Article Index
All you need to know about student loans
When do you repay?
Loans and Support in Wales
Loans and support in Scotland
Loans and support in Northern Ireland
Tips and Advice
All Pages

If you are thinking about going to university to study for a degree, then you might be wondering how you are going to afford to pay for it. Here we give you a quick, but hopefully detailed guide to the loans and financial support you can arrange for yourself.

The system for student loans has changed almost on an annual basis. Originally designed to reform the system of grants, the government now allows for loans to cover both some living costs as well as tuition fees. This is administered by the Student Loans Company; a subsidiary of the UK government.

Tuition fees used to be around £1,100 and are almost certainly due to rise from the current level (£3,225 maximum). No UK political party has committed to reducing, eliminating or freezing fees. Some sources in the New Labour government have been quoted as saying fees will rise in the new Parliament to around £7,000 a year.

So what can you borrow for, how much, and when do you have to start repaying? As in all things ‘simplified’ by a government organisation, it depends on where you live and what course or university you are applying to.

Student Loans and Support in ENGLAND
If you are one of the vast majority of applicants who are English or live in England, then you will be expected to pay tuition fees even you study in Scotland. The maximum tuition fees for an undergraduate degree course are currently set at £3,225. Not all universities charge the maximum, so check.

English Tuition Fee Loans
So how do you pay for fees, and what will you live on? Fees can be paid for by arranging a student loan, whereby the fees are automatically paid to your university.

English Maintenance Support Loans
Similarly, you can arrange further financial support to help with your living costs via student loans. The maximum amount you can ask as a maintenance loan for living costs varies upon where you live, or intend to study.

If you intend to live at home and study relatively locally, then you can expect a maximum support loan of £3,838 a year except for your final year, where it drops to £3,483.

If you intend to live and study away from home then you can receive a maximum of £4,950 a year, dropping to £4,583 in your final year.

If you intend to live away from home and study in London, then you can expect a maximum of £6,928 – dropping to £6,307 in your last year.

If you want to figure out how much all of this could cost, the government has produced an online calculator that you can access at.
http://www.studentfinance.direct.gov.uk/calculator/studentfinancecalculator

When do you have re-pay your loans?
You will not be asked to start repaying your student loans until after you have graduated and are in employment. Even then, you will have to be earning at least £15,000 before you will be asked to start repaying your loans.

In effect the system is intended to allow you to complete your studies without having to worry unduly about financing your stay at university. It is not in the interests of government or employers to have students stopping their studies for a year or two to earn the next lump of money, or even worse, to fail to complete their degree and drop-out. So are there any other loans or sources of finance you can get hold of, particularly if you are not from a wealthy family?

English Maintenance Grants
These are designed to help those from less wealthy families and are grants, not loans. If you receive a grant you will not have to repay it. Grants are assessed on the basis of your parents’ earnings and income. You may not get a full maintenance loan if receiving a grant as well (although you will get a loan), but the total will be higher than just a loan. The levels set for 2009 were;
Household Income of up to                       Maintenance Grant of

£25,000                                                     £2,906

£30,000                                                     £1,906

£34,000                                                     £1,106

£40,000                                                     £711

£50,020                                                     £50

Bursaries
If you are applying for an NHS related course such as Nursing or Midwifery, then you can receive a non-repayable bursary to help you complete your studies. Similarly, if you are applying for a teacher training degree or qualification.

See these at: www.direct.gov.uk

University Bursaries and Scholarships
Almost all universities offer bursaries and scholarships based on a variety of criteria. These can be offered by subject (such as the sciences), by student origin or income, or often by excellence (A’ level grades and academic achievement).

Check out any course you are interested in terms of what scholarships or bursaries are on offer. A good starting point is the Bursary Searcher on this site.

Hardship Funds and Emergency Help
Many universities have contingency funds and special help for particular groups that can be cash or practical cost-reducing help. This can be accommodation preference for refugees or those travelling over a certain distance to study at the university, single mothers, the unemployed and a wide variety. Ask.

How to apply for loans
Ideally do this online at either www.slc.co.uk or http://www.direct.gov.uk/Studentfinance . Both have links through to the loan application portals. When it comes to income assessment, it is worth doing this with your parents. Even if you think you will not be eligible for a grant, it will not harm your loan application.

Remember to get your loan application in as early as possible as the SLC has not managed in the past to get all loans approved before enrolment day. Also, you might need the time if you want to appeal any decision. This will not be easy when you are actually at university when you should be looking forward to Freshers’ week. A good tip is to also see what advice and help your Local Education Authority (LEA) might provide (normally your County Council). Some will help you make an application for loans, particularly if you do not have internet access at home and need to or want to do a paper application.

Student Loans and Support in WALES
The situation for Welsh students is slightly different and possibly more advantageous than that in England. The amounts for maintenance loans are slightly lower in Wales than England, but the level of tuition fees and help towards these is more generous.

Welsh Maintenance Loans
Loan rates for Welsh students or those living in Wales are;
£6,648 for those wanting to live and study in London

£4,745 for those in the rest of the UK

£5,658 for those studying overseas, and

£3,673 for those living at home.

Welsh Tuition Fee Grants
Welsh universities are compelled to give Welsh students a fee grant of £1,940 towards the maximum £3,225 tuition fees that can be charged. Thus instead of having to borrow via a loan, the full £3,225 (as in England); a Welsh student at a Welsh university will end up owing the lesser amount of £1,285 per year.
See more on this at www.studentfinancewales.co.uk

Welsh Bursary Scheme
Additional support for all students studying in Wales (even if not Welsh) includes an income assessed grant of an additional £319 per year.

Student Loans and Support in SCOTLAND
Good news if you are a Scottish student intending to apply to a Scottish university, you will not pay tuition fees; the Scottish government will pay these for you.

However, if you intend to study at any other university within the UK, either in Wales or England, you will have to get a student loan to pay for tuition fees. If you come from a family of modest means then there is a means tested Bursary to help those of you who have found a perfect course outside Scotland (or even those who just want to study a bit further away from home).

Students’ Outside Scotland Bursary
This can help reduce the amount of loan you might need to apply for against tuition fees. The highest amount available (for families with an income of less than £19,310) is £2,150 a year. This goes down to nothing if your family income is £34,195 or over.

Scottish Maintenance Loans
As in England and Wales, you can apply for loans in order to help you actually live whilst you study. These are income assessed and if your family income is over £55,550 you will only be eligible for the minimum loan of £915 a year. The maximum loan if you live away from home is £4,625. Yet there is still more help to reduce your loan and final student or graduation debt.

The Young Students’ Bursary
This is another means tested system of support towards your living and maintenance, that can give you up to £2,640 a year. If your family income is over £34,195 then you will not get any bursary.

Additional Help
There are also means tested additional loans for up to £605 for those from families with an income of less than £128,300. There are also means tested Travel Expenses Grants to get you to and from home and university. Worth up to £811 a year, these are claimed at the end of your first term (when you can show what it is costing you).

Supplementary Grants in Scotland
There are special purpose grants available to some students based on differing needs and criteria. These include lone parents, those with dependent relatives and family, those leaving care to go to university; and a whole range of grants based on disability, learning difficulty or mental health problems. Again, ask.

The Scottish system appears more cumbersome and complicated, but actually offers more support in terms of grants and grants to reduce loans. It is not a universal system in that most help is aimed at those most in need of financial help. Even if you study in England and Wales you will end up owing (on average) less than English students. If you study in Scotland as a Scottish student, then you will graduate with considerably less debt.

Student Loans and Support in Northern Ireland
The Northern Irish system is pretty much identical to that operating in England, bar the loan amounts. You can borrow via a student loan, the full amount of your tuition fees (£3,235 maximum), no matter where in the UK you wish to study.

Northern Irish Maintenance Loans
The loan levels for those needing to arrange a loan to also live are as follows:
For those studying in London       £6,643

Elsewhere in the UK                     £4,745

Overseas                                       £5,653

Living at parents’ home                £3,673

Northern Irish Maintenance Grant
A means and income tested system of support exists to help those of modest means, that can be worth up to another £3,406 a year.

As in England and Wales, you will only have to start repaying loans after you have graduated and are earning over £15,000.

Tips and Further Advice

Ask and talk to your local education authority or board, they often can help as pathfinders through the loans and grants systems.

Read other articles such as those on student or graduation debt to decide whether you think going to university and studying for a degree is worth it (it is!). You need to understand and be comfortable with the finances as well as the academic demands you will face.

Apply early, the SLC has not always had students’ money and loans ready for them by enrolment. The earlier, the better.

Claim the maximum you are entitled to, you cannot back claim after a loan or grant has been set.      Whatever the SLC loan rate, it is always cheaper than the commercial banks.

A loan is a loan and repayable. A grant or Bursary does not have to be repaid.

Remember that you have to apply for loans, grants and bursaries every year you at university; and your loans and grants will be paid termly (with three instalments) through the year.