Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to raise awareness for prospective applicants to student finance of the requirement to have legal status for three years.

To qualify for support from Student Finance England, a person must have settled status or a recognised connection to the United Kingdom and meet the relevant ordinary residence requirements. Most persons must have been ordinarily (lawfully) resident in the United Kingdom and Islands, or, in some cases, the European Economic Area or Switzerland, for the 3 years prior to the first day of the first academic year of their course, excluding periods of temporary absence. These are longstanding requirements.

Student Finance England publishes guidance for students about the eligibility criteria for student support, to include the ordinary residence requirements:
https://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/supporting-materials/.