Parents and partners – how household income affects student finance

You might need to give us information about your income if your child or partner has applied for student finance that’s based on your household income.

You’ll be asked to give us your National Insurance number (NINO) to support an application, so we can get your income details from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

We’ll use your household income for the tax year:

• 2021-22 if you’re supporting a student’s 2023 to 2024 application
• 2020-21 if you’re supporting a student’s 2022 to 2023 application

We ask for details of the previous tax year because this is the most recent full tax year.

Your information will be used to work out if your child or partner can get extra Maintenance Loan on top of the basic Maintenance Loan.

If your income in the current tax year is likely to be at least 15% lower than the previous tax year, we can assess your household income on what you estimate your income to be.

Supporting your child's application

If you’re supporting your child’s application, your household income is the total income of you and:

• your child
• your spouse
• your partner

If you’re married, we'll need your spouse’s information even if you don’t live together or they’re not the student’s parent.

If you live with your partner, they’ll need to give us their information even if you weren't living together during the tax year being asked about.

If you’re separated or divorced, your child should tell us who they live with or have most contact with. If they spend an equal amount of time with both of their parents, they’ll be asked to pick who will support their application.

Household income doesn’t include any income the student might have from working themselves.

Supporting your spouse or partner's application

If your spouse or partner is applying for student finance, the household income is made up of your income only.

Household income doesn’t include any income the student might have from working themselves.