the 3 years prior to the first day of the first academic year of the course can also apply for tuition fee funding.

EU nationals and their family members who are resident in Gibraltar and lived in the UK, the EEA, Switzerland or the Overseas Territories for the 3 years prior to the first day of the first academic year of the course can also apply for tuition fee funding.

You may also be able to get tuition fee funding if you are:

  • a family member of a UK national or a person who has settled status in the UK, and you have been living in the UK and Islands for the 3 years prior to the first day of the first academic year of your course
  • a person with settled status in the UK and you have been living in the UK, Islands and / or Ireland for the 3 years prior to the first day of the first academic year of your course
  • a person with settled status in the UK and you have been living in the UK, Islands and/or the specified British Overseas Territories for the 3 years prior to the first day of the first academic year of your course

You can also apply if you have Irish Citizenship and have been living in the any of the following for the 3 years prior to the first day of the first academic year of your course and were resident in the UK by 31 December 2020:

• the UK, Islands and / or Ireland

• the UK,  the EEA, Switzerland or the Overseas Territories

You might also be able to apply for help with living costs as well as a Tuition Fee Loan if:

  • you are an EU national with settled or pre-settled status and have lived in the UK and Islands for the 3 years prior to the first day of the first academic year of your course
  • you or your family member are a migrant worker or frontier worker
  • you are an Irish Citizen and have lived in the UK and Islands for the 3 years prior to the first day of the first academic year of your course

You must also be living in Wales on the first day of the first academic year of your course.

If you think that you might be eligible for help with living costs and tuition fees visit our full-time undergraduate 'who qualifies' section for tuition fees and living costs students.

Your course

Your course must be in the UK and be:

  • a first degree, for example BA, BSc or BEd
  • a Foundation Degree
  • a Certificate of Higher Education
  • a Diploma or Higher Education
  • a Higher National Certificate
  • a Higher National Diploma
  • a Postgraduate Certificate in Education
  • an Initial Teacher Education course

Your university or college

Your university or college must be either:

  • funded by the Welsh Government
  • privately funded but running individual courses that are approved for funding by the Welsh Government

Check with your university or college if you’re not sure whether it qualifies.

Your age

There’s no age limit to get a Tuition Fee Loan.

Your previous study

You can usually only get student finance for your first higher education course, even if you funded your previous course yourself.

If you changed course or are repeating a year

You can work out whether you’ll get funding by taking the number of years of the course you’re applying for and adding one year, then taking away the number of years you studied for.

For example, if you’re applying for a 4-year course but have studied 2 years previously, you’ll get 3 years of funding.

If you do not have enough years of funding to cover your course, you’ll need to pay for the extra years yourself before you can get any student finance.

You might be able to get an extra year of funding if you had to leave your previous course because of compelling personal reasons, like illness or bereavement. You’ll need to send us evidence of this.

If you already have a degree

You cannot usually get student finance for another degree. There are some exceptions, for example if you want to study:

  • Subjects Allied to Medicine
  • Biological and Sport Science
  • Psychology
  • Veterinary Sciences
  • Agriculture, Food and Related Sciences
  • Physical Sciences
  • Mathematical Sciences
  • Engineering and Technology
  • Computing
  • Welsh Language
  • Initial Teacher Education

Please check if your course qualifies as an exemption course.