Find out if you're eligible to receive an Adult Dependants' Grant (ADG), and how to apply for it. Content provided by Student Finance England.

The amount of Adult Dependants’ Grant you can get depends on your income and the income of the adult who depends on you financially. You can get up to £3,438 a year.

Maximum grant for the 2024 to 2025 academic year Maximum grant for the 2023 to 2024 academic year
£3,438 £3,354

Eligibility

You can apply for an Adult Dependants’ Grant if you’re a full-time undergraduate student, or full-time postgraduate ITT student, and have an adult who depends on you financially. The adult can be a partner or another adult who depends on you financially but can’t be a relative whose income is more than £3,796 a year, or a student in receipt of a statutory award.

All Student Finance England products are a statutory award, if the adult is in receipt of any other funding, they should check with their funding provider to see if this is counted as a statutory award. If you're under 25, you have to be married to your partner to apply for an Adult Dependants' Grant for them. You can’t get Adult Dependants' Grants for your child.


How to apply

  1. On your main application for student finance, fill in the section for applying for an Adult Dependants' Grant. Student Finance England will contact you to ask for more evidence to support your application if they need it.
  2. Student Finance England will send you a letter telling you how much student finance you’re able to get, including any Adult Dependants' Grant.
  3. Student Finance England will pay any Adult Dependants' Grant you're entitled to directly into your bank account in three instalments. This will usually be at the same time as any other student finance you get.

The quickest and easiest way to apply is online at www.gov.uk/studentfinance when applications open.


Evidence

When you’re applying for an Adult Dependants’ Grant, Student Finance England will ask you to provide additional evidence so they can make sure you get all the student finance you’re entitled to.

If you’re applying for an Adult Dependants’ Grant for your partner, you don’t need to provide any additional evidence when you complete your application. This is because your dependant will already be giving their financial details as part of the application process. Student Finance England will check these details with HM Revenue & Customs, but they may contact your partner later to ask for photocopied evidence of the details they’ve been given.

If the adult dependant is not your partner, they’ll be asked to provide evidence of any taxable income they had in tax year 2022/23 for the 2024/25 academic year. They should upload photocopies of documents, such as P60s, week 53 or month 12 payslips, or a letter from their employer. They should only upload evidence we ask for. Providing evidence we don’t need can cause delays to an application. 

You should also send a letter giving details of their expected income during tax year 2024 to 2025, and Student Finance England will contact you to ask for confirmation of the income and evidence at the end of the year.

Continuing students

If you’re a continuing student applying for dependants’ grants that you’ve been assessed for in previous academic years, you won’t have to provide any additional evidence. However, if your circumstances have changed, e.g. you’ve had another child, you’ll be asked to provide or upload evidence to support this.


Payment

Adult Dependants’ Grant is usually paid in three instalments, one at the start of each term. It’s paid directly into your bank account, usually at the same time as any other student finance payments.

You won’t need to repay this unless you’ve been overpaid or leave your course early.


Anything else?

You must apply for the Adult Dependants’ Grant within nine months of the start of the academic year.

Adult Dependants’ Grants will affect any income-related benefits and tax credits you may get.