Rates and figures changelog

How to read this page

What has changed

28 figures have moved while we have tracked them, most recently checked first. Annual uprating lands in April, the SAAS package in spring, exam dates as Qualifications Scotland publishes them.

• Carer support payment earnings limit weekly

  2026/27 · checked 24 September 2026

  Now £204, was £151.

  Source: mygov.scot — Carer Support Payment: if you work

• SAAS base loan

  2026/27 · checked 24 September 2026

  Now £8,400, was £6,400.

  Source: SAAS — Student Funding: Key Facts (2026-27 bands; PDF created 23 March 2026)

• SAAS young loan max

  2026/27 · checked 24 September 2026

  Now £9,400, was £7,400.

  Source: SAAS — Student Funding: Key Facts (2026-27 bands; PDF created 23 March 2026)

• Sfe maintenance loan away London

  2026/27 · checked 24 September 2026

  Now £14,135, was £13,762.

  Source: GOV.UK — Student finance for new full-time students (2026 to 2027)

• UC carer element monthly

  2026/27 · checked 24 September 2026

  Now £209.34, was £185.86.

  Source: GOV.UK — Universal Credit: what you'll get

• Statutory sick pay weekly

  2026/27 · checked 23 September 2026

  Now £123.25, was £116.75.

  Source: GOV.UK — Statutory Sick Pay: what you'll get

• Scis independent pupils

  2025 SCIS census · checked 28 August 2026

  Now 25919 pupils, was 27781 pupils and before that 28876 pupils.

  Source: SCIS — Facts & Figures

• UC childcare cap two plus

  2026/27 · checked 22 August 2026

  Now £1,836.16, was £1,863.16.

  Source: GOV.UK — Universal Credit childcare costs

• SAAS lone parents grant

  2026/27 · checked 31 July 2026

  Now £1,305, was £1,335.

  Source: SAAS — Lone Parents' Grant

• CDP care enhanced weekly

  2026/27 · checked 29 July 2026

  Now £114.60, was £108.55.

  Source: gov.scot — Social security assistance uprating 2026-27

• CDP care middle weekly

  2026/27 · checked 29 July 2026

  Now £76.70, was £43.60.

  Source: mygov.scot — Child Disability Payment

• CDP mobility enhanced weekly

  2026/27 · checked 29 July 2026

  Now £80, was £75.75.

  Source: gov.scot — Social security assistance uprating 2026-27

• CDP mobility standard weekly

  2026/27 · checked 29 July 2026

  Now £30.30, was £29.

  Source: gov.scot — Social security assistance uprating 2026-27

• Child benefit additional child

  2026/27 · checked 29 July 2026

  Now £17.90, was £17.25.

  Source: GOV.UK — Child Benefit rates

• Child benefit first child

  2026/27 · checked 29 July 2026

  Now £27.05, was £26.05.

  Source: GOV.UK — Child Benefit rates

• Maternity allowance weekly

  2026/27 · checked 29 July 2026

  Now £194.32, was £187.18.

  Source: GOV.UK — Maternity pay and leave

• National living wage

  2026/27 · checked 29 July 2026

  Now £12.71, was £12.21.

  Source: GOV.UK — National Minimum Wage rates

• NMW apprentice

  2026/27 · checked 29 July 2026

  Now £8, was £7.55.

  Source: GOV.UK — National Minimum Wage rates

• Free school meals UC earnings threshold

  2026/27 (from 1 April 2026) · checked 28 July 2026

  Now £995, was £796.

  Source: mygov.scot — Free school meals

• Healthy start pregnancy weekly

  2026/27 · checked 28 July 2026

  Now £4.65, was £4.25.

  Source: NHS Healthy Start — scheme rules

• Healthy start under one weekly

  2026/27 · checked 28 July 2026

  Now £9.30, was £8.50.

  Source: NHS Healthy Start — scheme rules

• Plan 2 threshold monthly

  2026/27 · checked 28 July 2026

  Now £2,448, was £2,449.

  Source: GOV.UK — Repaying your student loan: what you pay

• Best start early learning

  2026/27 · checked 22 June 2026

  Now £331.95, was £319.80.

  Source: mygov.scot — Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods

• Best start school age

  2026/27 · checked 22 June 2026

  Now £331.95, was £319.80.

  Source: mygov.scot — Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods

• England tuition cap

  2026/27 · checked 22 June 2026

  Now £9,790, was £9,535 and before that £9,250.

  Source: GOV.UK — Changes to tuition fees: 2026 to 2027 academic year

• Plan 2 threshold

  2026/27 · checked 22 June 2026

  Now £29,385, was £28,470.

  Source: GOV.UK — Repaying your student loan: what you pay

• Plan 4 threshold

  2026/27 · checked 22 June 2026

  Now £33,795, was £32,745 and before that £31,395.

  Source: GOV.UK — Repaying your student loan: what you pay

• Scottish child payment weekly

  2026/27 · checked 22 June 2026

  Now £28.20, was £27.15 and before that £26.70.

  Source: mygov.scot — Scottish Child Payment

Every figure we track

All 111 registered figures, most recently checked first.

Figures we compute rather than check

Some numbers a guide needs are arithmetic over the figures above: an annual total from a weekly rate, a four-year tuition bill from a yearly fee. These 35 are never typed by hand and never checked against a source, because there is no source to check. They change when the figures they are built from change.

• Coram Scot nursery under two annual — £12,955coramScotNurseryUnderTwo50h × 50 weeks
• Coram Scot nursery two annual — £12,984coramScotNurseryTwo50h × 50 weeks
• Clothing grant minimum both stages — £270clothingGrantMinimumPrimary + clothingGrantMinimumSecondary (one primary and one secondary pupil, in a council paying the statutory floor)
• UC childcare cap two plus annual — £22,034ucChildcareCapTwoPlus × 12 assessment periods
• Coram Scot nursery under two net of TFC — £10,955coramScotNurseryUnderTwoAnnual − taxFreeChildcareAnnualCap (a full-time under-2 place, 50 weeks, with the maximum Tax-Free Childcare top-up)
• TFC min quarterly earnings 21 plus — £2,643.68nationalLivingWage × 16 hours × 13 weeks (the Tax-Free Childcare and England 30-hours minimum-earnings test, aged 21+)
• England funded hours min weekly earnings 21 plus — £203.36nationalLivingWage × 16 hours (England working-parent childcare minimum earnings, aged 21+)
• Scottish tuition annual saving vs England — £7,970englandTuitionCap − saasTuitionFee (fee an English university charges minus the fee SAAS pays a Scottish one)
• Clothing grant minimum career total — £1,740clothingGrantMinimumPrimary × 7 (P1–P7) + clothingGrantMinimumSecondary × 6 (S1–S6)
• Best start school age plus primary clothing minimum — £451.95bestStartSchoolAge + clothingGrantMinimumPrimary (what an eligible family gets in the P1 year at the national minimum)
• England tuition three year total — £29,370englandTuitionCap × 3 (a standard three-year English degree)
• Scottish child payment four weekly — £112.80scottishChildPaymentWeekly × 4
• Scottish child payment annual — £1,466round(scottishChildPaymentWeekly × 52)
• Scottish child payment annual two children — £2,933round(scottishChildPaymentWeekly × 52 × 2)
• Scottish child payment annual three children — £4,399round(scottishChildPaymentWeekly × 52 × 3)
• Scottish child payment sixteen year total — £23,462round(scottishChildPaymentWeekly × 52 × 16)
• Scottish child payment two child sixteen year total — £46,925round(scottishChildPaymentWeekly × 52 × 16 × 2)
• Best start grant first child total — £1,460.55bestStartPregnancyBabyFirstChild + bestStartEarlyLearning + bestStartSchoolAge
• Best start grant two children total — £2,522.80bestStartPregnancyBabyFirstChild + bestStartPregnancyBabySubsequentChild + (bestStartEarlyLearning + bestStartSchoolAge) × 2
• Best start foods per child to three — £1,164.80bestStartFoodsBirthToOne × 13 (year one) + bestStartFoodsPregnancyAndToddler × 26 (ages 1–3)
• England tuition four year total — £39,160englandTuitionCap × 4 (a standard four-year Scottish degree)
• EMA annual term time — £1,140emaWeekly × 38 term-time weeks
• EMA fortnightly — £60emaWeekly × 2
• EMA two year total — £2,280emaWeekly × 38 term-time weeks × 2 years (S5 and S6)
• SAAS young package mid — £10,525saasYoungBursaryMid + saasYoungLoanMax (young student, household income £21,000–£23,999)
• SAAS young package low — £9,900saasYoungBursaryLow + saasYoungLoanMax (young student, household income £24,000–£33,999)
• SAAS care experienced package — £11,400saasCareExperiencedBursary + saasCareExperiencedLoan
• SAAS base loan four year total — £33,600saasBaseLoan × 4 (maximum borrowed over a four-year degree at household income £34,000+)
• SAAS young loan four year total — £37,600saasYoungLoanMax × 4 (maximum a young student below £34,000 can borrow over four years)
• SAAS tuition four year total — £7,280saasTuitionFee × 4 (a standard four-year Scottish degree)
• Plan 4 plan 5 threshold gap — £8,795plan4Threshold − plan5Threshold
• Scotland family support two child total — £93,217Sum of the registered rows in the Scotland-vs-England worked example: scottishChildPaymentTwoChildSixteenYearTotal + bestStartGrantTwoChildrenTotal + bestStartFoodsPerChildToThree × 2 + englandTuitionFourYearTotal + emaTwoYearTotal
• Scotland family support per child total — £26,088scottishChildPaymentSixteenYearTotal + bestStartGrantFirstChildTotal + bestStartFoodsPerChildToThree
• Scotland family support two child net gap — £91,217scotlandFamilySupportTwoChildTotal − £2000 (the TOP of the guide's stated £1,500–£2,000 England-equivalent range)
• Private school six year at heriots — £125,466heriotsSeniorFeeAnnual × 6 (S1–S6)