The Student Loans Company (SLC) is warning full-time undergraduate students to make sure they apply before tomorrow’s deadline.

Students in England need to apply every year for these loans and the SLC says meeting the deadline is “the best way to guarantee finances will be in place for the start of the new academic year”.

Students can apply for tuition and means-tested maintenance loans to help them financially while studying. The amount paid in maintenance loans increased this year by 2.8%, yet this is far below the rate of inflation which is still at 8.7%

Thsi comes at a time when students are under increased financial pressure amid the cost-of-living crisis.  More than nine in 10 said their cost of living has increased in the last 12 months, according to research from the Office for National Statistics, and around half said that they had financial difficulties.

Returning students can apply for their loans online via their SLC account. The process takes around six to eight weeks.

Parents or sponsors who are asked to submit financial documents also need to do so before tomorrow.

Jackie Currie, SLC executive director of operations, said: “SLC processes hundreds of thousands of funding applications each summer and as always, our priority is to ensure that students have their funding in place for the start of term.

“Applying before the deadline will give our team the time needed to process your application and ensure that your funding is in place for the start of your next academic year.”