2. Submitting household income information

As part of your application we could ask you, your parents or your partner to give household income information. If we ask for it, it's because you may be eligible for more student finance.

Parent or partner of a student?

We've created a guide specifically for parents and partners of students who have been asked to submit their household income information.

Why we ask for household income information

Some types of student finance can be based on your household income information.

Eligible students are able to get a basic rate of student finance without providing any household income information. However, if you choose to give this information you could borrow more and, in some instances, get additional grants.

When we'll ask for this

Step 1 - As part of your application you'll tell us what funding you'd like to apply for. If the funding you've applied for has the option of being based on your household income information you'll be asked if you would like to give this information.

Step 2 - If you do, we'll ask for more details about your current living arrangements. Based on this information we'll ask for income information from you, your parents or your partner.

Step 3 - You may be asked to provide contact information for your parents or partner. We'll contact them directly with instructions to submit their income information.

What you’ll need

You'll be asked for your National Insurance number once you’ve signed in to your own online account. If you’ve never applied for student finance yourself, you’ll need to create an account.

We’ll use your National Insurance number to get information about your income from the previous tax year from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

The household income is the combined income of:

• you
• your partner - if you live with them now (even if you weren't living with them during the previous tax year)
• your child (if you're supporting your child's application)

If you do not have a National Insurance number, you’ll need to complete a form and provide evidence to show how much you earned.

If we haven't got your household income information close to your start date

We'll work out how much student finance you could get without taking your household income into account, to make sure you have some money ready for the start of your course. This would mean that you'll get a Notification of Entitlement showing less than you expected.

Check with your parents or partner when they submitted their income information - it may be that they submitted it too close to your start date, or we haven't received it at all. Once we have what we need, we'll reassess you as soon as we can, and you'll get a new Notification of Entitlement showing your full amount. If we don't have the information, we'll reassess you as soon as it is provided.