To meet our residence conditions you must have been ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for the three years immediately before the first day of the first academic year of your course (the relevant date). For the majority of students who start their course in the autumn term, the relevant date is 1 August.
If you are not a UK national or a National of another EU member state, you must also be settled in the UK (as set out in the immigration Act 1971) on the relevant date.
If you do not meet the conditions above, you may still be eligible to apply for support if you are:
- a UK national or family member of such a national who has returned to the UK to live or study, who currently lives or has lived in another member state of the EU, elsewhere in the EEA or Switzerland
- a UK national who was born in and has spent the greater part of their life in the UK
- a UK national returning from temporary employment or study outside the EEA or Switzerland
- an EEA or Swiss national living in the UK for less than three years
The residence eligibility conditions are complicated. If you are in any doubt about your residence eligibility status, you should contact us for advice.
If you have done a course of higher education before, this may affect the level of support you are entitled to. Please see our previous assistance section for more information.
Find out more about our residence eligibility conditions