The Parents' Guide to meeting university costs: understanding student finance and how to apply

Aug 2, 2025
6 min read

Updated: Jul 22

This is just a snippet from The Parents' Guide to University. If you’d like the full version, with clear, up-to-date advice, practical tips and actions you can take at home, click below.

Read the full guide: The Parents' Guide to University

With university fees at almost £10,000 per year plus living costs on top, the prospect of committing to three or four years of study can seem as if the financial burden outweighs the benefits. But graduates often earn more than school leavers, and payback terms are linked to earnings, so it can be a worthwhile investment. Find out what you need to know about student finance, what loans are available and how to apply.

Costs to consider

There are two types of cost when going to university:

Study costs - these include your child's tuition fees (for UK residents, tuition fees can cost up to £9,250 a year) and other study-related costs such as textbooks and equipment.
Living costs - these include your child's accommodation and day-to-day expenses such as food, bills, travel (if they don't live on campus) and going out.

What support is available

To help cover these costs, your child can apply for student finance, which consists of two types of loan:

Tuition fee loan: covers the annual cost of the university degree and is paid directly to the college or university. Most students will be entitled to a tuition fee loan if studying at an eligible college or university (which most are).
Maintenance loan: covers the cost of living, such as accommodation, food and course materials, and is paid directly into your child's bank account. The amount available is influenced by where they live while studying and by parental earnings. Simply put, the higher the family income, the less is granted, and parents are expected to cover any shortfall.

Repayments for both types of loan are linked to earnings, and explained in more detail later in this article.

Your child may also be able to apply for grants and additional support if they’re eligible for certain benefits, if they're disabled, or if they need help with childcare. More on that later.

How to support your child's application for student finance

Student Finance England is the organisation responsible for providing tuition fee loans and maintenance loans to students in the UK. Applications for tuition fee loans and maintenance loans must be made separately.

Loan applications are made to the country of home residence, not the destination university. So if your child lives in Scotland and is going to university in England, applications are made to Scotland.

Apply early

Applications for student finance can be made before receiving results and confirming a university offer. Once the UCAS application is complete, your child can make a provisional application for student finance while waiting on results. Loan applications must be made at least eight weeks before the course commences, otherwise payment may be delayed (this covers both tuition fee and maintenance loans). If your teen misses this deadline they can still apply, they just won't get the money before term starts. That's why we recommend applying early to ensure loans are processed on time.

Parental income

The tuition fees (up to £9,250 per year) are paid via student finance directly to the university once the place has been accepted, and parental earnings do not affect this.

In England (not Wales), the maintenance loan is influenced by parental earnings. The more joint income, the less is awarded. To get an idea of how much you may be expected to contribute, try Money Saving Expert's university parental contribution calculator.

In most cases you won't need to send student finance evidence of your household income, as they check your details with HMRC. The maintenance loan is paid directly to the student, so make sure they know how to budget.

Where parents are separated or divorced, income is assessed on the parent the child lives with and (if applicable) their current partner, regardless of whether that partner is responsible for the child. Income for the other biological parent is not assessed.

Other financing options

Depending on your teen's financial situation or the course they're studying (for example nursing), they might qualify for extra financial help. It’s also worth reviewing scholarships, grants and bursaries, particularly for specialist degrees such as medicine, social work or teaching.

How to pay back student finance

Repayments are collected via the Student Loans Company, who work alongside HMRC to collect repayments in line with earnings after the degree is complete.

Repayment terms are generous, so avoid thinking of student loans like conventional bank loans or a mortgage. Importantly, no money is taken until earnings reach a certain threshold, repayments pause if earnings drop below it (for example during maternity leave or redundancy), they're not assessed on partner earnings, and they're wiped clean after a set period. A summary of the terms:

no payments are made until the graduate is earning above the repayment threshold (£27,295 for many recent cohorts, in the April after graduation)
once they qualify, they repay only 9% of any amount earned over the threshold
repayments are taken directly at source and stop if salary drops below the threshold
interest applies from when the loan is first taken (the start of the degree)
any outstanding debt is written off after a set number of years

Learning difficulties and entitlements

For students with a learning need, mental health condition or disability, there’s the option to apply for dedicated funding to help with extra costs associated with their condition. It’s called Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs).

This is in addition to student finance, and there's no need to repay the money awarded. It may cover specialist equipment (such as a computer, voice recognition software or dictaphone), non-medical helpers (such as a proofreader, note-taker or sign interpreter), extra travel (such as taxis if your child can’t take public transport) or an accommodation contribution (for example if a bathroom needs to be adapted). It's applied to costs incurred directly because of the course, over and above those any student without a similar disadvantage would face.

The allowance is assessed not by household income but by individual needs. On eligible application, it will be necessary to undergo a study needs assessment at an approved DSA centre. If a student is applying for both financial support and DSAs, they must complete their student loan application through Student Finance England first, otherwise they won't be able to make the online DSA application.

Don’t forget, if your child has an education, health and care plan (EHCP), this lapses in higher education, but support will be available through the DSA.

While notification of eligibility can happen relatively quickly, it can take a long time to process and complete all stages (up to fourteen weeks), so do apply early. To qualify for DSAs, a student must be an undergraduate studying for at least one year (this can be part-time, depending on course intensity) and have written evidence from a qualified specialist about their condition.

The maximum allowances can be found online, but very few students receive the full benefit and most receive much less. Money is usually paid to the organisation providing the service, though in some cases it may be paid to the student’s bank account. Refunds won't be given for costs incurred before the appropriate application and approval. If awarded the cost of a new computer, the student contributes £200 towards it.

You don't have to inform the college or university if your child receives DSAs, but it might be helpful for them to know, to ensure your child gets all the support available. Colleges and universities also have a disability adviser who can give help and advice about your child’s entitlements.

Conditions that might qualify for DSA include:

social, emotional and mental health difficulties (such as ADD or ADHD)
sensory or physical needs (such as visual impairment, or equipment to support a physical difficulty)
cognition and learning difficulties (such as dyslexia or dyspraxia)
communication and interaction needs (such as difficulties with speech or language, Asperger’s syndrome, autism)
some long-term health conditions (such as HIV, cancer or chronic heart disease)