Tuition Fees Loans

A Tuition Fee Loan is a government-funded student loan in the UK designed to cover the cost of university tuition fees.

• It can cover the entirety of your tuition fees.
• You apply for a loan to fund units (modules) as you study them, meaning you don’t finance your whole qualification upfront.
• Your household income does not affect your eligibility.
• You can apply whether you are currently employed or not.
• Fees are paid directly to OCA, so you don’t have to manage the transactions.

• Repayments are based on what you earn, not how much you borrow.
• You only start repaying once your salary exceeds the government income threshold, paying a set percentage of your earnings above that line. Your employer deducts your repayments automatically through the UK tax system.
• Even if you earn over the threshold immediately, you will not have to start repaying your loan for up to four years after your course begins.
• The interest rate is tied to the Retail Price Index (RPI) and varies according to how much you earn, not how much you owe.
• If you haven’t finished repaying your loan after so many years, it will be written off, and your monthly payments will stop.

Repaying Your Student Loan

Yes. Because Open College of the Arts (OCA) courses are fully accredited degree programmes, our undergraduate degrees qualify for a Student Finance England tuition fee loan, provided you meet the eligibility criteria.

To qualify for a Tuition Fee Loan from Student Finance England, you generally need to meet the following criteria:

• Nationality/Residency: You are a UK national or have ‘settled status’, and have lived in the UK for at least three years before the start of your course.
• Previous Study: You do not already hold an equivalent or higher-level university degree (Student Finance typically only funds your first higher education qualification). Student Finance may allow one extra year of funding for students who have to restart study. 
• Course Intensity: You commit to studying at a pace that meets the minimum part-time intensity requirements.
• Age limits: There is currently no upper age limit to secure a loan. However, the government is introducing the Lifelong Learning Entitlement in January 2027. Under these new rules, you must be under the age of 60 on the first day of your course to be eligible for funding. You can read more about the Lifelong Learning Entitlement here.

Check Your Eligibility

Generally, no. Because Open College of the Arts courses are delivered via part-time distance learning, they do not typically qualify for a maintenance loan.

Exceptions are made by Student Finance England if you have a specific disability that prevents you from attending a physical campus. Student Finance will ask you to send evidence that you are undertaking distance learning study for this reason, so you may find it helpful to have a conversation with them about this first.

• Step 1: Submit an OCA enrolment form through the course information page. 
• Step 2: Create an account with Student Finance. 
• Step 3: Use our application guidance to help submit your tuition fee loan application. 

To help make the application process easier, we’ve created a guidance document which provides all the course information you need from OCA to complete your application.

Review 26/27 SFE Application Guidance Here

Review 25/26 Student Finance Application Guidance for;

• New Students
• Continuing Students

If your course with Open College of the Arts starts in September, October, or November 2026, you may apply for Student Finance England funding as usual. 

For any course start dates from January 2027 onwards, please be aware that the new Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE) will be in effect – applications for LLE will open from September 2026.

If your course started before January 2027, you can usually continue to apply for Student Finance England for the duration of your studies. If you have a break in study, you may need to switch to the LLE system.