Wales

The following information is for students who intend to start a full-time course in September 2025 and who are ordinarily resident in Wales before starting their course.

Tuition fee loan

Subject to terms and conditions, students who live in Wales and are studying towards their first degree will not have to pay their tuition fees upfront. Instead they could be eligible for a repayable tuition fee loan of up to £9,535 per year to meet the cost of their tuition fees. This funding would be paid directly to your University after you have enrolled.

You will only start to repay this loan when you have finished your studies and are earning more than the relevant threshold for your repayment plan (subject to terms and conditions).

Funding for living costs

All eligible students who are ordinarily resident in Wales before starting their course at Cardiff University will have access to maintenance funding to help them meet their living costs.

Maintenance funding will be available as part non-repayable grant and part repayable maintenance loan. Household income will impact how much is available as a grant and how much is available as a loan.

The following table demonstrates examples of funding available from SFW depending on household income and where a student is living while they study, based on figures for 25/26.

Maintenance support

Support for a full-time undergraduate living away from home in 2025/26.

Household income	Maintenance grant	Maintenance loan	Total maintenance support
£18,370	£8,100	£4,245	£12,345
£25,000	£6,947	£5,398	£12,345
£35,000	£5,208	£7,137	£12,345
£45,000	£3,469	£8,876	£12,345
£59,200 (+)	£1,000	£11,345	£12,345

For those who choose to live at home with parents in 25/26 while they study the total maintenance funding available is £10,480. The first £1,000 is still available as a grant, irrespective of household income, and the remaining £9,480 is available as loan and/or grant depending on the means test that is carried out on household income details.

Maintenance funding is paid directly to students, normally in three instalments; one at the start of each term. The first instalment is normally released to you within 3-5 working days after you have completed enrolment and collected your ID card. Therefore it is important to arrive at University with funding for at least two weeks available to you.

Please note that if you change any details about your course or place of study, please inform Student Finance Wales before 31 August

Additional funding from Student Finance Wales

Depending on your personal circumstances there may be additional funding available to you. For example, if you have a disability, or if you have children or an adult dependent. Please visit Student Finance Wales for more information.

Additional funding from Cardiff University

In addition to the above funding you may qualify for a Cardiff University Bursary.

Cost of living in Cardiff

Cardiff is considered to be one of the most affordable UK cities to live in while you study. See our living cost calculator for the average cost of living in Cardiff as a full time, undergraduate student.

Repaying your student loan

Those who take an undergraduate tuition fee loan or maintenance loan via Student Finance Wales in academic year 25/26 will repay this loan under Repayment Plan 2.

Welsh Loan Cancellation Scheme

This scheme applied to students who borrowed a maintenance loan from Student Finance Wales after September 2010. Continuation of the scheme is pending confirmation from the Welsh Government for those students who will start a full time course in September 2025.

How to apply for funding

Students who are ordinarily resident in Wales will apply to Student Finance Wales for their funding. We anticipate  the application process for students who intend to start a course in September 2025 will open in March/April 2025.

Contact us

If you have any questions please get in touch with the Student Funding and Advice Team