Part-time study solves one problem and creates another. It lets you earn, care for family, or manage health while you study, but it stretches your degree over more years, and living costs do not pause while you are studying at half speed. The good news for students in England is that part-time students are not excluded from living-cost support. Since 2018, eligible part-time undergraduates funded by Student Finance England have been able to apply for a Maintenance Loan as well as a Tuition Fee Loan. The amount, however, is not the same as for a full-time student, and the way it is worked out catches many applicants by surprise. This guide explains who qualifies, how the part-time amount is calculated, and what the 2026/27 figures actually mean for your budget.
The single most important idea in this guide is course intensity. Student Finance England does not ask whether you feel part-time. It measures how much of a full-time course you are completing each year, expressed as a percentage. If a full-time student takes 120 credits a year and you take 60, your course intensity is 50%. If you take 30 credits, it is 25%. That percentage decides two things: whether you qualify at all, and how much of the full-time Maintenance Loan you can receive. Everything else in this guide, including the figures, follows from that one measurement, so it is worth getting it right before you apply.
Who can get a part-time Maintenance Loan?
To qualify for a part-time Maintenance Loan in 2026/27, you must be an undergraduate student normally living in England, studying an eligible course at a recognised university or college, and studying at a course intensity of at least 25%. That 25% threshold is a hard line. Below it, there is no Maintenance Loan entitlement at all, however strong your other circumstances. In credit terms, 25% usually means at least 30 credits in an academic year, but your university will confirm your intensity, because different institutions structure credits differently and the figure Student Finance uses is the one your university reports.
There are further conditions that mirror the full-time rules. You can usually only get student finance for your first higher education course, with exceptions for certain professional courses such as medicine, dentistry, and some teaching and healthcare routes. Part-time funding is also capped in total: you can receive part-time funding for a maximum of sixteen years, after which you would have to self-fund. That cap rarely troubles a student on a standard part-time degree, but it matters if you have already had several years of part-time funding or you are returning to study after an earlier course. If you are unsure about previous study, ask Student Finance before you enrol rather than discovering a problem after you have started.
Your mode of study matters as much as your intensity. Part-time study that involves attending classes in person, even for part of the week, is normally treated as being in attendance for maintenance purposes. Distance learning is treated differently, and this is where many students are caught out. If your part-time course is delivered entirely by distance learning, you will not normally be eligible for a Maintenance Loan, even if your intensity is above 25%. The exception is distance learning undertaken because a disability prevents you from attending in person. A course that mixes some in-person attendance with online study is not the same as a distance learning course, so if your course includes weekday attendance, even limited attendance, check how it is classified before you assume either way. Get the classification in writing from your university if your budget depends on it, because the distinction is worth thousands of pounds a year.
How the part-time amount is worked out
Student Finance England works out a part-time Maintenance Loan in two steps. First, it calculates the full-time entitlement you would have received if you were studying the same course full-time, based on your household income and where you live during term time. Second, it applies a percentage based on your course intensity band. The result is your part-time entitlement. It is a pro-rata system, but it is banded rather than exact: your intensity falls into a band, and the whole band receives the same percentage, rather than every single percentage point of intensity giving a different amount.
The intensity bands published by Student Finance England for 2026/27 are as follows. An intensity below 25% gives no entitlement. From 25% up to, but not including, 33.3% gives 25% of the full-time rate. From 33.3% up to, but not including, 50% gives 33.3%. From 50% up to, but not including, 66.6% gives 50%. From 66.6% up to, but not including, 75% gives 66.6%. From 75% up to, but not including, 100% gives 75%. At 100% intensity, you receive the full-time rate. Notice the practical consequence: a student at 60% intensity and a student at 50% intensity receive the same percentage, because both fall in the 50% band, while a student at 66% and a student at 67% fall in different bands and receive different percentages. If your intensity sits near a band boundary, it is worth asking your university whether a small change in credits would move you into the next band, because the financial difference can be significant.
Household income affects the calculation in the same way as for full-time students. The full-time maximum goes to households with an income of £25,000 or less, and the loan reduces on a sliding scale as household income rises, down to a guaranteed minimum that every eligible student receives. The part-time percentage is then applied to that income-assessed figure. In other words, two part-time students at the same intensity can receive different amounts because their household incomes differ, and two students with the same household income can receive different amounts because their intensities differ. Both factors matter, and neither can be read in isolation.
The 2026/27 figures, worked through honestly
For 2026/27, the full-time Maintenance Loan figures published by Student Finance England are as follows. The maximum loan is £9,118 a year if you live at home with your parents, £10,830 if you live away from home outside London, and £14,135 if you live away from home in London. Those maximums go to students from households with an income of £25,000 or less. The guaranteed minimum, which applies no matter how high the household income, is £4,013 at home, £5,048 away from home outside London, and £7,039 in London. Those are the full-time figures, and they are the starting point for every part-time calculation, not the amount a part-time student will actually receive.
Apply the intensity bands to those figures and the part-time picture becomes clear. Take the most common case: a student living at home, from a household at or below £25,000, studying at 50% intensity. The full-time maximum at home is £9,118, and the 50% band gives half of that, which is £4,559 a year. The same student at 25% intensity would receive a quarter of the full-time figure, which is £2,280 a year at the maximum end. At the minimum end, the published part-time minimum figures for a student living at home are £1,003 at 25% to under 33.3% intensity, £1,336 at 33.3% to under 50%, £2,007 at 50% to under 66.6%, £2,673 at 66.6% to under 75%, £3,010 at 75% to under 100%, and £4,013 at full intensity. Those minimums are the floor: if your household income is high, you will still receive at least the minimum for your band, and if your household income is low, you will receive more, up to the band percentage of the full-time maximum.
Two warnings belong with those figures. First, they are England-only figures, for students funded by Student Finance England. Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland run different systems with different amounts and, in Wales, a mix of loan and grant, so a part-time student funded by another body should not use these numbers at all. Second, the final year of a course attracts a slightly lower maximum than earlier years, because the final year is shorter. If you are budgeting across the whole degree, do not assume the same figure every year. Always confirm your personal entitlement through your Student Finance account once you have applied, because your official Notification of Entitlement is the only figure that counts for your tenancy, your budget, and your planning.
What the standard calculator does and does not do for part-time students
This is the point where a well-meaning shortcut causes real budgeting errors. The standard maintenance loan calculators most students find online, including the full-time calculator on this site, are built around full-time rates. If you enter your household income and living situation into a full-time calculator, the figure it returns is your full-time-equivalent estimate: the amount you would receive if you were studying at 100% intensity. For a part-time student, that figure is the starting point, not the answer. To get your part-time estimate, you must multiply the full-time-equivalent figure by your intensity band percentage.
An example makes the error concrete. Suppose a student living at home, from a household earning £25,000 or less, runs a full-time calculator and sees £9,118. If that student is actually studying at 50% intensity, their part-time entitlement is half of that figure, £4,559, not £9,118. Budgeting on £9,118 would overstate their annual living-cost support by more than four thousand pounds, which is the kind of gap that causes a tenancy crisis in November. Our free Maintenance Loan Calculator gives the full-time-equivalent estimate for 2026/27 on Student Finance England rates, so use it to find your starting figure, then apply your intensity band percentage to reach your part-time estimate, and treat the result as a planning figure until Student Finance confirms it.
The same caution applies in reverse. Do not assume that a part-time loan is too small to be worth claiming. At 75% intensity, a student receives three quarters of their full-time entitlement, which for a student living away from home outside London at the maximum end is over eight thousand pounds a year. Even at 25% intensity, the loan is a meaningful contribution to rent and bills, and it is paid in three termly instalments directly to you, once your university has confirmed your registration. Part-time students are also eligible for other support that sits outside the Maintenance Loan, including Disabled Students’ Allowance, dependants’ grants where applicable, and university bursaries and hardship funds, none of which depend on intensity in the same way. Claim the loan you are entitled to, and then look at what else your circumstances open up.
Budgeting and applying as a part-time student
Budgeting on a part-time loan requires a different mindset from budgeting on a full-time one, because your income pattern is different too. Many part-time students work alongside study, and the loan is a top-up rather than the main income. That makes the termly payment pattern important: the loan arrives in three instalments, one near the start of each term, and the gap between instalments is long. Divide each instalment across the months it must cover, rather than treating the first payment as money to spend, or the middle of term will be tight every time. If you work, remember that your earnings do not reduce your Maintenance Loan in the way household income does; the assessment is based on your household income as defined by Student Finance, which for a dependent student under 25 usually means your parents’ income, and for an independent student usually means your own and your partner’s where applicable.
When you apply, you will need to know your course intensity or your module credits for the year, because Student Finance asks for them. If you do not know them, ask your university before you apply, and keep the answer, because an incorrect intensity can lead to an overpayment that you must repay, and overpayments are recovered without the usual repayment threshold protection. Tell Student Finance promptly if your intensity changes during the year, if you change where you live, or if you withdraw or suspend, because all of those changes affect your entitlement. A change reported late is a change that becomes a debt. Finally, reapply every year: student finance is not renewed automatically, and your intensity, living situation, and household income can all change from one year to the next, so each year’s application is assessed afresh.
Frequently asked questions
Can part-time students get a Maintenance Loan? Yes, if you are an eligible undergraduate normally living in England, studying at a course intensity of at least 25%, and not on a purely distance learning course, unless the distance learning is because of a disability. The loan is a percentage of the full-time rate, set by your intensity band.
How much Maintenance Loan do part-time students get in 2026/27? It depends on your intensity band, household income, and where you live. At home, the full-time maximum is £9,118 and the full-time minimum is £4,013. A student at 50% intensity receives 50% of their full-time-equivalent figure, so £4,559 at the maximum end at home. Apply your band percentage to your full-time-equivalent entitlement to estimate your amount.
What is course intensity and how is it calculated? Course intensity is how much of an equivalent full-time course you complete each year, as a percentage. Taking 60 credits where full-time students take 120 is 50% intensity. Your university reports the figure to Student Finance, and it determines both your eligibility and your intensity band.
Do distance learning part-time students get a Maintenance Loan? Normally no. Part-time distance learning students are eligible for a Tuition Fee Loan but not a Maintenance Loan, unless they are studying by distance learning because of a disability. A course with some in-person weekday attendance is classified differently, so check your course’s classification with your university.
Does a full-time maintenance loan calculator work for part-time students? Only as a starting point. A full-time calculator gives your full-time-equivalent estimate. Multiply that figure by your intensity band percentage, 25%, 33.3%, 50%, 66.6%, or 75%, to reach your part-time estimate, and confirm the final figure with Student Finance.
Is there a maximum number of years of part-time funding? Yes. Part-time funding is available for a maximum of sixteen years in total. Beyond that, you would have to self-fund. Previous higher education study can also affect eligibility, so check your position before enrolling if you have studied before.