LSE Bursary

You may be eligible if:

• You have Home fee status
• You have applied to Student Finance for the income assessed maintenance loan
• Your household income falls within the published thresholds
• You have consented to share your Student Finance information with LSE

You do not have to apply for the LSE Bursary. To be assessed for the LSE Bursary, you must apply to Student Finance for the income assessed maintenance loan and indicate ‘consent to share’ data with LSE through your Student Finance Application.

LSE will use the household income information you provide to Student Finance to determine the value of your LSE Bursary. 

We require your household income to be verified by Student Finance. When your maintenance loan is approved, you can choose to decline the funding offered by Student Finance. This will not stop you from receiving the LSE Bursary. 

You must have ‘Home’ fee status. Students with ‘Overseas’ fee status are not normally eligible.

Student Finance will re-assess you before each year of study for the household income assessed maintenance loan. If you remain eligible for the LSE Bursary, assessment and renewal will happen automatically.  

The LSE Bursary can be awarded for a maximum of 4 years of study. 

Current students will be automatically assessed for the LSE Bursary if you complete a Student Finance application for an income assessed maintenance loan, and we receive your household income information from Student Finance by the final assessment date:

The final date to be assessed for a LSE Bursary for the 2026/27 academic year is Friday 26 March 2027.

LSE Bursary awards are only made for your current year of study onwards, we do not make retrospective awards for previous years of study.

If you are awarded an LSE Bursary, you will receive a letter from Student Finance (on behalf of LSE) confirming the value of your LSE Bursary. You will be notified at the start of each academic year of your LSE Bursary entitlement.

Eligible students are notified once their Student Finance assessment has been completed and LSE have received the necessary information from Student Finance.

The LSE Bursary is paid directly into your bank account by Student Finance. You must ensure that Student Finance have the correct details of your bank account. You should do this via the Student Finance portal, we cannot update your bank details for you. 

The LSE Bursary will be paid into your bank account in termly instalments. Payments will arrive in your bank account approximately 5 working days after the scheduled payment dates:

Autumn Term: 12 October 2026
Winter Term: 25 January 2027
Spring Term: 10 May 2027

There are several reasons why a LSE Bursary payment may not have been made yet.

Before contacting the Financial Support Office, please check:

• You have fully completed your registration for the academic year
• Your UK bank account details have been entered correctly in the Student Finance portal
• You remain eligible for the LSE Bursary
• Your Student Finance assessment has been completed and you have consented to sharing data with LSE
• The scheduled payment date has passed.

In some cases, payments may be delayed while eligibility checks are completed or because updated information has recently been received from Student Finance.

If you have checked the above and believe your payment is overdue, please contact the Financial Support Office. Include your student ID number and details of the payment you were expecting so that we can investigate.

Please note that if you contact us after the end of Winter Term, we will not be able to award an LSE Bursary for the current the academic year. 

Your LSE Bursary entitlement is determined using the household income information provided to the School from Student Finance. If your Student Finance assessment has changed, your Bursary award may also change.

Differences between expected and actual payments can occur for several reasons, including:

• Updated household income information received from Student Finance
• Changes to your eligibility status
• Changes to your registration status during the academic year

If you believe your LSE Bursary payment is incorrect, please review your most recent Student Finance assessment and contact the Financial Support Office if you still have concerns.

LSE Bursary payments are made to the bank account you have registered with Student Finance. You should log in to your Student Finance account to update your bank details.

Please note that updating your bank details with Student Finance does not change the bank details that may be held by LSE in the Finance Hub. 

If you believe your LSE Bursary has been assessed incorrectly, please contact us.

The LSE Bursary is assessed using household income information provided through Student Finance. If your household income is reassessed by Student Finance and that information is shared with LSE, your Bursary entitlement may change.

If you interrupt your studies your Bursary payments will be suspended.

If you withdraw from your programme, you will no longer be eligible to receive future LSE Bursary payments.