Student Finance Information

Full Time Tuition Fees Across the UK
If you’re studying in England, Northern Ireland, or Wales, you can take out a loan which will cover your full tuition fees (up to £3,290 in 2010/2011). You will not need to start making repayments until the April after you leave higher education, providing that you are earning over £15,000 per year. If you are earning less than £15,000 per year at that time, you won’t need to make any repayment. If you take out a student loan for the first time after 2006, the Government will write it off if it is not repaid 25 years after you leave the course.

If you live in Scotland and are going to be studying full-time in Scotland, you will not have to pay tuition fees. All tuition fees will be paid by the Scottish Government through the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS), however, students must apply for this funding. If you are not from Scotland, but are studying there, your annual tuition fees will be at least £1,285 for 2010-2011 (£2,895 for medicine)

Loans, Grants & Bursaries
Loans are available to help with your living costs, for example, course materials, accommodation, food, clothes, travel etc. Interest is charged on the loan from the day the loan is paid. The rates are shown on various government websites. Grants are also obtainable to help finance these expenses. The main difference between a loan and a grant is that you don’t have to repay the grant.

Grants vary depending on which region you normally live in. Please click on the UK region that applies most to you:

England | Scotland | Wales | Northern Ireland

England

If you normally live in England the loans and grants available to you are as follows:
A maintenance loan is available, however the amount you receive will depend on where you choose to live and study. If you are living at home, the maximum maintenance loan you can acquire is £3,838. If you are living away from home, and not in London, the maximum you will receive is £4,950. If you are living away from home, and in London, the maximum you will receive is £6,928 (due to the increased cost of living there). A quarter of the total of this loan will depend on your household income.
A maintenance grant is also available. If you live in England the maximum grant obtainable for 2010/11 is £2,906 for the academic year, depending on your household income. If you receive a maintenance grant, the amount of maintenance loan available to you may be reduced.
Another grant available is a Special Support Grant which is open to people who qualify for income-related benefits, e.g. lone parents, students with disabilities, etc. If you are eligible for the Special Support Grant, it won't affect how much you get through the maintenance loan.
You can still apply for student support for the academic year 2010/2011, however at this late stage you may not receive the money before the beginning of your term. The sooner you apply, the sooner it will be processed, so get cracking!!

More Information
For more detailed information on the financial options available to students from England progressing into higher education, please go to http://www.direct.gov.uk/studentfinance

Scotland

If you normally live in Scotland the loans are grants available to you are as follows:
Scotland is very different to the rest of the UK in terms of tuition fees, loans and bursaries. If you live in Scotland and are going to be studying full-time in Scotland, you will not have to pay tuition fees. All tuition fees will be paid by the Scottish Government through the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS), however, students must apply for this funding.
If you are not from Scotland, but are studying there, your annual tuition fees will be at least £1,285 for 2010-2011 (£2,895 for medicine)
If you live away from home, the maximum student loan available to you is £5,067 a year, depending on your household income.
You may also qualify for an Independent Students’ Bursary, the maximum of which is £1,000, or a Young Students’ Bursary, the maximum of which is £2,640. This would be paid instead of your student loan, so your student loan would be reduced by the sum of the bursary.
If you are entitled to the Independent Students' Bursary or the Young Students' Bursary, you may also qualify for the Additional Loan. Again this depends on your household income. However, if you have been in higher education before you may not receive this bursary.
SAAS may also provide limited travel expenses. This is based on household income, and even then they will only pay for the cheapest fares available.

More Information For more detailed information on what may be available to students from Scotland continuing into higher education, contact: http://www.saas.gov.uk/ or phone 0845 111 1711
(Calls made from a UK landline will be charged at the local rate, however, calls from mobiles may vary. Please contact your network provider for more details).

Wales

If you normally live in Wales the loans and grants available to you are as follows:
You may also be entitled to a maintenance loan, the amount of which will depend on where you are living. If you are at home living with parents, the maximum available will be £3,673, and if you are living elsewhere in the UK, outside London the maximum obtainable is £4,745.
If you are living away from home, and in London, the maximum accessible will be £6,648, due to higher living costs there.

A maximum maintenance grant (Assembly Learning Grant) of £5,000 is available for students from Wales who are starting a course in the academic year 2010/11. Your local authority will calculate your entitlement when you apply. If your household income is under £18,370, then you could be entitled to the maximum grant.

For every £1 of Assembly Learning Grant you receive, your maintenance loan will be reduced by 60p. However you do not need to pay the grant back, as you would the loan.

More information For more detailed information on what may be available to students from Wales continuing into higher education, contact: www.studentfinancewales.co.uk or call the Student Finance Wales Contact Centre on 0845 602 8845
(Calls made from a UK landline will be charged at the local rate, however, calls from mobiles may vary. Please contact your network provider for more details).

Northern Ireland

If you normally live in Northern Ireland the loans and grants available to you are as follows:
If you are living in Northern Ireland with your parents, the maximum maintenance loan available to you is £3,750 for the academic year 2010/11. If you are living away from home and in London you are entitled to £6,780, due to higher living costs. If you are living away from home in the UK, but not in London you are entitled to up to £4,840.
You may also be entitled to a maintenance grant, the maximum of which is £3,475 if you normally live in Northern Ireland. In addition you may also be eligible for an extra £500 of maintenance grant based on assessment.
If you normally live in England you may be entitled to up to £2,906, and if you normally live in Wales you may be entitled to £5,000. This grant will be based on the household's income and does not have to be paid back. Students who are eligible to receive a maintenance grant have a proportion of their loan entitlement reduced.
A Special Support Grant of up to £3,475 a year is obtainable by new full-time students based on household income. These are for students who may be eligible to receive certain benefits, including students who are lone parents, students who have a disability, etc. If you are receiving the maintenance grant you will not be able to receive the Special Support grant.
If you are going to a college in Northern Ireland which is charging the full tuition fee of £3,290, and you qualify for the full Maintenance Grant or Special Support Grant, you may be entitled to a bursary of at least £329. However, if you are not eligible for these grants you may still be able to get the bursary, so make sure to check with your college.

More information:
For more detailed information on what may be available to students from Northern Ireland progressing into higher education, contact: www.studentfinanceni.co.uk or phone 0845 600 0662
(Calls made from a UK landline will be charged at the local rate, however, calls from mobiles may vary. Please contact your network provider for more details).