Who qualifies

You can apply if all of the following apply:

• you're a UK national, Irish Citizen or have settled status
• you’ll be living in Wales on the first day of the first academic year of your course
• you’ve been living in the UK and Islands for 3 years before starting your course

You might also be able to apply if you:

• are an EU national or a family member of an EU national and you have settled status or pre-settled status under the EU settlement scheme
• are a family member of a UK national
• are a refugee
• are under humanitarian protection
• are an EEA or Swiss migrant worker or family member of an EEA or Swiss migrant worker and you have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, Irish Citizens don’t need a status under the scheme
• are the child of a Swiss national and you have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme
• are the child of a Turkish worker
• are a stateless person or a family member of a stateless person
• are granted leave to remain on the grounds of family or private life, or a family member of someone granted leave to remain on the grounds of family or private life
• have been granted leave under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) or the Afghan Citizen’s Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) or are the family member of someone who has
• have been granted ‘Calais leave’ in the UK, or a dependent child of someone who has
• have been granted ‘leave to remain’ in the UK as a victim of domestic violence or abuse or a dependent child of someone who has
• have been granted ‘leave to remain’ in the UK as a bereaved partner, or a dependent child of someone who has
• have been granted leave to remain under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016
• have been granted leave to enter or remain in the UK under the Ukraine Family Scheme, the Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme or the Ukraine Extension Scheme or are the family member of someone who has

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

If you don’t meet any of the above nationality or residency criteria, you could still be eligible for Tuition fee only funding. You should check the nationality and residency information for Tuition fee only funding students to find out if you could get it.

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 must be either:

• paid for by the 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.

There’s no age limit to qualify for grants or a Tuition Fee Loan.

You must be under 60 to get a Maintenance Loan.

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 how much you’ll get 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 may be eligible for student finance for another undergraduate degree. For example, if you want to study one of the following exception courses:

• medicine
• dentistry
• veterinary surgeon
• architecture
• social work
• healthcare

If you’re not studying one of these course exceptions, you’ll not be eligible for a Tuition Fee Loan or any Maintenance Loans or Grants. You could still apply for Childcare Grant, Parents Learning Allowance, Adult Dependants’ Grant and Disabled Students’ Allowance.

Funding for Initial Teacher Education courses

If you study on an Initial Teacher Education course, such as a PGCE, you may be eligible to apply for full student finance, including a Tuition Fee Loan, a Maintenance Loan and a Maintenance Grant. Find out more about funding for Initial Teacher Education courses.

Funding for medicine, dentistry, or healthcare courses

If you’re studying an accelerated 4 year graduate entry course in medicine or dentistry, check out the table to find out what you could get in each year of your course:

If you’re studying a 5 year medicine or dentistry course as a further undergraduate degree, check out the table to find out what you could get in each year of your course:

The NHS Bursary will help with your tuition fees and living costs. If you opt-out of the NHS Bursary or study a healthcare course outside of Wales, your application for student finance will be assessed under the previous study rules.

For medicine, dentistry, and healthcare courses you could be eligible to apply for Grants for Dependants and Disabled Students’ Allowance from Student Finance Wales. However, during an NHS Bursary year you will need to apply to the NHS to receive assistance with your childcare costs and additional learning support needs.

Funding for veterinary surgeon, social work, or architecture courses

You can apply for a Maintenance Loan, Grants for Dependants and Disabled Students’ Allowance. You’ll not be eligible for a Tuition Fee Loan or a Maintenance Grant.

If you’d like to discuss your eligibility about funding for another degree, please contact us.