Can you get a Start Up Loan as a student? Yes, if your plan shows you can repay it
There is no separate Start Up Loan for students, but you can apply while you study. Who qualifies, what your plan must show, and the new Budget allowance.
Reading time6 min read
CategoryBusiness guides
Written byThe bizbritain team
Yes, you can get a Start Up Loan as a student. There is no separate Start Up Loan for students, and being in education does not rule you out. You need to be 18 or over and live in the UK with the right to work here. The two things that most often decide a student's application are your visa and whether you can afford the repayments.
Section 01
Is there a Start Up Loan for students?
No, but you do not need one. Students apply for the same Start Up Loan as everyone else, on the same terms.
You can borrow from £500 to £25,000 and repay over one to five years. The business must be UK-based and either not trading yet or trading for up to five years. Successful applicants also get 12 months of free mentoring.
It is an unsecured personal loan for business purposes. You repay it yourself in fixed monthly amounts, even if the business does not work out.
Myth 01
“A Start Up Loan works like my student loan”
It does not. A student loan from Student Finance is repaid through your pay once you earn above a set level. A Start Up Loan has fixed monthly repayments, whatever you or the business earn.
Plan the repayments as a fixed cost, like rent.
Section 02
Can international students apply?
Not on a Student visa. A Student visa does not allow you to be self-employed, so you cannot get a Start Up Loan while that is your immigration status.
Other visas can work. Your visa must give you the right to live and work in the UK and must allow self-employment. The loan must also be repaid six months before your visa ends, which can shorten the term you can choose.
Section 03
What your plan needs to show while you study
Every Start Up Loan application needs a business plan, a personal survival budget and a 12-month cash flow forecast. As a student, your adviser will look closely at three things.
How you will afford the repayments
This is often the biggest hurdle for students. Your personal survival budget needs to show income that covers your living costs and the repayments while the business grows. That income might come from a part-time job or from the business itself.
How much time you can give it
Be realistic about the hours you can spend on the business alongside lectures and exams. A plan that assumes full-time hours during term will not convince anyone.
What the money is for
Show what each part of the loan pays for, such as equipment, first stock or a website. Then show how that spending helps the business earn.
The Young Entrepreneurs Allowance: what we know so far
In the Budget on 28 October 2026, the government said it will pilot a Young Entrepreneurs Allowance in England. Successful applicants will get support towards their living costs during the first year of their business.
The Budget said the pilot will start shortly. It did not give an age range, an amount, a start date or a way to apply. It also did not say whether the allowance can sit alongside a Start Up Loan.
So should you wait for it? We would not plan around it yet. A Start Up Loan pays for the business, while the new allowance is meant to help with living costs. We will update this guide when the details are published.
The same Budget also tripled the trading allowance from £1,000 to £3,000, from 6 April 2027. That helps small side incomes, but it does not fund a business that needs money to get going.
Section 05
How to apply while you are studying
Start with the eligibility check. It takes 60 seconds and involves no credit search. The formal application is different, because it includes a credit check, which is a hard search.
You do not need to write your documents before you contact us. myplan builds your business plan, personal survival budget and cash flow forecast by asking plain questions. The workbook takes around 30 minutes rather than days or weeks, and it is free for every bizbritain applicant.
Once you apply, your bizbritain Business Advisor reviews the application in full. They assess it against the scheme's eligibility, affordability and viability requirements. Approved applications go to our finance partner, which runs its final checks, issues the loan agreement and provides the funds.
How long does it take? Most applicants are approved within one to two weeks of submitting a finished application, and the fastest can be approved in as little as 72 hours. Timing depends on any further information we ask for and on our finance partner's final checks.
Got a question the guide didn’t answer? Talk to an advisor.
We’ve backed thousands of British founders. If you’ve read the guide and you’re ready to find out what a Start Up Loan could do for your business, our advisors are on the phone now.