What if my household income has gone down recently?

Student Finance England will be looking at the 2023-24 tax year to determine how much Maintenance Loan you can take out for the 2025-26 academic year. If your household income has dropped by more than 15% since then you can complete an additional form called the ‘Current Year Income assessment’ form, or CYI.

This form will allow your parent(s) to estimate the household income for the 2025-26 tax year, and your Maintenance Loan will be based on that estimate. After the tax year has ended Student Finance England will ask for evidence, and will adjust your Maintenance Loan based on that, so try to keep that estimate as realistic as possible.