Care leavers and the maximum maintenance loan: what you are entitled to in 2026/27

By Jamie Hartwell · Updated 12 July 2026

If you have been in care, the student finance system is often the part of going to university that feels most stacked against you: forms that assume a family behind you, income questions about people you may not speak to, money that depends on a household you left. For 2026/27 one of the biggest of those barriers has just been removed. Care leavers are now entitled to the maximum maintenance loan automatically, without any household income being counted at all. This walks through exactly what you can get, what your council and your university add on top, and the practical steps to claim all of it.

What changed for 2026/27, and why it matters

Until now, every student applying for a means-tested maintenance loan had to declare their household income, and care leavers were pushed into an awkward corner: assessed as independent, but still often asked to evidence why, or chased for details about people they had no relationship with. From the 2026/27 academic year that ends. If you can show that you meet, or previously met, the statutory definition of a care leaver, you are entitled to the maximum loan for living costs automatically on application, and you are exempt from means testing entirely.

In plain terms: your household income is no longer used to work out your maintenance loan. You do not have to prove hardship, and you do not have to produce a parent's payslip. You apply, you evidence your care status once, and you get the full amount. No income form. No awkward questions about people you left behind. When I went through Student Finance England's 2026/27 guidance for this piece, that was the line that stood out, because it quietly fixes one of the most stressful parts of the process for the students least able to fill the gap themselves.

There is one thing worth knowing. Student Finance England may still ask for household income, but only to check what extra grants and university bursaries you might qualify for, not to reduce your loan. Giving it can unlock more money, never less, so it is usually worth doing.

How much the maximum maintenance loan actually is

Because you now get the maximum by default, it helps to know what the maximum is. For 2026/27 that is £9,118 if you live at home, £10,830 if you live away from home outside London, £14,135 if you live away from home in London, and £12,403 if part of your course is spent studying abroad. Where you live sets the figure, not where you grew up.

The loan is paid to you directly in three instalments across the year, one at the start of each term, straight into your bank account. It is yours to budget across rent, food, bills and everything else. If you are weighing that money against rising rents, our breakdown of the maintenance loan against real 2026 rents is a useful reality check, and the maintenance loan calculator lets you see your own number.

The £2,000 bursary your local council owes you

The loan is not the only money on the table. If you are a care leaver starting higher education for the first time before your 25th birthday, your local council must pay you a one-off higher education bursary of at least £2,000. It is a grant, not a loan. You never pay it back, and it sits entirely on top of your maintenance loan.

It usually comes from the leaving care team at the council that looked after you, and it is often paid in instalments rather than one lump. To get it you will need written confirmation of your looked-after status from that local authority, which your personal adviser can arrange. If you have a personal adviser and a pathway plan, this is exactly the kind of thing they exist to sort out, so ask them early rather than close to the start of term.

What your university adds on top

Beyond the loan and the council bursary, most universities run their own care-leaver support, and this is the part the big comparison sites cover thinly because it varies from place to place. Many offer a dedicated care-leaver bursary paid each year of your course, and a lot guarantee year-round accommodation, so you are not turned out of halls over Christmas or the summer with nowhere to go. Some waive or reduce accommodation deposits, and most have a named contact in the student support or widening participation team whose job is care-experienced students.

The amounts and the exact offer differ by university, so the honest advice is to find your specific university's care-leaver or care-experienced support page, or email the student support team and ask directly. Two questions are worth leading with: is there a care-leaver bursary, and is accommodation guaranteed for the full year including holidays. Those two answers shape your budget more than almost anything else.

Is the biggest loan just the biggest debt?

Taking the maximum means taking on the largest loan, and if you have no family money behind you that can feel like the wrong direction. It is worth being honest about how this loan actually behaves, because it does not work like a credit card or an overdraft. Most people starting a degree now repay on Plan 5, which takes 9% of whatever you earn above £25,000 a year and nothing at all below it. Below that, you pay nothing. If you never earn over the threshold, you never repay. Anything left unpaid is written off after 40 years, and the balance does not affect your ability to rent, get a phone contract or take out a mortgage the way ordinary debt does.

For a care leaver with no household to fall back on, the maximum loan is usually the right call, not a risky one. It is the money that keeps you housed and fed while you study, repaid only if and when you are earning comfortably. Turning it down to keep the number small tends to cost you now and save you little later. If the repayment side worries you, our guide to how student loan repayment works lays out the plans in full.

What to do now, step by step

Apply through Student Finance England as early as you can, even if you do not yet have every document. You can apply before you have a confirmed place and update it later, and you can still apply after term starts if you are late, though your money may arrive late too. When the application asks about household income, you can give it so the system checks you for extra grants and bursaries, knowing it cannot reduce your loan.

Apply early. Chase the letter. Alongside that, get your care status confirmed in writing from your local authority, contact your university's care-leaver support team before you arrive, and ask your personal adviser about the council bursary. If you also have a disability or long-term condition, look at Disabled Students' Allowance, which is separate again and does not count against any of this. Extra grants exist too if you have children or an adult who depends on you, covered in our roundup of grants, scholarships and bursaries. When you are ready to start, our step-by-step guide to applying for student finance walks through the form itself.

The headline is simple. This year the system finally assumes what has always been true for care leavers, that there is no household income to lean on, and it hands you the full amount without making you prove it. Claim the loan, claim the bursary, ask your university what it adds, and go into your course funded like everyone else.

Frequently asked questions

Does a care leaver have to declare household income for student finance in 2026/27?
No. From the 2026/27 academic year your household income is not used to calculate your maintenance loan, and you get the maximum automatically once you evidence your care status. Student Finance England may still ask for income, but only to check you for extra grants and bursaries, never to reduce your loan.

Do care leavers get the maximum maintenance loan automatically?
Yes. If you meet, or previously met, the statutory definition of a care leaver, you are entitled to the maximum loan for living costs automatically on application and are exempt from means testing.

What is the care leaver higher education bursary?
It is a one-off payment of at least 2,000 pounds from your local council for care leavers starting higher education before their 25th birthday. You do not repay it, and it is separate from your maintenance loan. Your personal adviser or leaving care team arranges it.

Will my university give care leavers extra support?
Most do, though it varies. Many offer a care-leaver bursary and guaranteed year-round accommodation so you are not left without housing in the holidays. Check your specific university's care-leaver support page or email the student support team to ask.

Is taking the maximum loan a bad idea if I have no family money?
Usually not. Repayments are income based: you only repay a share of what you earn above the threshold, nothing below it, and any balance is written off after 40 years. For a care leaver with no financial backstop, the full loan is normally the sensible choice.

Reviewed 12 Jul 2026 · Editorial standards

Written by

Jamie Hartwell

Jamie writes UniSorted's money coverage: student loans, budgeting, bank accounts, insurance, the lot. He spent most of first year living in his overdraft, so the budgeting guides all have a bit on what to do after you have already overspent, not just before. Based in Leeds. Reach him at jamie@unisorted.co.uk.