Home Students
This information is for home students living in England who are funded by Student Finance England (SFE). Different arrangements apply to students from Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
UK Government funding is not normally available to international students.
Undergraduates
Loans
Most home undergraduate students who have started their course since 2016 will be eligible for a tuition fee loan and a maintenance loan. If you started your course before then, you may still be eligible for a maintenance grant.
To see what you will be entitled to, take a look at the student finance calculator.
To find out how to apply for funding, visit the Government website.
You may be eligible for further funding if you have children (Parents’ Learning Allowance and Childcare Grant) or are disabled (Disabled Students’ Allowance).
The Student Room website also contains more information on student funding.
Dependent v Independent
If you are under 25, you usually need to include your parents’ declaration of their income in your application so that your support can be calculated accordingly. If you do not include this information, you may only receive the non-means tested part of the maintenance loan.
However, you may be able to get full funding without having to declare parental income if you are what is called an “independent student”. This applies if:
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You are over 25; - or -
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You are under 25 and can show you have supported yourself for 3 years; - or -
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You have no parents or anyone who is responsible for you; - or -
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You are married; - or -
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You have children yourself.
Estrangement
SFE rules state that if a student can show they are irreconcilably estranged from their parents, they may be treated as an independent student for funding purposes.
If you are estranged from your parents and need to obtain independent status, it is very important to obtain advice on how to make the application. SFE will need you to show that you are estranged, and will need supporting evidence from people who are aware of the situation. If you want help making an application to be treated as independent as a result of estrangement, the WSU Advice Team can help you with this.
There is also some useful information about this and other support available on the StandAlone website, and on the University webpages. Wellbeing Services can also provide the additional support needed to cope emotionally.
Possible reasons to approach the WSU Advice Centre are but not limited to:
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If you are having problems with your application for funding - for example, you need to supply additional documents and are finding it stressful.
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If there has been an overpayment.
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You are taking longer to complete your degree and need extra years of funding – e.g. you have taken more than one year of temporary withdrawal.
EU Students
Students from the EU who have lived in the European Economic Area for 3 years prior to their course may be eligible for the tuition fee loan.
EU citizens who have lived in the UK for 5 years may be eligible for undergraduate maintenance loans.
For information about what you might be eligible for, please see the Government webpage.
Postgraduates
From the academic year 2016-17, postgraduate Masters home students and some EU Masters students can apply for government postgraduate loans. See here for more information about this.
Funding from the University
The University has a system of Bursaries and Scholarships that you may be eligible for based on family income. Look here for Scholarships by country (warwick.ac.uk) and here for other funding routes - Funding Routes Available (warwick.ac.uk)
There are also discretionary Hardship Funds from the University - see our webpage for further details.
Useful Links
https://business.blackbullion.com/blog/5-student-funding-changes-explained-slc/