Wales: funding by circumstance
Use this page if Wales is your home nation, including if you study elsewhere in the UK. Figures are for students who started on or after 1 September 2018, for the 2026 to 2027 academic year, and only where Student Finance Wales printed them. The living-cost tables are described on that page as illustrative. Your notification of entitlement is the figure that applies to you.
Last checked 6 November 2026. Figures can change. Tell us if a figure is wrong.
Student Finance Wales undergraduate finance ↗
Where you live while you study
A Tuition Fee Loan is up to £9,790 a year, depending on the course cost, and does not depend on household income.
Living-cost support is a mix of Maintenance Loan and grant. Household income changes the split. It does not, on these illustrative rows, change the total. Student Finance Wales says the grant does not have to be paid back and the loan does, with interest, after you finish or leave the course.
An extra weekly Maintenance Loan exists for courses longer than 30 weeks and 3 days. The year columns on that part of the page did not read unambiguously, so those weekly amounts are not copied here. Read them on the Student Finance Wales page.
| Household income | Loan | Grant |
|---|---|---|
| £18,370 or less | £3,665 | £7,020 |
| £25,000 | £4,639 | £6,046 |
| £35,000 | £6,108 | £4,577 |
| £45,000 | £7,578 | £3,107 |
| £59,200 or more | £9,665 | £1,020 |
| Household income | Loan | Grant |
|---|---|---|
| £18,370 or less | £4,330 | £8,260 |
| £25,000 | £5,505 | £7,085 |
| £35,000 | £7,279 | £5,311 |
| £45,000 | £9,052 | £3,538 |
| £59,200 or more | £11,570 | £1,020 |
| Household income | Loan | Grant |
|---|---|---|
| £18,370 or less | £5,395 | £10,325 |
| £25,000 | £6,906 | £8,814 |
| £35,000 | £9,185 | £6,535 |
| £45,000 | £11,465 | £4,255 |
| £59,200 or more | £14,700 | £1,020 |
Sources, last checked 6 November 2026: Student Finance Wales: what finance is available (full-time undergraduate).
Dependent students
If you are under 25, Student Finance Wales uses parental income, or one parent and their partner’s income, when the support depends on household income. The living-cost totals are not published as a separate dependent-only rate.
The illustrative 2026 to 2027 totals on the what’s-available page are £10,685 living with your parents, £12,590 living away from home and studying outside London, and £15,720 living away from home and studying in London. At a household income of £18,370 or less, the grant portion of those totals is £7,020, £8,260 and £10,325 respectively. The rest of each total is loan.
Sources, last checked 6 November 2026: Student Finance Wales: what finance is available; Student Finance Wales: independent and estranged students.
Independent students
Student Finance Wales says it will not take your parents’ income into account if you are independent. If you are married or live with a partner, their income may be used instead, depending on your age and when the course started. You are considered independent if you are 25 or over; you have been married or in a civil partnership; you care for a child under 18; you have supported yourself financially for at least 3 years before the first day of the first academic year; you have no living parents; your parents cannot be traced or contacted; you are permanently estranged from your parents; or you are a care leaver who was in local-authority care between the ages of 14 or 16, depending on when you started.
The page says an estranged student does not need to send parents’ financial information and could still be entitled to the maximum amount of student finance. It does not print a different independent-student maximum. The illustrative totals remain £10,685, £12,590 and £15,720 depending on where you live and study. Those totals are not labelled as guaranteed for every estranged student.
Sources, last checked 6 November 2026: Student Finance Wales: independent and estranged students; Student Finance Wales: what finance is available.
Postgraduate study
For a postgraduate master’s course, the maximum loan for 2026 to 2027 is £19,635. Student Finance Wales says that if the course lasts more than a year the money is divided equally. Its example is about £9,817.50 a year over two years if you receive £19,635. The loan has to be repaid, with interest, after you finish or leave.
For a postgraduate doctoral course starting between 1 August 2026 and 31 July 2027, you can borrow up to £29,705. How much you get does not depend on household income. If you apply after the first year, funding for a single academic year is capped at £14,850 for eligible students starting on or after 1 August 2026. A five-year example on the page pays £5,941 a year if you apply in the first year and receive the maximum. We have not reworked that example.
The master’s page we used is for students who started after 1 August 2025. Earlier starters are pointed elsewhere on that site, and those earlier rates are not copied here.
Sources, last checked 6 November 2026: Student Finance Wales: postgraduate master’s, what’s available; Student Finance Wales: postgraduate doctoral, what’s available.
Corrections and what this is not
This is general information from the official pages linked in each section. It is not a personal entitlement and not personal financial advice. The funding body assesses your application. If a figure here is wrong, tell us.
Sources
Every figure above is tied to one of these. Accessed 6 November 2026.