UK Student Finance Calculator

This UK student finance calculator estimates how much living-cost support a full-time undergraduate can get in the 2026/27 academic year. Choose whether you are funded by Student Finance England, Student Finance Wales or Student Finance NI, where you will live while studying, and your household income — usually your parents’ gross income from the 2024/25 tax year. The calculator shows your Maintenance Loan, any Welsh Government Learning Grant or NI Maintenance Grant, your Tuition Fee Loan and the total.

In England the full Maintenance Loan is paid when household income is £25,000 or less and then falls gradually, down to a guaranteed minimum (44% to 49.8% of the maximum, depending on where you live). In Wales every student gets the same total support; household income only decides how much of it is a grant you never repay and how much is a loan. In Northern Ireland households under £41,065 get a Maintenance Grant (which partly replaces loan), and the loan falls above £41,540 to a floor of 75% of the maximum. It is useful for sixth-formers comparing universities, parents planning contributions and anyone deciding whether to live at home.

Figures are the official 2026/27 academic-year rates for new and continuing students who started on or after 1 August 2016, for full-year courses outside the final year (final-year rates are slightly lower because the summer is not funded). Students funded by SAAS in Scotland have a different bursary-and-loan scheme that is not covered here. Extra help such as Disabled Students’ Allowance, Childcare Grant and Parents’ Learning Allowance is not included.

In England, household income (HI) is gross income minus parents’ pension contributions and £1,130 for each other dependent child. At £25,000 or less you receive the maximum Maintenance Loan: £9,118 living with parents, £10,830 away from home outside London and £14,135 in London for 2026/27. Above £25,000 the loan falls by £1 for every £6.54, £6.47 or £6.36 of extra income respectively, until it reaches 44%, 46.6% or 49.8% of the maximum, which every eligible student can get.

In Wales the total is fixed — £10,685 living with parents, £12,590 away from home outside London and £15,720 in London. Up to £18,370 of household income, £7,020, £8,260 or £10,325 of it is a Welsh Government Learning Grant; the grant then falls in a straight line to £1,020 at £59,200 and above, and the Maintenance Loan makes up the rest. The Tuition Fee Loan covers your course fee up to £9,790 in England and Wales and does not depend on income.

In Northern Ireland (Student Finance NI) the maximum loans are £6,471 living with parents, £8,352 away from home outside London and £11,699 in London; household income deducts pensions and £1,185 per other dependent child. Up to £19,203 you get the full £3,569 Maintenance Grant, falling £1 per £4.43 of income to £1,354 at £29,019, then £1 per £9.25 to £52 at £41,065 and nil above. While the grant is above £1,354 the loan is cut by £1,901 less £1 per £17.95 of income over £19,203; below that it is cut by the grant itself. Above £41,540 a household contribution of £1 per £5.55 reduces the loan to no less than 75% of the maximum. NI students can borrow up to £4,985 for tuition at NI universities and £9,790 elsewhere in the UK.