Tuition Fee Support
A student studying in Wales can apply for a non-means tested fee loan of up to £2,625 to cover their annual fees. Students need to be studying at a minimum 25% intensity to be eligible e.g. a full-time student completes a Foundation Degree in 2 years, therefore a part-time student would need to complete the course in no more than 8 years.
Maintenance (Living Costs) Support
Students can apply for annual living costs support up to a maximum of £6,488.00. This will be a combination of grant (which you don’t pay back) and loan (which you do). The amount of grant and loan you are awarded is dependent on the number of hours you study (i.e. the intensity of study) and your household income.
An illustration of the amounts of grant and loan available at various levels of household income and study intensity are shown in the table below.
| Income (£) | Welsh Government Learning Grant or Special Support Grant (£) | Maintenance Loan (£) | Total Grant Plus Loan (£) |
| Studying at 75% intensity (90 module credits) | |||
| 25,000 | 4,500.00 | 1,988.00 | 6,488.00 |
| 30,000 | 3,953.00 | 2,535.00 | 6,488.00 |
| 35,000 | 3,404.00 | 3,083.00 | 6,488.00 |
| 40,000 | 2,856.00 | 3,632.00 | 6,488.00 |
| 45,000 | 2,308.00 | 4,180.00 | 6,488.00 |
| 50,000 | 1,760.00 | 4,728.00 | 6,488.00 |
| 55,000 | 1,211.00 | 5,276.00 | 6,488.00 |
| 59,200 | 750.00 | 5,738.00 | 6,488.00 |
| Income (£) | Welsh Government Learning Grant or Special Support Grant (£) | Maintenance Loan (£) | Total Grant Plus Loan (£) |
| Studying at 50% intensity (60 module credits) | |||
| 25,000 | 3,000.00 | 1,325.00 | 4,325.00 |
| 30,000 | 2,635.00 | 1,690.00 | 4,325.00 |
| 35,000 | 2,270.00 | 2,056.00 | 4,325.00 |
| 40,000 | 1,904.00 | 2,421.00 | 4,325.00 |
| 45,000 | 1,539.00 | 2,787.00 | 4,325.00 |
| 50,000 | 1,173.00 | 3,152.00 | 4,325.00 |
| 55,000 | 807.50 | 3,518.00 | 4,325.00 |
| 59,200 | 500.00 | 3,852.00 | 4,325.00 |
Other Financial Support:
Disabled Student’s Allowance (DSA)
More information on this additional financial support can be found on the Student Finance Wales website.
Eligibility for Financial Support
Eligibility is dependent on where you live, whether you’ve studied a HE course and received support before and the type of course you’re doing:
Where you live
Students need to be a UK national, an Irish Citizen, or have “settled status”. Students should be normally living in Wales on the first day of their course and have been living in the UK for at least 3 years prior to the start of the course and not for the purposes of full-time education. You might also be able to apply under other eligibility criteria.
Personal Eligibility
Students who already have a degree won’t be eligible. However there are some exceptions including those students wishing to study a part-time PGCE. Please refer to who qualifies for more information on exemptions.
Course Type
The course must lead to a recognised Higher Education course e.g. a Degree, Foundation Degree, a Certificate or Diploma of Higher Education or a Higher National Certificate/Diploma (HNC/D) or Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE).
How to Apply
All applications are made online to Student Finance Wales.