The funding available to you will depend on whether you are a UK or overseas student, if you are studying an undergraduate or postgraduate course and whether you study full or part-time.
For guidance on funding generally, please visit our Fees, funding & money advice category, as well as further details around additional financial support in What loans, grants or scholarships can I get from King’s?.
Undergraduate Home students & EU migrant workers
Welfare benefits for families
Child Benefit is a tax-free payment that you can claim for your child. It is usually paid every four weeks but in some cases can be paid weekly, and there are separate rates for each child. The payment can be claimed by anyone who qualifies but is reduced if the income of a parent (or their partner) is more than £50k per year, as explained on Direct Gov's High Income Child Benefit Charge webpage.
Child Tax Credit has largely been replaced with Universal Credit, although it may be an option for some people. For details please read Can I get Child Tax Credit?
If you live with a partner and their income is low, or they are out of work, you may qualify for universal credit or other welfare benefits, depending on your situation and if anyone is sick or disabled in your home.
Important to know: Some of your student finance package will count as income in any claims for means tested benefits, whether you claim student funding or not, but there are disregards that can be applied. Sometimes there can be errors in how the income has been assessed so you are strongly advised to have your award from the DWP or student finance checked by a Money Adviser in the Money & Housing Advice team.
Student Finance for Undergraduate full-time Home students & qualifying EU students
Home students are usually eligible to apply for a student support package from Student Finance England or their regional funder. Some EU students may also qualify if they have the relevant status in the UK.
As a student parent, you can also apply for additional means-tested funding (regardless of previous study) to assist with the added costs of being a parent and/or supporting an adult dependant whilst studying full-time.
Important to know:
- If you are in receipt of benefits then you must declare any loans from Student Finance England, Hardship Funds or the NHS Learning Support Fund.
- There may be restrictions in the support available to you if you have previously studied a degree programme.
Childcare Grant
A Childcare Grant is available to full-time students in low-income households. To qualify, you must have a dependent child or children in registered or OFSTED approved childcare. If you qualify, you can receive an allowance to help with your childcare costs, the amount and qualifying criteria is set by your regional funder, check locally for full information:
- UK Gov: Childcare Grant
- Student Finance Wales: Childcare Grant and Parents Learning Allowance
- Student Finance Northern Ireland: Childcare Grant
- Student Awards Agency Scotland: Other sources of funding
You don’t have to repay this help. How much you get will also depend on:
- your level of income and the income of your household
- how many children you have in childcare
- your actual childcare costs
The childcare grant is paid as part of your student funding package and covers many forms of childcare including school clubs, provided it is registered and approved.
Important to know: To qualify your partner must not already be receiving the childcare element of Working Tax credit.
Parents Learning Allowance
This is an additional grant to assist student parents with the costs of books, travel etc. As with the Childcare Grant, the award is based on your household income and is paid to you as part of your student funding package.
You can apply for the Parent Learning Allowance even if you are not applying for the Childcare grant.
Applications for both the Childcare Grant and the Parent Learning Allowance can be made when you apply for the standard funding package. You don’t have to claim a childcare grant to qualify for Parents Learning Allowance but some regions have a joint award.
Please check your regional funder for full details:
Adult Dependants Grant
If you are a full-time student with an adult who depends on you financially, you could be entitled to the Adult Dependants' Grant. You don't have to repay this help.
An adult dependant can include a partner or another adult, usually a member of your family, who depends on you financially. However, you can't count your grown-up children as adult dependants. How much you get depends on your income and the income of your adult dependant.
NHS Learning Support Fund
If you are a student on a healthcare course such as Nursing, Midwifery or Physiotherapy and you started your course on or after 1 August 2017 then you may be eligible for some additional financial help through the NHS Learning Support Fund. This fund includes a Parental Support Grant of £2000, which can be paid in addition to the Student Finance parent related funds and, for many, may include the £5000 Training Grant.
In addition to the £5,000 training grant, there is also an exceptional support fund for severe financial hardship. Any awards made from this fund don’t have to be re-paid. You can find out about the eligibility criteria for this fund by visiting NHS Learning Support Fund.
NHS Bursaries for medics and dentists
From the 5th year of study medics and dentists in England, switch to a funding package from the NHS Bursary Service. This includes a non-repayable grant for tuition fees and a bursary for living costs, with additional allowances for student parents and childcare costs. This is calculated in a different way and many medics and dentists find that their award for living costs can be less when NHS funding starts.
To help buffer this, King’s created the Medical & Dental Hardship Fund and the NHS also has a hardship fund which you can apply to.
For more information please review the NHS Bursary Guidance.
Continuing non-medical healthcare students who originally started their course before 1 August 2017
If you are a continuing nursing, midwifery, physio or nutrition & dietetics student and you started your course prior to 1 August 2017, you may still receive funding under the old NHS bursary rules.
This is not the same as the NHS Learning Support Fund, and is made up of a reduced rate maintenance loan and NHS bursary for living costs, which includes elements for childcare costs.
If this is not enough to cover all your costs, you can apply to hardship funds at King’s and we also advise get in touch with your department to review if you have had a sufficient break from study to apply under the new rules.
We strongly advise contacting the Money & Housing Advice team for guidance.
Part-time undergraduate Home students and some EU students
If you are a part-time student with children or other dependants, you may qualify for help with your course fees and/or course costs.
If your course started on or after 1 August 2018, then you can apply for a tuition fee loan and a maintenance loan. If you have a low income, a disability or have caring responsibilities you may also be eligible for welfare benefits, but your student finance will be counted as income for means tested benefits if you claim it or not.
Please consult the Money & Housing Advice team or a local advice agency for bespoke advice.
Postgraduate Home students & EU migrant workers
Welfare benefits for families
Child Benefit is a tax-free payment that you can claim for your child. It is usually paid every four weeks, but in some cases can be paid weekly, and there are separate rates for each child.
The payment can be claimed by anyone who qualifies, but is reduced if the income of a parent (or their partner) is more than £50k per year, as explained on Direct Gov's High Income Child Benefit Charge webpage.
Child Tax Credit has largely been replaced with Universal Credit, although it may be an option for some people. For details please read Can I get Child Tax Credit?
You may also be able to claim Working Tax Credit; to find out more about this please visit UK Gov: Working Tax Credit.
If you live with a partner and their income is low, or they are out of work, you may qualify for universal credit or other welfare benefits, depending on your situation and if anyone is sick or disabled in your home. Please note that if you are claiming a postgraduate loan some of this will count as income even if you intend to use it all to pay for your tuition fees.
However, sometimes there can be errors in how the income has been assessed by the DWP so you are strongly advised to have your award checked by a Money Adviser in the Money & Housing Advice team.
Student Finance Postgraduate Home students & qualifying EU workers
Home students are usually eligible to apply for a Postgraduate Loan from Student Finance England or their regional funder to help with the costs of postgraduate study.
Important to know: You may not be eligible if you if you have previously studied a degree programme at this level. If you’re an EU student you may also qualify if you have the relevant status in the UK. To find out more, visit the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA)'s Governmant Student Support page.
Unlike undergraduate study, student parents cannot apply for additional funding to help with the added costs of being a parent and/or supporting an adult dependant whilst studying at postgraduate level, unless you are undertaking a pre-registration healthcare course and qualify for the NHS Learning Support Fund.
NHS Learning Support Fund
From 1 August 2018 new students attending a pre-registration, postgraduate healthcare course will also be eligible to apply for support from the NHS Learning Support Fund.
This fund includes a Parental Support Grant of £2000, in addition to the £5,000 training grant. There is also an exceptional support fund for severe financial hardship.
Any awards made from this fund don’t have to be re-paid. You can find out about the eligibility criteria for this fund by visiting NHS Learning Support Fund.
For more information about statutory funding options for postgraduate study, please refer to our article What are the fees and funding options available for postgraduate study?
Other sources of financial support for postgraduate students
Kings College offers a wide range of scholarships and funding opportunities for both taught masters and research degrees which may contribute towards tuition fees, living costs or both.
For more information, please refer to our article What loans, grants or scholarships can I get from King’s?
We strongly advise you to secure all your funds for both tuition and living costs for your postgraduate studies before embarking on your course, as there are very few opportunities to access scholarships or hardship funds as a postgraduate student during your course.
If you don’t have your funding in place for all your costs, including living costs for you and your family, we encourage you to defer your studies until you have a stable source of income or funding.
You may also wish to consider part-time study, which will allow you the time to work and/or claim out of work welfare benefits alongside your studies. Get in touch with the Money & Housing Advice team for further advice and support.
Funding a postgraduate course is a big financial commitment so it is very important that you ensure you have funding in place for the full duration of your studies before you start your course. Finding adequate funding once you have started studying can be very difficult and may lead to financial difficulties.
Important to know:
- University hardship funds cannot assist with tuition fees, and you will be required to demonstrate that you had sufficient funding in place at the outset of your studies.
- If you are in financial hardship during your course and unable to cover your living costs, we recommend referring to the Hardship Fund Assessment Guidelines for details.
International students
To gain entry clearance to study in the U.K., many international students need to prove that they have sufficient funds to support themselves and their families whilst in the U.K. Therefore, international students are not permitted to apply for or have no recourse to public funds.
However, if you are an EU or International student experiencing unexpected financial difficulties, you may wish to make an application to the International Hardship Fund. To be eligible you must be able to demonstrate you had adequate funding in place at the start of your course, and that 'unforeseen circumstances' have occurred after they started their course leading to financial hardship.
To find out more about financial support for international students, please read I’m an International student, what financial support can I access?
Important to know: Hardship funds are limited and should not be relied upon to cover all your costs should you lose a critical source of funding. We advise contacting the Advice Services to discuss your application before you apply.
Are there any trusts or charities that can help?
There are a large number of UK-based and international trusts and charities that may be able to assist you. However, as each have very specific funding criteria, you will need to do some research before determining who you can apply to.
The following websites can help you to get started with your search:
- Scholarship Hub
- Turn2us grant finder
- Alternative Guide to Postgraduate Funding
- Blackbullion funding search
- UCAS Additional Funding Guide
- Quinlan Scholarship
Funding from these sources is not guaranteed and should not be relied upon for covering the full costs of a degree, but it may assist you with general day-to-day living costs or help out if you find yourself in short-term financial difficulties.
To find out more about searching for and applying to trusts and charities, please contact Money & Housing Advice team. Our Advisers can advise you on making applications to trusts and charities, and supply a supporting letter or referral if needed, following an interview to fully establish your personal situation.
You may also require a letter of support from an academic, so we advise you to speak to your personal tutor or supervisor to help you.