Finance for part-time students
Part-time students - financial help
The financial help available is the same for new and continuing part-time students. How much you may get depends on your personal circumstances and the type of course you do.
There are two types of non-repayable grant:
fee grant (to help with tuition fees)
course grant (to help with study costs such as books, materials and travel)
As well as these grants, you may also be able to apply for help through your college from:
Access to Learning Fund
Additional Fee Support Scheme
If you have a low income, you may also be entitled to claim certain income-related benefits.
On top of this, help is available if you are a student who has a disability or specific learning difficulty.
Fee grant and course grant
To apply for the fee grant and course grant, your course must last at least one year and not take more than twice as long to complete as an equivalent full-time course.
You apply for every year of your course, at the start of each academic year. How much you can get each year depends on your household income and whether you have a spouse, partner or children.
You do not have to repay this help.
Fee grant
The maximum amount of fee grant available also depends on the 'intensity' of your course. 'Intensity' means how long it takes to complete your course compared with an equivalent full-time course.
For example, if a three-year full-time course takes six years to complete part-time, then the part-time course has an intensity of 50 per cent.
Your college or university will be able to advise you regarding your intensity of course.
Course grant
You can apply for the same maximum amount of course grant no matter what the intensity of your course.
To find out more about the fee and course grant, including the amounts available, see the 'Fee and course grant for part-time students factsheet'.
Fee and course grant for part-time students factsheet
Access to Learning Fund
As well as a fee grant and a course grant, you may be entitled to extra support from the Access to Learning Fund. You apply for this help through your college or university. You can get money to help pay for things like books, childcare and equipment.
For more information, see the 'Access to Learning Fund factsheet'.
Access to Learning Fund factsheet
Additional Fee Support Scheme
Your university or college decides how much the tuition fees are for part-time courses; there is not a minimum or maximum amount. If you receive a fee grant that doesn't cover the fees charged to you, you may be able to get extra money from your college through the Additional Fee Support Scheme. Ask the student support office at your college or university for more information.
Disabled students - extra help
If you are a student with a disability or specific learning difficulty, you can apply for extra help from the Disabled Students' Allowances. The amount you can get does not depend on your household income.
You may also be able to claim help as a disabled student from the Access to Learning Fund.
For more information, see 'Disabled students - extra financial help'.
Disabled students - extra financial help (disabled people section)
Claiming benefits
As a part-time student, you may be able to claim income-related benefits. Any fee or course grant you receive is not counted as income when working out your benefit entitlement.
If you receive help from the Access to Learning Fund, it will generally not be treated as income for working out your entitlement to benefits.
For money information, see 'Benefits for students with low incomes factsheet'.
Benefits for students with low incomes factsheet
Other helpIf your circumstances mean you are not entitled to financial help from the government, you may be able to apply for a Career Development Loan.
For more information, see the 'Career Development Loans' section.