Maintenance Grant and Special Support Grant
you won't have to pay back any grant you get
If you’re from England and doing a full-time higher education course in the UK, you may be able to get help with accommodation and other living costs through the Maintenance Grant or Special Support Grant. Whether you qualify - and the level of grant you’ll get - depends on your household income.
You don’t have to pay them back, and you can apply for them at the same time as you’re applying for Student Loans from the government - through the main student finance application.
If you’re a new student - or you started in 2006/2007
New students, and most of those who started in 2006/2007, may qualify for the Maintenance Grant or Special Support Grant. If you qualify, you’ll get one or the other - but not both.
If you started before September 2006
The Maintenance Grant or Special Support Grant won’t be available if you started your course before September 2006 - or you’re treated as if you did because, for example, you took a gap year in 2005/2006.
How much you can get for 2008/2009
You could get up to £2,835 through the Maintenance Grant or Special Support Grant, depending on your household income.
However, in most cases the rate available at a particular level of household income is different for:
- students starting their first year at university or college in 2008/2009
- those continuing with the second, third or fourth year of their course in 2008/2009
Follow the relevant link below to get a better idea of how much you’re likely to get. There’s also information on how the Maintenance Grant can affect entitlement to the Student Loan for Maintenance.
Maintenance Grant and Special Support Grant: which should you apply for?
Maintenance Grant
The amount of help you can get through the Maintenance Grant and Special Support Grant is the same. But if you get the Maintenance Grant, some of it is paid instead of the Student Loan for Maintenance. In other words, it will reduce the amount you can get through Student Loans.
For more information on how this works, follow the link that’s relevant to you within the sections above on ‘How much you can get for 2008/2009’ or ‘How much you can get for 2007/2008’.
Special Support Grant
The Special Support Grant replaces the Maintenance Grant for certain groups of students entering higher education in 2006/2007, 2007/2008 or 2008/09.
If you get the Special Support Grant, it won’t affect how much you can get through the Student Loan for Maintenance - and it won’t be counted as income when working out if you’re entitled to income-related benefits or tax credits.
You’ll qualify for the Special Support Grant if, during the academic year, you meet the conditions for being a ‘prescribed person’ under the Income Support or Housing Benefit Regulations. Students who are likely to qualify include:
- single parents
- other student parents if they have a partner who is also a student
- students with certain disabilities
But there are other students who may be eligible for the Special Support Grant. You don’t necessarily have to receive or even have applied for Income Support or Housing Benefit.
How are the grants paid?
The Maintenance Grant and the Special Support Grant will be paid to you by Student Finance Direct at the start of each term - usually straight into your bank account.
You’ll get the grant at the same time as any Student Loan for Maintenance.
If you’re a full-time higher education student, you may be able to get a non-repayable grant to help with accommodation and other living costs. If you’re a new student – and, in most cases, if you started in 2006/2007 – the grants you can apply for are called the ‘Maintenance Grant’ and ‘Special Support Grant’.