Age

There is no lower age limit for a student to apply for a Student Loan to undertake tertiary study.

Students under the age of 18 without dependent children are generally required to have parental consent to be able to get a Student Loan.

There are some situations where parental consent is not required for students under the age of 18 years, including where:

• students under 18 have dependent child(ren) or
• students who have or would qualify for Independent Circumstances Allowance

For more information see:

• Parental consent

Young people under the age of 18 are usually treated as a minor in relation to contracts.

Accordingly, when a minor enters into a contract, under the Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017, a contract is not usually enforceable against them.

For Student Loan purposes, under the Student Loan Scheme Act 2011, when a student is under the age of 18 and enters into a Student Loan contract they must be treated, for the purposes of the Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017, as if they are 18 years of age.