Finance for new full-time students
Starting university or college: help with your costs
If you're a new full-time higher education student this year, or you're thinking of applying for next year, the financial help you can get includes loans, grants and bursaries.
If you've taken a gap year in 2005/2006, you'll be entitled to slightly different types of help - follow the link below for further information.
Gap year students and others qualifying under the 2005/2006 rules
Tuition fee loans
How much can you get?
Universities and colleges can charge new full-time higher education students up to £3,000 per year in tuition fees in 2006/2007 (£3,070 in 2007/2008).
Tuition fees and living costs
However, all eligible full-time students can now get a Student Loan for Fees (sometimes known as a ‘tuition fee loan’) to cover the full amount charged, so no one has to find the money for fees either before or during their course.
Student loan factsheet
How much will you have to repay?
If you take out a student loan, you won't have to start making repayments until you've left your course and are earning over a certain amount, currently £15,000 a year.
Your repayments will be nine per cent of your earnings over this set amount. So if, for example, you were earning the average starting salary of a graduate level job of £18,000, your repayments would be £5.19 a week.
The interest rate (currently 2.4 per cent) is linked to the rate of inflation, so the amount you repay is the same in real terms as the amount you borrow.
What if you don't earn enough to afford repayments?
Repayments are linked to how much you earn and not how much you owe. If your earnings were to drop below £15,000 at any time, your repayments would stop until you were earning over this amount again.
Repaying student loans (courses starting from 1998)
Living cost loans
You can also apply for a Student Loan for Maintenance (also known as a 'living cost loan') to cover the cost of living expenses.
How much can you get?
The amount depends on where you study, where you live while you study, and the academic year.
For example, if you live away from home and study in London you could get up to £6,170 in 2006/2007 (£6,315 in 2007/2008).
Or if you live at home you can get a loan of up to £3,415 in 2006/2007 (£3,495 in 2007/2008).
All full-time students can automatically get around 75 per cent of the full loan amount but how much you get will depend on your household income.
Student loan factsheet
What about repayments?
The repayment system is the same as for the tuition fee loan. You don't have to start any repayments until you have left your course and are earning over £15,000. If you take out the tuition fee loan and the living cost loan the amounts are added together so you only make one repayment.
Repaying student loans (courses starting from 1998)
Grants for living costs
Around half of all full-time students are also likely to be eligible for a yearly Maintenance Grant of up to £2,700 for 2006/2007 (£2,765 for 2007/2008). This grant is non-repayable.
How much you get depends on your household income and the year of study. For example:
If you receive means-tested benefits such as income support, you may receive the Special Support Grant in place of the Maintenance Grant.
Maintenance Grant and Special Support Grant factsheet
Bursaries and scholarships
If your tuition fees are over £2,700 in 2006/2007 (£2,765 in 2007/2008) and you receive the full Maintenance Grant, your university or college will give you extra financial help.
For example, if you are charged tuition fees of £3,000 this academic year, you will get a minimum bursary of £300.
Many institutions are offering more than the minimum amount, and some are offering bursaries to all students.
So, it's well worth contacting the universities or colleges that you're interested in attending to find out exactly what they're offering.
Bursaries and scholarships factsheet
Extra financial help
You can apply for extra help may if you have a disability or specific learning difficulty, or if you have children or adult dependants.
If you need extra financial support for your course or to stay in higher education, you may also be able to apply for help from the Access to Learning Fund.
Disabled students - extra financial help
Students with children or other dependants - extra financial help
Access to Learning Fund factsheet
Adding it all up: the student loan and grant calculator
The simplest and most convenient way to work out how much help you could get is to use the 'Student loan and grant calculator'.
The calculator asks you for details about your financial circumstances, and then gives you an estimate of the help you might receive.
It currently features financial help for the 2006/2007 or 2007/2008 academic years.
Student loan and grant calculator
How to apply
Not everyone is eligible for all the types of financial help outlined above. To find out if you qualify, follow the below link.
Do you qualify for student finance?
Apply online or on paper
To find out more about how and when to apply, see 'Applying for student loans, grants and bursaries'.
Applying for student loans, grants and bursaries
Source
No comments:
Post a Comment