Discover student finance
Student Finance Wales is part of the Student Loans Company (SLC). We manage applications and provide loans and grants to students attending university or college in Wales.
We're here to make sure money doesn't stop you from getting your education.
Get ready to apply for full-time undergraduate student finance!
If you’re starting a full-time course from September 2026, you’ll be able to apply for student finance by late March.
Applications for the 2025 to 2026 academic year are already open. Sign in to you online account to apply.
If you qualify for Tuition fee only funding, you should apply using the Tuition Fee Loan application form.
You can apply and manage your student finance account in Welsh as well as English.
What’s available
During the academic year, most students will have two costs to cover: tuition fees and living costs. We’re here to help with both!
- Tuition Fee Loan – up to £9,790 (for undergraduate students)
You could get help with living costs which is made up of a mixture of:
- Maintenance Loan (for undergraduate students)
- Maintenance Grant – you don’t need to repay this (for undergraduate students)
To find out what funding you're entitled to based on your household income, visit our what's available page.
If you're an independent student or estranged from your parents, find out what you need to do.
Extra help
You can get extra support from Student Finance Wales if you have children or an adult who is financially dependent on you. There’s also extra help available for students with a disability or long-term health condition.
Disabled Students’ Allowance
You can apply for Disabled Students' Allowance (DSA) if you have a disability, long-term illness or mental health condition such as: dyslexia, autism, ADHD, anxiety and depression. Check out our DSA page for more information and find out what support is available.
DSA can provide specialist equipment and other support during your studies, such as:
- a laptop
- note-takers for classes
- travel costs
- screen-reading software
The application for DSA is reviewed separately from your main student finance application and can take up to 14 weeks to approve. Apply today to make sure you have everything in place for the start of your course.
Who can get student finance
What student finance you qualify for depends on:
- your university or college
- your course
- your age
- whether you've studied a higher education course before
- your nationality or residency status
For more information about eligibility for student finance, visit our who qualifies page.
How to apply for student finance
Watch our film to find out how to apply for student finance!
What is household income
We assess household income to work out how much Maintenance Loan and Maintenance Grant you can get.
If you also apply for any grants, we'll need to assess your household income.
This means we'll ask your parents (who you live with or depend on financially) or your partner to support your application by confirming their income.
What to expect on your student finance journey
The typical student finance journey is:
- You apply for student finance and give us your parents’ or partner's details.
- We ask your parents or partner to support your application by confirming their income.
- We’ll work out how much you can get and let you know in your online account when your application is approved.
- You register on your course, and your university or college lets us know so we can start paying you.
- We pay your tuition fees to your university or college, and we pay you any loans or grants at the start of each term.
- You need to re-apply for student finance for every year of your course.
- After your course ends, you'll start repayments in the April after you finish or leave. These are handled by the Student Loans Company (SLC).
It’s important to keep all your details up to date. If anything changes, you can let us know using your online account.
Postgraduate students
Postgraduate student finance applications for 2025 to 2026 are now open.
Find out everything you need to know about postgraduate student finance:
Part-time students
Part-time student finance applications for 2025 to 2026 are now open!
Find out what’s available and further information about part-time student finance.
Repaying your student loan
You won’t start repaying your student loan until the April after you’ve finished or left your course and you’re earning over the repayment threshold, which is currently £547 a week, £2,372 a month or £28,470 a year.
How much you repay is based on how much you earn, not how much you’ve borrowed.
Visit our repaying your student loan page for more information.