Will my university maintenance loan affect my ESA?

begum3131

Hi i am currently on esa income related support group and pip.and recently started studying uni.i wanted to know how will it affect my esa because of my maintenance loan.i have notified dwp.am waiting for them to get back to me.am worried 

poppy123456

HI,

If any part of your ESA is Contributions based, this won't be affected. For any Income Related amount this link may help. I've copied and pasted part of the link which may help. https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/how-we-can-help/individuals/education/frequently-asked-questions-students

I receive income-related Employment and Support Allowance, PIP and Housing Benefit. How will my entitlement to loans as a full-time undergraduate student affect my means-tested benefits?

In higher education, if you’re eligible for a student maintenance loan, part of it will be considered as income.

As an undergraduate student, if you qualify for certain benefits such as DLA or PIP you will be entitled to receive more support with living costs. The loan has a maintenance element and a special support element (up to £4,014). The special support element will be ignored as income for means-tested benefits.

It can be complicated to calculate how much benefit you might finally receive, but here is an example of a full-time student.

If you’re a first-year student, the maximum loan for the 2021/22 year outside of London is £10,815. This includes a special support element of £4,014.

After ignoring the special support element, the remainder £6,801 will be the maximum maintenance loan. The benefit rules allow you £303 a year for travel costs and £390 a year for books and equipment.

The remaining £6,108 is divided over 42 or 43 weeks, depending on the total number of term weeks.

A further £10 a week is disregarded.

The rest counts as income.

So if your term weeks add up to 42, your weekly loan will be £145.43.

After £10 has been disregarded the remaining £135.43 will be treated as income.