If you are married, in a civil partnership or live with a partner
If this is your status before the start of the academic year we are assessing you for, as well as using your own income, we will use the income of your husband, wife, civil partner or partner to assess a contribution they may have to make towards your support.
If you are single
If this is your status before the start of the academic year we are assessing you for, as well as using your own income, we will use the income of your parents to assess a contribution. We do not expect them to make a contribution if you meet at least one of the following conditions.
- You have reached 25 before the start of the academic year we are assessing you for.
- Your parents are no longer alive.
- You have a child of any age dependent on you at the start of the academic year
- You have supported yourself from earnings or benefits outside full-time education for any three years before the first day of the first academic year of your course.
This can include periods when you were:
- receiving benefit as a person looking for employment;
- in training under a government training programme;
- receiving any pension, allowance or other benefit for maternity sickness or injury;
- receiving an advanced research-level postgraduate award; or
- caring for a dependent who was under 18.
We will also not expect your parents to make a contribution if:
- your parents cannot be found;
- your parents live overseas and assessing a contribution would place them in danger (the parents of refugees are most likely to be affected in this way);
- you have been in the care of a local authority or voluntary organisation, or under a custodianship order, for the three months immediately before your 18th birthday (or immediately before the start of your course if you are under 18 when the course begins).
If there are any other special circumstances that you think may apply to you, please contact us for advice.
What income will we use to work out the contribution?
We will use your income and your parents' or your husband's, wife's, civil partner's or partner's gross income or taxable profit (if self employed or income from property) for the previous financial year. For example, for session 2008-2009, we will use their income for the period 6 April 2007 to 5 April 2008. If their income for the tax or financial year in which the academic session begins is likely to be at least 15% less than for the previous tax or financial year, we may assess your support again based on their estimated income for the current year. We cannot do this if your parents' or your husband's, wife's, civil partner's or partner's income changes from year to year because of the nature of the employment, investments and so on.
We can assess your support again if your parent or husband, wife, civil partner or partner dies, if we used their income to assess your support
Contact us for advice as soon as possible if any of the above applies to you