How much does SFE cut in 3rd year?

Hi I am a 2nd year student and I just got an offer for on campus studio accomodation for 3rd year and its almost £700 more than this year which I am ready to get a summer job to fund but I just found out they cut the maintenance loan in the 3rd year so I am worried I won't be able to pay for it.

My offer is £9.021.18 for the next year and it was £8,354.13 this year. It's the same room and honestly its not much better than the ensuite from last year but its still the better option. I don't want an ensuite because 1st year was absolutely tragic, it was hard to manage my IBS symptoms and there was stealing, constant parties until 4am and it was just so messy to live with other people. I am ready to foot an extra 1k myself to make up for the cut but If they cut up to 2-3k meaning i'll only have 6-7k, then the ensuite which is priced at £7.2k is the better survival option.

My maintenance loan was 9.2k last year and 9.8k this year for reference. (Idk why it increased, i'm not too sure how SFE works, I just know they tried to give me £4.3k in first year when my accomadation itself was £6.5k and contacting them to fix it was a pain).

Please help, i am overwhelmed with the thoughts of being homeless in my last year as my uni has a lack of accomodations and my deadline for this offer is Jan 23 and my essay deadline is Jan 22 while my 20th birthday is on Jan 20, so i'm not very live laugh loving rn. Just stressed, depressed and mentally a mess.

Hi there, I am very sorry about the struggles you have had to go through during your first 2 years of university. Is your third year your final year of your course? Would you be doing it during the 24/25 Academic Year? How old are you? Thanks, Ross

Hi Ross,

Yes if all goes well, i am due to finish my 3rd year and graduate in the summer of 2025 with my course being 3 years long. I am turning 20 in 2 days. I expect that I will recieve a smaller loan than i did in the last 2 years, I am just worried that the cut will be too much and I won't be able to afford my accomodation. I wish to find out asap as my room offer is due on 23rd.

Thanks,
Tiffany.

Hi Tiffany,

The 24/25 applications are expected to open this Spring, though we don't have an exact date yet.

So, once the applications open we'd recommend re-applying as soon as possible: that way, we can tell you exactly how much you'll be entitled to.

Normally, there will be a reduction in your final year Maintenance Loan, that's true. Though we can't say for sure until you apply.

In the meantime it may be worth contacting any of these bodies to see if they can offer you any help or advice:

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money
www.turn2us.org.uk
www.prospects.ac.uk
www.stepchange.org

Thanks, Graeme

Hi Graeme,

I will definitely apply for funding once applications are open again. I understand that you can't say for sure but is there an average amount of deductions? It's scary to apply for accomodation with the deadline coming so soon and not knowing if I can actually afford it. I've seen some other forum posts from people predicting its about 12-25% but the difference between those two percentages have the difference of 1-3k which is a big difference so I just want to be as prepared as possbile.

Do you know how they calculate the reductions? Is there a timing factor such as when your course finishes and will personal circumstances still be considered in the reductions or does everyone have a similar cap?

Many thanks,
Tiffany.