Eligibility

To apply for student finance as a migrant worker, you must be:

• an EEA or Swiss national, and have lived in the EEA or Switzerland for at least 3 years before the start of your course
• living in England on the first day of the first academic year of your course
• planning to study a course that qualifies for student finance
• working or self-employed in the UK
• working enough to reasonably support yourself throughout your studies

What’s available?

If you’re studying a full-time undergraduate course

You can get a Tuition Fee Loan of up to £9,250£9,535 to cover the fees charged by your university or college, and a Maintenance Loan  to help with living costs, such as rent and books.

There’s also extra help if you have a disability, or if you have children or an adult who depends on you financially.

If you’re studying a part-time undergraduate course

If you’re starting a part-time course on or after 1 August 2018, you can get a Tuition Fee Loan of up to £6,935£7,145 to cover the fees charged by your university or college. You can also get a Maintenance Loan to help with living costs, such as rent and books.

There’s also extra help if you have a disability.

If you’re studying a postgraduate course

If you’re studying a postgraduate Master’s course, you can get a loan of up to £12,471£12,858 as a contribution towards your course and living costs.

If you’re studying a postgraduate Doctoral course, you can get a loan of up to £29,390£30,301 as a contribution towards your course and living costs.

There’s also extra help if you have a disability.

How to apply

Applying as a migrant worker for the first time

If this is the first time you’ve applied for student finance as a migrant worker, you should apply on a PN1 form.

Along with your application, you’ll need to send Student Finance England your original passport or National Identity Card. You’ll also need to send evidence to show that you’re working in the UK.

If you’re employed

Send a copy of all of the following:

• payslips covering the last 3 months

• your employment contract, which must:

  • be signed and dated by your manager or by your employer’s HR staff
  • show your employment start date
  • show your contracted hours per week

If you’re self employed

Send a copy of all of the following:

• your invoices or accounts for the last 3 months
• your bank statements for the last 3 months
• your latest tax return

If you’re an agency worker

Send a copy of all of the following:

• payslips covering the last 3 months

• your employment contract, which must:

  • be signed and dated by your manager or by your employer’s HR staff
  • show your employment start date
  • show your contracted hours per week

Your contract of employment or letter from your employer may refer to ‘first date of assignment’ instead of ‘date of employment’.

If you’re the director of a company

Send a copy of all of the following:

• payslips covering the last 3 months

• your employment contract, which must:

  • be signed and dated by your manager or by your employer’s HR staff
  • show your employment start date
  • show your contracted hours per week

You’ll be treated as employed if you’re paid a salary from your company.

If you’re on a zero-hours contract

Send a copy of all of the following:

• payslips covering the last 3 months

• your employment contract, which must:

  • be signed and dated by your manager or by your employer’s HR staff
  • show your employment start date
  • show your contracted hours per week

Student Finance England may also request additional payslips to check consistency.

Upload your evidence with a signed and dated cover letter explaining your situation, this will help to ensure you continue to get your funding. Find out how to upload your evidence. 

Applying to continue receiving student finance as a migrant worker

If you’ve previously had student finance as a migrant worker on your current course, you should apply online.

If you have lost your job

If you’re no longer working, you need to provide evidence showing you’re looking for work which means you’ll still be eligible for student finance.

You can send:

• letters from the Jobcentre Plus to prove you’re looking for work
• a copy of your P45 from your last employer
• a copy of your official letter confirming if you were made redundant

If you have changed your job

Change of employer

Don’t worry if you have a new employer this will not affect your migrant worker status. You just need to provide the following evidence:

• copies of all your payslips from your new employer
• a copy of your signed contract of employment or a letter from your new employer confirming your employment start date
• a copy of your P45 from your previous employer or a letter from your previous employer confirming your employment end date

Changing to self-employed

If you’re changing your employment status to self-employed you just need to provide the following evidence:

• a copy of your Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) letter showing that you’re registered as self-employed with HMRC
• copies of your most recent invoices and corresponding bank statements
• any evidence of business expenditure (if available)
• a copy of your P45 from your previous employer or a letter from your previous employer confirming your employment end date

If you’re changing from self-employed to employed

If you’re changing your employment status from self-employed to employed, you just need to provide the following evidence:

• copies of all your payslips from your new employer
• a copy of your signed contract of employment or a letter from your new employer confirming your employment start date

If your residency status has changed

If you made an application as a migrant worker with pre-settled status and you’ve now been granted settled status you could be eligible for tuition fee and living cost funding without having to prove you’re working during your studies. The evidence you need to provide is dependent on when your status changed.

If you’ve been granted settled status before the start of your academic year you just need to provide the following evidence:

• proof of settled status from EU settlement scheme
• a cover letter from you, telling us about your new residency status and that you would like to be assessed as a home student now

If you’ve been granted settled status during your course, then you need to provide the following evidence:

• proof of settled status from EU settlement scheme
• a cover letter from you, telling us about your new residency status and that you would like to be assessed as a home student now
• any evidence we’ve requested via email since your academic year started such as, two months of payslips or invoices

Once you have your evidence

Upload your evidence online using the following steps:

1. Sign in to your online account at www.gov.uk/student-finance-register-login
2. Click ‘Undergraduate student finance applications’
3. Select the application you wish to upload evidence for
4. Under the heading ‘Manage your student finance’, click ‘Upload supporting evidence’

How to upload evidence

Alternatively, you can send your evidence to us by post to:

If none of these options apply to you

You should contact us for more information. Alternatively, you can chat to an advisor in your online account. You will only see the webchat option if there is an advisor available