The Maintenance Loan will probably be your main source of cash while you're at uni.

According to our National Student Money Survey, the Maintenance Loan is one of the biggest sources of money for students while they're at uni.

So, as you'll almost certainly be taking one out, it makes sense to learn about the eligibility criteria, the application process and how big a Maintenance Loan you'll get. You'll also want to know how to pay it back and what to do if your loan isn't enough.

The Maintenance Loan is part of the Student Loan provided by the government, and it's intended to help towards your living costs while you're at university. Rent, bills, food, nights out - all of these things and more are what the Maintenance Loan is there to help you pay for.

You apply for the Maintenance Loan through the same process as Tuition Fee Loans and, eventually, you'll make repayments on the two as a joint sum. However, the Maintenance Loan and the Tuition Fee Loan are technically two separate types of funding.

And while we're against students having to take on any debt to attend uni, the current repayment terms on Student Loans aren't quite as bad as you might fear.

Although there are plenty of changes we'd like the government to make, the fact that your repayments are based on your income (rather than how much you owe) makes it more manageable on a monthly basis than a traditional loan.

And as such, in most cases, we'd argue it's best to take out both a Tuition Fee Loan and a Maintenance Loan, rather than one or the other (or neither).

Sources

Save The Student
Student Maintenance Loans 2026

By Save The Student
Save The Student is the UK's leading student money website, helping you budget your money, make sense of student finance, look for part-time jobs, find extra funding and more. Founded in 2007, the website provides free and impartial guides, tools and verified deals to tackle the real-life money problems students face at university.