Independent and dependent student income assessment

Before academic year 2019/20, our assessment process collected the income of independent full-time students. If these students had a partner, the partner’s income was assumed to be higher and the student’s income was disregarded. Scheme rules require all students to give details of their income, which should then be measured against any other income from the same household.

As of academic year 2019/20, our assessment process has changed so all independent students have their income taken into account.

Before academic year 2020/21, we did not ask for any income information for eligible dependent students. Instead, we used the income of their parents and any partners of the parents to determine the household income. Now, we need dependent students to give information about any taxable income in the previous tax year (-2 tax year).

We’ll compare the income of a dependent student to the income of their parents or guardians to determine which is higher. We’ll count the higher income as the household income and use this to determine the student’s entitlement.