Eligible students ordinarily resident in England do not have to pay the tuition fee up front. The UK Government provides students with a tuition fee loan to cover the full cost of the fee for the duration of your undergraduate programme.

Further information can be found at on the gov.uk website.

Information for EU, EEA and Swiss nationals. 

Eligible students ordinarily resident in England can apply for a maintenance loan to help with living costs while studying. 

Please refer to the access to Student Finance information for EU, EEA and Swiss nationals on the gov.uk website 

The maintenance loan is partly means-tested, which means the loan amount will vary depending on household income and whether you live at home while you study. In 2022 the maximum loan available for students studying in London (ie, at LSE) and living away from home is £12,667. For students living at home, the maximum loan available is £8,171.

You can use the Student Finance Calculator to estimate how much you might receive.

Full details of eligibility criteria for funding.

Find out about interest rates and repaying your loan

Household residual income

This is effectively the household income before tax and after any pension contributions or allowances for dependant children.

For all those dependent students (ie, not independent) then the income assessment is based on your combined parents' income – though if you have substantial savings/investments of your own which generate income they will be taken into account.

If your parents are divorced or separated then they will assess the income of the parent you live with most of the time (if that's not clear cut, it's at the discretion of Student Finance). If that parent remarries or has a cohabiting partner, their joint income will then be assessed.

Student Finance England - how and when to apply 2021-2

You should apply for both of your loans (maintenance and tuition fee) in the Spring before you start University. Student Finance applications open in Spring and will have a deadline in May by which you should submit your application. You should check gov.uk and slc.co.uk for further details. 

You and your family will need to complete a PN1 form which asks for a range of financial information about you and the household in which you live. It is this financial information which Student Finance uses to assess your eligibility for an assessed maintenance loan. The information submitted on the application form allows Student Finance to calculate the 'household residual income' (see the information below).

You can also allow your chosen university to access this financial information so that they can assess your eligibility for their own bursaries. In the case of LSE, this means that you will not have to apply separately for financial support from LSE. 

Find out about interest rates and repaying your loan

Updating your Student Finance application

Please note that EU students cannot currently use the Student Finance online account service. Although EU students can access the online account service, any changes made online will NOT be reflected within Student Finance's systems. EU students must call the relevant call centre if they wish to make changes to their application.

Disabled students from the UK can access DSAs which are grants to help with extra costs you might face as a result of a disability, long-term health condition, mental health condition or specific learning disability like dyslexia.

More information about the Disabled Students' Allowance

Parents' Learning Allowance

You can apply for a Parents' Learning Allowance if you're a full-time undergraduate student with dependent children. This helps with the extra costs associated with being a parent and a student. You don't need to be paying for childcare to be eligible.

Adult Dependants' Grant

You can apply for the Adult Dependants' Grant if you're a full-time UK undergraduate student and you have an adult who depends on you financially. The adult can be a partner or another adults who depends on you financially, but you can't count grown-up children as adult dependants.

Other funding

Childcare Grant and Other Support for Student Parents in Higher Education.

You should also refer to LSE Discretionary Bursaries. 

If you have taken out a tuition fee loan to pay your tuition fee, this money will be automatically transferred to your tuition fee account in October. There is nothing you need do to ensure this takes place.

All Student Finance maintenance loans will be paid by electronic transfer directly into your bank/building society account. It is therefore essential that Student Finance have the correct details of your bank/building society account in order to make the payment. This information is required well in advance of your programme start date.

LSE needs to confirm that you are a registered student before your loan or bursary will be released to you and does this via a bulk confirmation of student attendance to Student Finance. The first instalment of your loan entitlement will then be paid by Student Finance into your bank/building society account within five working days.

If you have applied for a maintenance loan, please make sure that you register (new students) or re-register (continuing students) for the new academic year when advised, otherwise your payment will be delayed.

If you have registered for your studies at LSE and haven't received your maintnenance loan from Student Finance within five working days of the published payment date, or have any questions about this process, please contact the Student Finance helpline on 0845 026 2019. If you are informed by Student Finance that they are still awaiting confirmation of your attendance from the School, please contact the Student Services Centre using their online enquiry form here.

If you applied through Student Finance England you can access your record, check the position of your application, and download copies of any letters sent to you online. You will need your customer service number and password to do this. 

More information about Managing your Student Finance account

If you are experiencing any major delays or problems with receiving your Student Finance maintenance loan then please contact the Financial Support Office we are not able to intervene with your application with Student Finance, but can offer advice or support. 

Student Finance: guides and advice

If you take out a tuition fee loan and a maintenance loan from the UK Government they are bundled together to make one combined loan. Interest starts to accrue on the loan from the day you receive the money. 

You only start to repay your student loan after you graduate and once you are earning over £21,000 per year. You only repay 9 per cent of everything you earn annually above £21,000.

Rates of interest vary throughout the life of the loan, and are currently published as per the below.

While studying
The loan accrues interest at the rate of inflation (as measured by the Retail Price Index) plus 3 per cent. This continues until the first April after graduation after which a progressive taper is applied.

Graduates earning less than £21,000
The loan accrues interest at the rate of RPI inflation.

Graduates earning between £21,000 and  £41,000
The interest rate will gradually rise from RPI to RPI plus 3 per cent the more you earn (the interest rises 0.00015 per cent for every extra pound you earn or, put another way, if you earn £1,000 more you accrue 0.15% extra interest). These thresholds will rise with average earnings from 2017.

Graduates earning over £41,000
The loan accrues interest at the rate of RPI inflation plus 3 per cent.

How to make repayments

The loan is repaid through the income tax system if you work in the UK. Student loans do not go on credit files.

The student loan is written off after 30 years.

Graduates are allowed to repay their loans early, if they wish to do so, without a penalty being applied.

Students are urged to remain vigilant and not to disclose any personal or bank details in response to email requests which look like they are from either Student Finance England or its parent company, the Student Loans Company.

Student Finance England will never email you asking you to confirm your login, user or bank account details. This kind of fraudulent email is known as 'phishing', and will take you to a fake website. Phishing scams are common at the three main instalment payment dates in September, January and April.

If you get an email asking you to follow a link to the Student Finance England website to confirm your account details, you should forward it to security@slc.co.uk then delete it.

Anyone who has already given their details should change their account password as soon as possible and contact the Student Finance England security team. By forwarding the email, you can help Student Finance England to protect you and others who may be affected.

For advice on using online services safely visit www.getsafeonline.org