Maintenance Loan Estimator
How much maintenance loan you could actually get in 2026/27, once household income is taken into account.
The maintenance loan is the part of student finance that lands in your bank account for rent, food and everything else. Unlike the tuition loan, it is means-tested, so two people on the same course get different amounts depending on where they live and what their household earns. This works it out using the 2026/27 thresholds Student Finance England actually uses. Treat it as a close estimate. Your award letter is the number that counts.
Where will you be living?
This sets the maximum you could get. London is higher because it costs more to live there; staying at your parents' place is lower for the same reason.
up to £9,118
up to £10,830
up to £14,135
Your household income
For most new students this is their parents' combined income before tax, taken from a recent tax year. If you are 25 or over, married, or have supported yourself for a few years, it is your own income (and a partner's) instead. Your own part-time earnings during term do not count. Not sure of the exact figure? A rough number gives a rough estimate.
Your estimate
How this is worked out
Everyone gets the maximum for their area up to a household income of £25,000. Above that, the loan drops by roughly £1 for every £6.50 of extra income, down to a minimum that everyone is entitled to no matter how high the household income goes. This is the same sum Student Finance runs:
What this number includes, and what it does not
This is the loan only. It does not include the tuition fee loan, which is separate and goes straight to your university, and it does not include grants or university bursaries, which do not have to be paid back and can add a fair bit on top if your household income is low. Medicine, nursing, teaching and social work courses have their own extra funding that sits outside this figure.
For a lot of students the loan does not cover the rent, let alone food. In London, Bristol or Bath, halls can cost more than the loan itself. Put this number next to a real rent on the rent calculator before you assume it stretches, rather than finding out in October.
The loan is a bit lower in your final year, because you are not funded over the summer after you finish. It is a Plan 5 loan: you repay 9% of anything you earn above £25,000 a year, it is written off after 40 years, and repayments stop the moment your income drops. Not taking the full loan to avoid debt rarely makes sense once you understand how the repayment works.
Next steps
- Rent Affordability Calculator. Check whether this loan actually covers the rent on a place you are looking at.
- Tuition and maintenance loans, explained. The full picture on both loans, how they are paid and when.
- Student finance payment dates 2026/27. When each of the three instalments actually reaches your account.
- Official gov.uk student finance calculator. The definitive check, including grants and course-specific funding.
Figures are the 2026/27 rates for full-time undergraduates from England, checked against the gov.uk student finance calculator on 15 August 2026. This tool gives an estimate to help you plan; your Student Finance England award letter is the final amount.
Now the bits a tool can't cover
Get our free At-Uni Pack: stretching the loan through the Jan-to-April gap, the hardship-fund route nobody mentions, signing a private let without losing your deposit, and getting council tax right. Twelve pages, checked for 2026/27.
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Updated 15 August 2026 · How we check
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