Student Finance will affect any income-assessed benefits, including Universal Credit, Council Tax Support, and older benefits such as Housing Benefit, income-related ESA, income-related Jobseekers' Allowance, Income Support and tax credits. The maximum amount of available loan is taken into account as income, even if you do not apply for a loan or for the maximum amount; this means you can't decide not to apply for the loan in order to keep your benefits.
Personal Independence Payment, Disability Living Allowance, Child Benefit, Carer's Allowance, contribution-based ESA, and contribution-based Jobseekers' Allowance will not be affected because they are not based on your income.
Undergraduate Loan
This is a complex calculation but we are including some general information to give you an idea of what is/isn't classed as income.
Your maintenance loan will be classed as income but there are some elements that will be ignored. The following will not be included in your Universal Credit assessment:
- Tuition loan.
- £110 a month.
- The special support element (which you may get if you have a disability or are a lone parent) in a maintenance loan – you may need to get a statement from Student Finance England showing the breakdown of your loan entitlement.
- DSA.
- Dependants' Grants such such as Parents' Living Allowance and the childcare grant.
The following will not be included in your benefits assessment if you are on the older income-related benefits (i.e. not Universal Credit):
- Tuition loan.
- £10 a week is ignored for each week.
- A fixed amount for books and equipment. For 2022/23, this was £390.
- A fixed amount for the cost of travel. For 2022/23, this was £303.
- The special support element (which you may get if you have a disability or are a lone parent) in a maintenance loan – you may need to get a statement from Student Finance England showing the breakdown of your loan entitlement.
- DSA.
- Dependants' Grants such such as Parents' Living Allowance and the childcare grant.
Universal Credit is usually paid once a month and is based on your circumstances during that month. This is called your ‘assessment period’ and any assessment period that includes the summer vacation will not include your loan in the income assessment.
Postgraduate Loan
30% of your loan will be counted as income for your benefit calculation.