Money to live on while studying
Last updated: 02/04/2025
The money you’ll have to live on while studying will be a combination of student funding from the Student Award Agency Scotland (SAAS), benefits and earnings. Which of these, and how much you get, depends on your circumstances.
Help from Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS)
Who can get help from SAAS?
To get help from SAAS you must have been ‘ordinarily resident’ in the UK, Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for three years or more immediately before the first day, of the first year, of your course. This means that the UK has been your home for at least 3 years. Your home must also be in Scotland on the first day of your course and you have not moved to Scotland just to study.
If you meet these conditions you will not normally have to pay tuition fees and can apply for a loan and grants to support them while studying.
If you have had support from SAAS previously you may not be entitled to more or the amount you get may be reduced.
If you do not fulfil these conditions you may still be entitled to some support.
Contact SAAS for more details.
Helpline: 0300 555 0505 Mon, Thurs and Fri, 9am -4pm
Proof you are a single parent
SAAS will ask you for proof that you are a single parent when applying for financial support. A benefit award letter or council tax bill showing you are a single parent is acceptable. If you do not have these, then a letter from a professional, like your GP for example, may do. You will also need to supply you children’s birth certificates. If you are a continuing student, you will have to prove you are a single parent again at the start of each academic year.
Money from SAAS
The money you get from SAAS includes:
- money to pay tuition fees
- student Loan
- Lone Parent Grant
- Independent Students’ Bursary
- Lone Parent Childcare Grant (LPCG)
You must apply to SAAS for this funding as soon as possible after you have received an offer of a place at university or college. Late applications could mean a delay in you receiving your funding.
How earnings, benefits and maintenance affect money from SAAS
Some unearned income is taken into account when calculating how much you will get from SAAS. Unearned income includes income from pensions, property and benefits paid for you like Maternity Allowance and the standard allowance of Universal Credit. These could decrease your award.
Earnings from work you do while studying do not affect the money you get from SAAS. Child Maintenance and benefits paid for children such as Child Benefit or the child element of Universal Credit are also not counted.
Money to pay tuition fees
As long as you are eligible for help from SAAS you will not have to pay tuition fees, unless you have already received this help in the past. You will still have to apply for them at the same time as applying for the loan and grants, but the course fee will be paid directly to the college or university.
Student loan
The largest amount of money you will receive from SAAS is the student loan. It provides money for you to live on. Interest of 4.3% is added to the loan when you repay it.
There are two different sets of criteria which SAAS uses to calculate how much money you can get while studying. Depending on your circumstances you will be considered as either:
- young student
- independent student
All single parents fall into the category of Independent Student, as long as your child lives with you for at least 50% of the time each week. The amounts for single parent students are:
Table 1: Independent Student loan amounts
| Household income | Bursary | Loan | Total |
| £0 to £20,999 | £1,000 | £10,400 | £11,400 |
| £21,000 to £23,999 | £0 | £10,400 | £10,400 |
| £24,000 to £33,999 | £0 | £9,900 | £9,900 |
| £34,000 and above | £0 | £8,400 | £8,400 |
You will get the maximum of £11,400 p/a if your household income is below £20,999.
You will also get the Independent Student Bursary if your household income is below £21,000 p/a. Household income includes Working Tax Credit and the standard allowance of Universal Credit but not earned income, Child Maintenance, help to pay rent or Adult Disability Payment.
Repaying the student loan
The loan needs to be repaid but the bursary does not.
The loan must be repaid to the Student Loan Company. There are different loan repayment plans. Scottish students who started their course on or after 1 September 1998 will be on plan 4.
This means loan repayments are not taken unless your gross income is more than £2,616 per month, equivalent to £31,395 per year. Repayments will not be taken if you are not working or your income is below this amount.
Repayments are 9% of the amounts over this threshold.
For example if your income is £2,752, £136 over the threshold, you will pay back £12 (9% of £136) this month.
Repayments start in April after the course is completed and are included in your tax. You will see the deductions on your payslip.
The repayment of student loans will be considered a ‘priority’ and will be deducted from your income irrespective of other financial commitments (i.e. mortgage, living expenses etc.). Find out more about priority and non-priority loans here.
Lone Parent Grant
The Lone Parent Grant is for students bringing up at least one dependent child on their own. The maximum amount is £1,305 per year but how much you actually get is based on your income. It does not need to be paid back and is paid out by SAAS as opposed to your college or university.
Care Experienced Student Bursary
If you are a full-time undergraduate student who was looked after by a Local Authority before you turned 18 you can apply for the Care Experienced Bursary rather than a maintenance bursary. Care includes having been place by the local authority in foster, kinship or residential care.
If you’re a new or continuing Care Experienced student, you can apply for a funding package of up to £11,400 including:
- tuition fees
- non-income assessed Care Experienced Students Bursary (CESB) of £9,000
- non-income assessed student loan of £2,400
You can also apply for a £2,400 Special Support Loan and get support to pay for your accommodation over summer break.
For more details you can also talk to the student financial adviser at the university or college.
Lone Parent Childcare Grant
Single parents can apply for the Lone Parent Childcare Grant of up to £1,215 per year to help to pay for registered childcare. The money to pay this grant is limited so you may not get it. The amount you receive depends on the actual cost of your childcare.
The grant is not based on your income, but you will need to prove you are a single parent. If the grant is not enough to cover your childcare costs, or if it is already finished, you can also apply for help from the discretionary fund.
You will need to apply to your college or university for this grant, not to SAAS.
Support for disabled students
If you have a disability you may be entitled to help from the Disabled Students’ Allowance. This will help pay for personal assistance and specialist equipment you may need while studying. Help can be substantial.
For more details talk to the Disability Support Service at the university.
Help to pay fees for part-time undergraduate courses
Generally, loans and grants for living costs are not available to part-time students. Single parents wanting to study part-time may be able to continue claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income Support, Housing Benefit, tax credits or Universal Credit.
If you are not currently claiming one of these benefits you can make a new claim for Universal Credit. How much you get is based on your circumstances.
You may have to look for work and accept job offers in order to receive a benefit. You can ask your Work Coach at Jobcentre Plus if the studying part-time can count towards the time you need to spend looking for work.
See Universal Credit for more information.
Money to pay part-time course fees.
You can apply for the Part Time Fee Grant of up to £1,820 towards the cost of your course fees for part-time higher education courses. To get this you must:-
- have an income under £25,000 a year
- not be receiving any other government funding for study or training (including the ITA 200, Employability or Apprenticeship Funds) and
- be studying between 30 and 119 (120 for university courses which are not campus based) SCQF credits during this academic year.
The money does not have to be paid back.
Talk to Student Services at the college of university about how to apply.
Support for postgraduate study
SAAS offers a loan of £7,000 to help pay for the tuition fees of a part-time or full-time Postgraduate course. If your degree is split across two years then the payments will also be split in this way:
- 1 year course – £7,000
- 2 year course – £3,500 per year
Often, the Postgraduate course that you are applying to will cost more money than the loan. For example, if your course costs £14,000 for one year, SAAS will only cover half of the fees with the £7,000 loan and you will be required to come up with the other half yourself. The University may offer you the option to pay your fee-costs in instalments, or you can choose to pay all at once in a lump-sum, usually at the beginning of your course.
There is also a living-costs loan for full-time Postgraduate students, of up to £6,900, to pay for living costs. If your degree is split across two years then the payments will also be split in this way:
- full-time 1 year course – £6,900
- full-time 2 year course – £3,450 per year
There is no help from SAAS to pay for living costs for part-time Postgraduate study.