What a degree costs
Paying for a degree takes some planning, for students and for the people helping them.
For students from England, the government lends money for course fees and for living costs. These notes set out the main amounts and how the loans are paid back. Every amount comes from GOV.UK, as it read on 19 October 2026.
Course fees
Each university or college sets its own tuition fee. A full-time student can borrow a Tuition Fee Loan to cover it, and the loan goes straight to the university.
The most a full-time student can borrow is £9,535 for the 2025 to 2026 academic year. For 2026 to 2027 it is £9,790.
Living costs
Students can also borrow a Maintenance Loan towards their living costs. The amount depends on where the student will study and on their household income. It also depends on whether they live with their parents.
For 2026 to 2027, the largest loans are these.
- Living with parents: up to £9,118.
- Living away from parents, outside London: up to £10,830.
- Living away from parents, in London: up to £14,135.
From 2026 to 2027, a care leaver's Maintenance Loan is worked out without their household income. UCAS has a budget calculator that helps students compare living costs in different places.
Extra help
Some students can get money on top of the loans. Disabled Students' Allowance helps people with a disability, a mental or physical health problem, or a learning difficulty such as dyslexia. Students with children may get a Childcare Grant. Students who live in England and study away from home may get a travel grant for some travel costs.
GOV.UK says it takes 4 weeks to process an application.
Paying the loan back
Undergraduates from England who started their course on or after 1 August 2023 are on repayment Plan 5. The earliest anyone starts repaying is the April after they leave their course.
Graduates repay only when their income is over the threshold for their plan. On 19 October 2026, GOV.UK gave the Plan 5 threshold as £25,000 a year, or £2,083 a month. The threshold can change each April.
Above the threshold, a graduate pays 9% of the income over it. A graduate earning £30,000 a year, for example, pays 9% of £5,000. Any Plan 5 loan still owing is written off 40 years after the April the graduate was first due to repay.
Students from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
Students from the other UK nations apply to their own student finance body. Scottish students apply to the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS). Welsh students apply to Student Finance Wales, and students from Northern Ireland apply to Student Finance NI.
Each body publishes its own amounts and rules. Students who applied through SAAS repay on Plan 4.