Loans and Grants

If you are an undergraduate student and your course started after 1st August 2016 then you can apply for the loan for living costs to help with such things as rent and food while you are studying.

Students who are eligible for help with their living costs can get the non means-tested part of the loan for living costs, because nearly half of the maximum amount is not means-tested against any household income.

• This loan is paid directly to students three times a year at the start of each term
• It is an up-front payment designed to last for the term
• You must have a personal UK bank or building society account in your own name
• You will need to have registered at university and received your student ID card before you can receive your first payment

The following table shows the maximum loan for living costs available for students who began their course from 1 August 2016 onwards, based on their assessed household income. These figures are for the academic year 2023/24, for students who are ordinarily resident in England, and who study at Salford.

If you have one or more children, or an adult who is financially dependent on you, then you may be able to apply for the following grants:

• Parents Learning Allowance
• Childcare Grant
• Adult Dependence Grant

If you have a specific disability or learning support needs then you may be eligible for some help through the Disabled Students Allowance.

EU and EEA students

If you are an EU national living in and studying in England, who is new to higher education, you can apply for the Tuition Fee Loan.

However, if you meet certain residency or working conditions, you may be able to apply as a ‘home’ student and apply for the loan for living costs mentioned above.

You can apply as a ‘home’ student if you are an EU or EEA national and one of the below applies:

• You have 5 years ‘ordinary residence’ in the UK (Irish nationals need only 3 years)
• You are an EEA Migrant Worker or are the ‘relevant family member’ of one.

Please be aware that these are the general categories. More conditions apply, and it is critical to understand the official definitions of ‘ordinary residence’, ‘worker’, and ‘relevant family member’ to know if you can qualify.

If you think that you fall into one of these categories, then the guidance that UKCISA provides in their Info and Advice section is recommended.

Qualifying Non-EEA or EU nationals

Non-EEA and non-EU nationals can sometimes qualify for student funding if their permission to stay in the UK is either unlimited (such as having Indefinite Leave to Remain), or where they fit into an immigration category where their leave to remain officially expires, but the category is accepted. For example, Refugees often have a 5-year expiry date on their BRP, nonetheless they are not barred from student funding because the Home Office has recognised them as being a refugee. Other qualifying conditions for support, such as previous study, will still apply.

Again, for an authoritative guide we recommend UKCISA.

Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professional courses

Postgraduate level degree healthcare students who are not already qualified practitioners in the subject you are applying for can often qualify for the student funding package that is usually applied for by undergraduate students. You can apply though gov.uk for the Tuition Fee Loan, the loan for living costs and the awards for dependants.

Students who are eligible for funding through the NHSBSA cannot apply for the Masters Loan.

Social Work Bursary

There is a Social Work Bursary for home students on the MA in Social Work. There are a limited amount of bursaries for home students studying on our MA in Social Work. For more information see the course description here and for the full guide you can visit the NHSBSA website.

Postgraduate Masters Loan

You can apply for a Postgraduate Masters Loan from Student Finance England up to £12,167 (max for 2023/24) to help with the costs of studying a UK Masters Degree or a Postgraduate Doctoral Loan of up to £28,673 to study a UK PhD.  

The money you borrow is split equally over the number of years you study so, for example, if you are studying for a Masters Degree over one year then you will get the full amount borrowed in that year, if you study part-time over two years instead then you will get £6,083 per year. However, there are some restrictions on the length of time you can study for: 

• Masters: full-time lasting one or two years, part-time lasting two to four years (no more than twice the length of the equivalent full-time course) or part-time up to three years where no equivalent full-time course exists. 
• Doctoral: full-time or part-time lasting between three to eight academic years.  

You are unable to get a Masters Loan for a postgraduate certificate or diploma. For more information on eligibility and how to apply, please visit the Student Finance England website. 

If you have any questions regarding this, please contact the Money Matters team at moneymatters@salford.ac.uk or +44 (0)161 295 0023. 

New part-time students are able to apply for a tuition fee loan from Student Finance England to help pay for fees.

• The course intensity must be a minimum of 25% of the full-time course equivalent. Study intensity is the number of modules you study per year, as a percentage of the equivalent full-time course intensity
• Part-time students can also apply for a Maintenance Loan to help support with living costs
• The amount that can be borrowed will depend on a few different factors such as household income, study intensity, and where you live.

This information covers pre-NHS registration courses. The Allied Health Profession courses offered by Salford are: Radiography, Prosthetics and Orthotics, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Podiatry, (Integrated Practice) Learning Disabilities Nursing and Social Work.

The main funding for these courses is from Student Finance England (for English residents) and is not different to what undergraduate students get studying other undergraduate degree subjects.

If you are from other parts of the UK and want to study these types of courses in England, please note that there are often restrictions imposed on your ability to get student funding. Please check with your funding body.

Social Work students can qualify for a supplementary Social Work Bursary from their second year of study at level 5 onwards. However, this bursary is subject to capping, so this is not guaranteed. Moe information can be found at the NHSBSA website.

If you have secured a place through Clearing, you will need to look at applying for your funding. The process is different for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland but you can find links to each site on the gov.uk student finance for undergraduates page.

Student Finance England has produced a video for students going through the clearing process and needing to apply for finance.

If you have any questions or are concerned about your student funding assessment then please contact one of our finance advisers at moneymatters@salford.ac.uk or on +44 (0)161 295 0023 for help.

Allied Health Profession Courses, or ‘NHS courses’ as they are often called, are also ‘exempted courses’ when it comes to applying to funding. It is one of the very few cases where having a previous honours degree does not disqualify you from student funding. This means that students who are not qualified practitioners in that subject can have their previous study ignored when it comes to awarding student funding.

Prospective students are advised to explore the full resources on the NHSBSA website which includes application guidance and contact details for queries.

If you are on a healthcare course, you might be eligible for additional funding through the NHS Learning Support Fund (LSF). This is administered by the NHSBSA. The LSF is made up of: 

• Training grant (£5000) 

• Specialist subject payment (£1000) for healthcare courses with a specialism 

• Parental Support Payment (an extra £2000 for qualifying students) 

• Travel and Dual Accommodation Expenses (for placement costs) 

• Exceptional Support Fund (up to £3000, although this is last-resort hardship funding for students who have already approached us about our Salford Support Fund) 

Applications are made by registering for an LSF account online at the NHSBSA website. For further details, please visit their website. It also contains the LSF Account portal.