Student loans in the UK are a form of financial aid that can help students pay for their tuition fees and living costs while studying. The loans are provided by the UK government and are available to both undergraduate and postgraduate students. The loans are interest-free and are paid back once the student has finished their studies and is earning a certain amount of money. Repayment of the loan is based on a person’s income and not on the amount borrowed. Student loans can help students cover the cost of tuition fees, living costs, and other expenses related to their studies.

To attend a University in the UK, it will cost you approximately £9,000 annually which will rack up to a huge sum of £36,000-£45,000 over the four (4) to five (5) years of study as well as additional course fees for books and equipment.

If you are an international student from a country outside the UK and EU, you will likely not be eligible for a student loan, meaning you will have to either apply for a scholarship to your university of choice in hopes of receiving financial aid or have the existing money to fund the large cost of further education. Further down is the list of people eligible to apply for a student loan. Make sure you double-check even if you aren’t a UK or EU citizen as there might be another category you fall under that makes you eligible to apply.

To be eligible for a student loan as an international student you must:

1. You’re the family member of a UK national, who both:

• Was living in the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein on 31 December 2021, or returned to the UK by 31 December 2020 after living in the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein
• Has been living in the UK, the EU, Gibraltar, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein for the past 3 years.

2. If you’re not a UK national and are either:

• Under 18 and have lived in the UK for at least 7 years.
• 18 or over and have lived in the UK for at least 20 years (or at least half of your life).

3. Your residency status is any listed below:

• Refugee (including family members).
• Humanitarian protection (including family members).
• Migrant worker or frontier worker from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein (including family members) with settled or pre-settled status.
• Child of a Swiss national and you and your parents have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme.
• Child of a Turkish worker who has permission to stay in the UK - you and your Turkish worker parent must have been living in the UK by 31 December 2020.
• A stateless person (including family members). ○ An unaccompanied child was granted ‘Section 67 leave’ under the Dubs Amendment.
• A child who is under the protection of someone granted ‘Section 67 leave’, who is also allowed to stay in the UK for the same period of time as the person responsible for them (known as ‘leave in line’).
• Granted ‘Calais leave’ to remain.
• A child of someone granted ‘Calais leave’ to remain, who is also allowed to stay in the UK for the same period of time as their parent (known as ‘leave in line’).
• You’ve been given settled status (‘indefinite leave to remain’) because you’ve been the victim of domestic violence.
• You’ve been given settled status (‘indefinite leave to remain’) as a bereaved partner.
• You or your family member have been granted leave under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) or the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS).

4. You’ve been living in the UK, the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland for the past 3 years and you have one of the following:

• Pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme and you’re an EU national or the family member of an EU national.
• Irish citizenship.
• You’ve lived in Gibraltar or the other British Overseas Territories.
• You’re the family member of a person with settled status and you’ve lived in the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man for the past 3 years.

STUDENT REPAYMENT OPTIONS

You only have to start paying these fees back when you start earning past the income threshold. Once you’ve received your first loan payment, interest will start being added. This means that once you’ve finished your university course and you’re earning enough to repay your loans, you will have to pay back more than you were given due to the interest rates over the previous years of being in university. Keep this in mind as an architecture/ medical courses are longer than most university courses so your interest is likely to be greater than those who study shorter courses.