England, away from home outside London. The loan is assumed to cover a 30-week academic year, so each annual loan ÷ 30 gives the weekly support – shown here as the hours of standard adult minimum-wage (NLW) work it equals. The dashed line is a notional 40-hour study week (120 credits ≈ 1,200 hours over 30 weeks): the gap below it is the paid work a student must add on top of full-time study.
Source: loan values as previously derived; National Living Wage main adult rate at each academic year's start (£7.20 in 2016 to £12.71 in April 2026; 2027–2030 projected ~3.5%/yr). 30-week year and 40-hour study week are illustrative assumptions from the 120-credit ≈ 1,200-hour workload.