If you do not get a student loan for maintenance
If you do not get a loan for maintenance, but you receive a grant, the grant income is taken into account for UC (subject to the disregards below).1Reg 68(2) and (4) UC Regs A grant is an educational grant or award, and does not include education maintenance allowance payments.2Reg 68(7) UC Regs It includes any other grants or awards – eg, stipends paid to PhD students (as long as these are not provided under a contract of employment). Grant income is taken into account, excluding any payment for:3Reg 70 UC Regs •tuition fees or exams;
•your disability;
•extra costs of residential study away from your usual place of study during term time;
•the costs of your normal home (if you live elsewhere during your course), unless these are included in your UC;
•the maintenance of someone not included in your UC claim;
•books, equipment, course travel costs or childcare costs.
If you get a grant, but no loan for maintenance, and receive discretionary fund payments, they are disregarded if they are paid for any of the above, and otherwise count as income. Note: a one-off payment from discretionary funds counts as capital rather than income (see here).
Taken into account | Ignored |
|---|
All students | Help with tuition fees |
| Special support loan |
Undergraduate students | |
Care-experienced students’ bursary | Disabled students’ allowance |
Dependants’ grant | Lone parents’ childcare grant and childcare fund payments |
Lone parents’ grant | |
Summer accommodation grant* | |
Paramedic, nursing and midwifery students | |
Paramedic, nursing and midwifery bursary | Childcare allowance |
Dependants’ allowance for adult and child | Disabled students’ allowance |
Single parent’s allowance | Travel and placement expenses |
Further education students | |
Bursary maintenance allowance | Education maintenance allowance |
Dependants’ allowance | Additional support needs for learning allowance |
Care-experienced bursary maintenance allowance | Study and travel expenses allowance |
| Lone parents’ childcare grant and childcare fund payments |
*Note that the summer accommodation grant is paid as a lump sum, so it counts as capital rather than income (see here).