Student Money Advice

Increase of living costs affecting your studies? Come speak to us.

We offer:

• Private & confidential service
• Advice on student funding
• Access to Learning Fund
• Information on scholarships & bursaries
• Money management advice
• 1-2-1 Drop-in sessions

New resources available

SFE have created new resources aimed at helping students and sponsors resolve common Student Finance England (SFE) queries. These also help students use their online accounts to manage and track their applications without having to call us.

A ‘How To’ guidance page on GOV.UK includes essential messages on topics such as checking the status of an application, providing evidence, changing application details and resetting passwords.

To help illustrate these messages, SFE have created a range of short tutorial films. These form part of the ‘How To’ guidance but are also available to access either through the SFE Campaign Page or as a stand-alone playlist on the SFE YouTube channel. SFE will be publishing more tutorials soon, so please encourage students to keep an eye out on our social media channels.

Sharing these resource can help educate students to ensure they get their student finance right first time.

Student loan interest rates capped

A rise in the rate of RPI meant student loan borrowers faced a potential 12% interest rate in September. The government has capped interest rates at a maximum of 7.3% to protect graduates. More information is available on GOV.UK - What you pay

The interest rate on student loans does not affect monthly repayments. These will not increase for students as repayments are linked to income, not interest rates. More information is available on GOV.UK - Student loan repayments

Students in Clearing

Students should apply now to ensure funding is received as close to term start as possible. Even if you are not certain what course you will be doing, it is best to apply now and update the online application later if needed.

SFE have produced a new guide to help students who are applying during Clearing. This contains useful resources including steps to take to ensure SFE can process applications quickly.

Students who have already applied for funding do not need to take any action unless:

• SFE ask them to provide evidence
• your university, college or course details change

If asked for evidence, please provide as soon as possible. If details change, update them on your online account.

Students should use the SFE online account to keep track of applications and view application status.

Money Saving Tips

• Don't shop on an empty stomach
• Eat at home - no eating out
• Buy a water bottle
• Use your leftovers
• Share 'BOGOF' offers

SFE and SFW Full-Time Undergraduate Student Finance Applications for Academic Year 2025/26 are Now Open

Academic year 2025/26: SFE and SFW full-time undergraduate student finance applications are now open.

It's time for new and continuing full-time undergraduate students from England and Wales to apply for student finance.

We’re encouraging students to apply now to make sure their funding is in place for the start of their course. We’re also reminding them that if they’ve got exams coming up, if they get their applications in now, they can focus on their studies.

A key message for students who might be putting off applying until they’ve got confirmed offers is:

Don’t wait until you’ve got your UCAS offer. Apply now using your preferred choice and you can change it later if you need to.

SFE

We’ve created some helpful lists to share with students:

Our toolkit lets students know what they need to do so they’ve got everything they need to apply.

The timeline gives students key dates, including deadline dates for student finance applications.

SFW

We’ve updated our Student Finance Wales website to help students find out what they need to know about student finance, including deadline dates for student finance applications.

Key changes

“EU Student”, “UK Student” and “Welsh Student” across all domiciles has been updated.

• “EU Student” is now referred to as “Tuition fee only student”
• “UK Student” and “Welsh Student” are now referred to as “Tuition fee and living cost student”

Students reminded to be vigilant of scams as academic year 2025/26 begins

Our top tips

• Check the quality of the communication. Misspelling, poor punctuation and bad grammar are often signs of 'phishing' scams.
• Look out for any emails, phone calls or SMS messages you think are suspicious, especially around the time you’re expecting a payment.
• Scam emails and text messages are often sent in bulk to many people at the same time. They're unlikely to contain both your first and last name. Emails like this often start with ‘Dear Student’ - so be on guard if you see this.
• Messages that seem urgent are also unlikely to be genuine. For example, if the email says ‘failure to respond in 24 hours will result in your account being closed’.
• Think before you click. If you receive an email or SMS that contains a link that you’re not sure of, hover over it to check that it goes where it’s supposed to. If you’re still in any doubt, always go direct to the source rather than clicking on a potentially dangerous link.
• Scammers can use a variety of methods to try and get you to pay money or share personal details. This includes the use of fraudulent phone calls, social posts and direct messaging on digital platforms. If you're suspicious, always use official phone numbers, your online account and official communication channels to verify the contact you received is genuine.
• Students should also be mindful of the information they share about themselves. This could be on social media or elsewhere online. Identity theft happens when fraudsters access information about a person’s identity. This could be their name, date of birth, customer reference number, course information or their current or previous addresses. Fraudsters will use this to impersonate them online and over the phone.

Visit GOV.UK for more guidance on how to identify a scam

Ways to recognise and report a scam