Good news: in terms of your Student Loan, it's basically business as usual.
You'll still receive the scheduled payment of your Maintenance Loan at the start of the summer term, regardless of whether or not your university has made alternative arrangements for teaching. Hooray!
Can students still apply for Student Finance during the pandemic?
Yes! If you're currently studying or if you'll be starting a new full-time undergraduate course after 1st August 2020, you can apply for Student Finance as normal.
Postgraduate and part-time undergraduate Student Finance for the upcoming academic year should be launched in June (but we'll keep you updated if this changes).
Do you have to repay your Student Loan if you can't work because of coronavirus?
The Student Loans Company only take repayments if you're earning over the repayment threshold for your repayment plan.
So following this logic, if you were to lose your job or part of your income due to coronavirus, you'd stop paying any money back as you'd no longer be earning enough to activate the repayments.
You won't be receiving an angry knock on the door if your situation changes, because the repayment system is designed to kick in once you are earning over a certain amount, not to kick you when you're down!
For more information on Student Finance and COVID-19, check out the Student Loans Company website.
Will a loss of household income affect how much Student Finance students get this year and next year?
If your household has experienced a loss of income due to COVID-19, this may affect how much Student Finance you get for the upcoming academic year (in a good way!).
All first-time UK-undergraduates are entitled to Student Finance to cover their tuition fees in full, so coronavirus doesn't change anything here. However, if your household has experienced a loss of income because of coronavirus, you may be entitled to a bigger Maintenance Loan to cover living costs.
When you apply for Student Finance, wherever in the UK you are, you're asked to provide information about your or your parents' income from the previous tax year to work out how much Maintenance Loan you're entitled to.
Usually, how much Maintenance Loan you'll get will be calculated using how much your parents earned (or how much you earned if you've self-declared as financially independent) two years ago.
As a result of coronavirus, this may not reflect the reality if your household's current situation if you or your parents have lost a job because of COVID-19 or have been put on furlough.
So, in the interest of getting a fairer payout, if your household income is at least 15% less you're allowed to provide details of your income for this current tax year instead of last year's. You must then keep your income details up to date during the year and confirm your actual income at the end of the tax year.
This is what's known as a Current Year Income Assessment, and doing this may increase your chances of getting a bigger Maintenance Loan for the upcoming academic year. It can also be used to change the amount of Maintenance Loan a student is receiving this current academic year.
So if you're in a tight spot right now because your parent has lost their job, there's a chance you could receive more than originally planned.