Placements

The financial support available to you during your placement depends on both your situation and the type of placement.

Priority Unpaid Work Placements

If you are on a Priority Unpaid Work Placement, you will be entitled to full tuition fees and maintenance support, the same as a normal year of study. See the list below to ensure that the primary role of your placement relates to one of the eligible categories.

Evidence from your Higher Education Provider will be required if your placement means that you will be in attendance there for less than 10 weeks. This is usually in the form of a letter from the Higher Education Provider, confirming the placement details.

Priority placements must take place in the UK to be eligible for funding, with the exception of unpaid research placements at overseas institutions.

Eligible Categories for Priority Placements

Unpaid service in a hospital or in a public health service laboratory or with an integrated care board in the United Kingdom
Unpaid service with a local authority in the United Kingdom acting in the exercise of its functions relating to the care of children and young persons, health or welfare or with a voluntary organisation providing facilities or carrying out activities of a like nature in the United Kingdom;
- unpaid service with a local authority (within the meaning of section 2B of the National Health Service Act 2006) acting in the exercise of public health functions (within the meaning of that Act);
Unpaid service in the prison or probation and aftercare service in the United Kingdom
Unpaid research in an institution in the United Kingdom or, in the case of a student attending an overseas institution as part of the student's course, in an overseas institution
Unpaid service with:
- a Special Health Authority established pursuant to section 28 of the National Health Service Act 2006; NHS England or the National Institute for Health Care Excellence
- a Local Health Board established pursuant to section 11 of the National Health Service (Wales) Act 2006 or a Special Health Authority established pursuant to section 22 of that Act
- a Health Board or a Special Health Board constituted under section 2 of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978
- a Health and Social Services Board established under Article 16 of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972
Unpaid service with either House of Parliament.

All Other Placements (Paid and Unpaid)

The amount of funding you receive is based on how much time is spent at your Higher Education Provider (such as a University), versus at your placement.

10 or more weeks at a Higher Education Provider:

You would be entitled to full tuition fees and maintenance support, the same as a normal year of study.

Less than 10 weeks at a Higher Education Provider:

You would be entitled to reduced tuition fees and a reduced-rate maintenance loan. (You also would not receive any grants for dependants or Disabled Students Allowance that you would be eligible for in a normal year of study).

In 2025-2026, the reduced tuition fee is capped at £1,905, and the maximum reduced rate maintenance loan for living at home is £2,396 or £3,194 for living away from home.

Applying For Placement Funding

Students apply in the normal way, either via a paper application or online through the Student Finance England website.

Additional Guidance

Social work students

Student on social work placements are assessed as being at university even when on placement, because the placement is an integral part of their course.

Migrant Workers

A paid placement does not count as Migrant Worker employment.
To retain Migrant Worker eligibility, the student must work alongside the placement.
If the student no longer meets Migrant Worker eligibility criteria, they may still be eligible for tuition fee funding only.

Placements Abroad

Placements abroad are assessed as a placement, not as study abroad.
Students on placements abroad are entitled to the elsewhere rate of Maintenance Loan, not the abroad rate.
Students attending a placement at a Higher Education Provider abroad are entitled to the same support as those studying abroad at a Higher Education Provider and can also apply for study abroad manual payments.
Evidence is required for unpaid research placements at overseas Higher Education Providers to confirm that the placement is for unpaid research and that it is an educational institution.

Repeating a Placement Year

Students are eligible for funding if:

They are repeating due to academic failure and have enough remaining entitlement, or
They are repeating due to a health reason and qualify for CRP (Compelling Personal Reasons)

Students are not eligible for funding if the repeat is because the Higher Education Provider failed to secure a placement. In these cases, the student should not be confirmed as in attendance on a placement. They should either be suspended from their studies, or moved on to the next year of studies at their Higher Education Provider.