Welcome to our UCAS applications and Student Finance page, specifically for parents and carers. Here we aim to provide you with the important information and helpful guidance you need to help your young person navigate applying for, and funding, university.
University Applications
What is UCAS?
All students make their applications to university or college through an online system called UCAS, which stands for the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service. UCAS is the central service that manages all applications to British universities.
Students apply to university or college online through www.ucas.com/students. It’s more than likely they will be supported to set up their account through their school or college. Every student has access to their own UCAS Hub, a personalised account where they can track their application journey, including searching and researching courses, making applications, and selecting their chosen university.
TOP TIP: Keep a record of your young person’s log in details for their UCAS Hub in case they lose them!
Although you don’t need to provide anything to UCAS as part of their application, it’s important to understand what courses and universities your young person is applying to, and why they’ve chosen them. This will help you be a useful sounding board when they need to make decisions about where to go and what to study.
When your young person presses ‘send’ on their UCAS application, it is first sent to their school or college, not directly to UCAS. For this reason, the school or college will set an internal deadline – a date earlier than the UCAS deadline. There are several sections for the school or college to complete, including references, so it is important not to leave applications to the last minute.
When do UCAS applications open and close?
The UCAS application system will usually go live in May. The main UCAS application deadline is the last Wednesday of January. This is the deadline for most undergraduate courses.
If a student is applying for Oxbridge universities, such as Cambridge University or Oxford University, or their applying for a medicine, veterinary medicine, or dentistry course, the UCAS application deadline is earlier – usually around Mid-October.
The UCAS deadline dates differ each year, so check in with your young person’s school or college or keep an eye on the UCAS website for their exact timelines.
There are different sections to the application where your young person will need to provide details about themselves and their intended study options. These sections include personal details, course choices, education history, employment history, and their personal statement.
How many courses can my young person add to their application?
Students can choose up to five courses for most subjects. These can be to five different universities or to the same university on a different course.
It’s more than likely that the support they’ll need most is with their personal statement.
A personal statement is the chance your young person gets to show the university or college who they are as a person and write in their own style. It is the most time-consuming part of the application. Personal statements have a limit of 4000 characters and 47 lines of text, which is about 500 words, or one page of A4.
If they’re stuck or struggling with their personal statement, they can access the personal statement builder through their UCAS Hub, which can help them break it down into manageable chunks.
Getting them to talk out loud about themselves, or write down initial ideas on post it notes, can help generate ideas for their personal statement. Ask them questions, such as:
Why have you chosen this subject?
Where do you believe this subject could take you in the future?
What makes you the right person for this course?
What skills and knowledge do you have to bring to the course?
List work and voluntary experience: how is your experience relevant to the course?
It’s very unlikely that they will be happy with their first draft, so they’ll need to come back to their personal statement a few times before it’s ready. If you can, support them with edits and offer to proof-read before they submit it.
Keep checking in with your young person about their application and ask if they need any support along the way. You may find the UCAS dedicated parent and carer page useful, where you can find further advice and a free downloadable guide.
Although a young person can add a parent or carer (or other family member) as a ‘nominated name’ on their UCAS application, all communications about their application, from UCAS and universities, will go directly to your young person. This means they can take ownership of their application and their decisions about their next steps.
Student Finance
In addition to providing information for the Student Finance application process, as a parent or carer you’re an important part of helping your young person plan and prepare for the costs of university.
Understanding what funding is available, and how to get it, can help you feel equipped with the right information to have discussions with your young person about money and budgeting, and help set them up for life at university.
Where does the money come from?
Student Finance England (SFE) is a service managed by the Student Loans Company. It provides financial support to students entering higher education in the UK, supporting them to pay for fees associated with their course and the cost of living as a student.
The important key message for your young person is that money shouldn't be a barrier for anyone wanting to go to university. The way the student loan system is set up is designed to always be affordable, and not affect their futures in a negative way.
What are the different types of loans?
There are two main loans available to students through SFE:
Tuition Fee Loan – covers the full cost of your young person’s tuition fees, which is currently £9,250 per year. This money is paid directly to the university each year, so your young person won’t see this money.
Tuition fees cover costs associated with the course, as well as access to university facilities, academic support, and support services, such as wellbeing and mental health support.
Maintenance Loan – This is also sometimes known as the Living Cost Loan. That’s exactly what it’s for – to support your young person with the cost of living whilst at university e.g. accommodation, transport, food, and books.
The amount they receive depends on their family’s household income, and where they plan to live and study. This means young people from lower income families receive more financial support. Student Finance will let your young person know how much they can borrow once their application is complete.
The Parent Perspective: Student Finance
In partnership with the University of East Anglia (UEA), we’ve created a series of short videos featuring helpful and honest advice from our Parent & Carer Ambassadors, about Student Finance and the costs of university.
Advice to parents and carers about Student Finance
Encourage your young person to complete the application as soon as possible – it takes at least 6 – 8 weeks for Student Finance to process an application
Your young person will need to apply each year they’re at university – it does gets easier every year
Know what information they need, and gather it before they get started to make the process feel easier
Contact Student Finance with any questions – they’re there to help!
How to support your young person with the costs of university
“It’s important to talk to your young person before they start university and be honest and open about your financial limits. How much can you support them financially?”
Sophie, neaco Parent & Carer Ambassador.
Make sure you have enough time to talk to your young person about the costs of university
The Maintenance Loan is designed to help support students, but it won’t necessarily cover all the costs of living at university
Consider how you can support your young person and what they will need to do to support themselves
Help them to understand how to budget and take responsibility for their finances
Support your young person to research what bursaries and scholarships are available, by checking individual university websites, and if they’re eligible for Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA).
How to prepare your young person for the costs of university
Look at the costs associated with moving away or living at home
The earlier they can start saving up money the better
Create a budget with your young person to help them manage their finances, and for you to work out how much you can contribute
Encourage them to research what jobs are available at university – there are often flexible roles that can fit around studies.
Student Finance applications open around February / March and close in May. The dates differ every year, so check out the website for updates.
Your young person will need to apply for Student Finance before they have a confirmed place at university. They should apply with their firm (first) choice university on their UCAS application; they can always change the details later. They will need to reapply each year of their study. Don’t worry, the process does get easier and quicker each year
Your young person will need to apply for Student Finance website. They can go back to their application at any time and make edits before they submit it.
The Student Finance Calculator is a useful tool to find out how much maintenance loan your young person is entitled to, and what extra funding they could apply for to support their life at university. Click here for the student finance calculator
On top of student loans your young person might be able to claim extra financial help through a scholarship or bursary, a fee waiver or hardship funds. These are often awarded on merit, and some are based on household income. These do not usually need to be repaid. Visit individual university websites for more information as each university has their own offering. Search and apply for UK scholarships on thescholarshiphub.org.uk.
Additional support is also available for young people with a disability, including mental health problems, long term illnesses or specific learning difficulties. The Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) is a non-repayable grant to cover additional costs incurred by a student as a result of their disability. To apply, students will need to complete an application form through: gov.uk/disabled-students-allowance-dsa.
If a young person is studying a particular type of course, such as medicine, there is also separate grants and funding available to support their studies. Visit healthcareers.nhs.uk for more information.
When your young person is completing the Student Finance application they will be asked for your details as their parent or carer. This is where you come in - you will need to provide household income details so Student Finance can accurately calculate how much maintenance loan your young person is entitled to. The process has been made even easier now - all you’ll need to do is provide your personal details and National Insurance number, and they do the rest for you!
The first thing to know is, loan repayments are based on how much your young person earns after university, not how much was borrowed.
Your young person will only start paying back their student loan from April after they graduate.
They will repay 9% on income above £25,000 per year. If their earnings drop below this threshold, the repayments will stop.
The repayment is automatically deducted from their monthly pay – similar to tax or National Insurance. So, there’s no need to worry about missing payments.
After 40 years, the balance is written off.
Student Loans do not affect the ability to take out other loans, such as a mortgage and do not affect credit scores.
The ‘Low Down’ - A guide to Higher Education for parents and carers
Find out more about Student Finance, and other useful information to help you support your young person to explore and apply for higher education, in our free, downloadable parent an carer guide.