If you get a student loan for living costs
If you are eligible for a standard loan for your living costs, it counts as income when working out your entitlement to universal credit (UC). The maximum loan you could be entitled to is taken into account, as though there were no reduction for household income or another grant.
1Regs 68 and 69 UC Regs The special support element
(introduced for new students in England from 2016/17) is disregarded. If your loan entitlement is reduced because of a previous overpayment, only the amount of loan paid in the academic year being assessed should be taken into account, not the notional maximum entitlement.
2Regs 68(2) and 69 UC Regs If you receive a postgraduate loan for either
a master’s
or a
doctoral course in England or Wales, 30 per cent of the maximum amount to which you are entitled is taken into account, and the remainder is disregarded.
3Reg 69(1A) UC RegsAny grants you receive are disregarded, except for any amount for the maintenance of your partner and/or child(ren), and any specific amount for rent if your UC includes an amount for rent.
4Reg 68(3) UC Regs Discretionary payments from an institutional
hardship fund are also ignored, provided they are not for the maintenance of your partner or child(ren) and not a specified amount for rent that is met by UC.
Note: a one-off payment from hardship funds counts as capital not income (see
here).
Note: at the time of writing, regulations had not been laid to make explicit the treatment of part-time undergraduate loans for living costs in England, and the arrangements for undergraduates in Wales introduced from 2018/19. However, in practice, loans for living costs for part-time students are treated in the same way as loans for full-time students, with the special support element disregarded and the loan then taken into account according to the usual rules. In Wales, the
‘special support payment’ that comprises up to the first £5,161 of any grant paid (see
here) is disregarded, while any grant paid above this amount plus any loan paid is taken into account, subject to the monthly disregard.
Note: it is arguable that the whole grant should be disregarded under current legislation. See CPAG’s
Welfare Rights Bulletin for updates.
Taken into account | Ignored |
England Loan for living costs (full-time students) Loan for living costs (part-time students) Adult dependants’ grant 30 per cent of postgraduate loan for master’s degrees 30 per cent of postgraduate loan for doctoral degrees Some hardship fund payments (see above) | England Tuition fee loan (full-time and part-time students) Maintenance grant Special support grant Special support loan element Parents’ learning allowance Childcare grant Disabled students’ allowance T ravel expenses allowance 70 per cent of postgraduate loan for master’s degrees 70 per cent of postgraduate loan for doctoral degrees NHS bursary (means-tested and non-means-tested) NHS bursary dependants’ allowance NHS training grant NHS Learning Support Fund payments Teacher training bursary Social work bursary Most hardship fund payments (see above) |
Wales Loan for living costs Maintenance grant after first £5,161 (2018 cohort students) Adult dependants’ grant 30 per cent of postgraduate loan for master’s degrees 30 per cent of postgraduate loan for doctoral degrees Some hardship fund payments (see above) | Wales Tuition fee loan Tuition fee grant Special support payment (2018 cohort students) Welsh government learning grant (pre-2018 students) Special support grant (pre-2018 students) Parents’ learning allowance Childcare grant Disabled students’ allowance Travel expenses allowance 70 per cent of postgraduate loan for master’s degrees 70 per cent of postgraduate loan for doctoral degrees NHS bursary NHS bursary dependants’ allowance Teacher training grant Social work bursary Most hardship fund payment |
Northern Ireland Loan for living costs Adult dependants’ grant Department of Health bursary dependants’ additions Some hardship fund payments (see above) | Northern Ireland Tuition fee loan Maintenance grant Special support grant Parents’ learning allowance Childcare grant Travel expenses allowance Postgraduate loan for tuition fees Social work bursary Department of Health healthcare student bursary Most hardship fund payments (see above) Disabled students’ allowance |
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