Finance for part-time students

Part-time students - financial help

The financial help available is the same for new and continuing part-time students. How much you may get depends on your personal circumstances and the type of course you do.

There are two types of non-repayable grant:

• fee grant (to help with tuition fees)

• course grant (to help with study costs such as books, materials and travel)

As well as these grants, you may also be able to apply for help through your college from:

• Access to Learning Fund

• Additional Fee Support Scheme

If you have a low income, you may also be entitled to claim certain income-related benefits.

On top of this, help is available if you are a student who has a disability or specific learning difficulty.

Fee grant and course grant

To apply for the fee grant and course grant, your course must last at least one year and not take more than twice as long to complete as an equivalent full-time course.

You apply for every year of your course, at the start of each academic year. How much you can get each year depends on your household income and whether you have a spouse, partner or children.

You do not have to repay this help.

Fee grant

The maximum amount of fee grant available also depends on the 'intensity' of your course. 'Intensity' means how long it takes to complete your course compared with an equivalent full-time course.

For example, if a three-year full-time course takes six years to complete part-time, then the part-time course has an intensity of 50 per cent.

Your college or university will be able to advise you regarding your intensity of course.

Course grant

You can apply for the same maximum amount of course grant no matter what the intensity of your course.

To find out more about the fee and course grant, including the amounts available, see the 'Fee and course grant for part-time students factsheet'.

Fee and course grant for part-time students factsheet

Access to Learning Fund

As well as a fee grant and a course grant, you may be entitled to extra support from the Access to Learning Fund. You apply for this help through your college or university. You can get money to help pay for things like books, childcare and equipment.

For more information, see the 'Access to Learning Fund factsheet'.

Access to Learning Fund factsheet

Additional Fee Support Scheme

Your university or college decides how much the tuition fees are for part-time courses; there is not a minimum or maximum amount. If you receive a fee grant that doesn't cover the fees charged to you, you may be able to get extra money from your college through the Additional Fee Support Scheme. Ask the student support office at your college or university for more information.

Disabled students - extra help

If you are a student with a disability or specific learning difficulty, you can apply for extra help from the Disabled Students' Allowances. The amount you can get does not depend on your household income.

You may also be able to claim help as a disabled student from the Access to Learning Fund.

For more information, see 'Disabled students - extra financial help'.

Disabled students - extra financial help (disabled people section)

Claiming benefits

As a part-time student, you may be able to claim income-related benefits. Any fee or course grant you receive is not counted as income when working out your benefit entitlement.

If you receive help from the Access to Learning Fund, it will generally not be treated as income for working out your entitlement to benefits.

For money information, see 'Benefits for students with low incomes factsheet'.

Benefits for students with low incomes factsheet

Other help

If your circumstances mean you are not entitled to financial help from the government, you may be able to apply for a Career Development Loan.

For more information, see the 'Career Development Loans' section.

Career Development Loans

Source

Finance for new full-time students

New full-time students can get loans, grants and bursaries to help with tuition fees and living costs. These help you study first, and pay back when you're earning.

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:

* you will receive the full grant if your household income is less than £17,500 for 2006/2007 (£17,910 for 2007/2008)

* you will receive a partial grant if your household income is between £17,501 and £37,425 for 2006/2007 (£17,911 and £38,330 for 2007/2008)

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

Living in the United Kingdom - costs

When you are planning your budget for living in the UK, it is not just your course fees that you need to take into account. You also need to calculate your everyday living expenses including your food, accommodation (rent and other bills), books and equipment, and clothes - making sure that you have enough left over for leisure activities and socialising. The cost of living varies between different regions of the UK; London, for example, is more expensive than average and costs may also be high in other major UK cities such as Edinburgh and Manchester. A lot is also down to you, of course - the cost of a pair of jeans can vary hugely, depending on how important fashion and designer labels are to you. Just as if you were at home, you need to be sensible about what you really need and what you can actually afford.

Budgeting for the year

At boarding schools and some international study centres, accommodation and meals are included in your fees, but if you are on a course at a further education college, higher education college or university, you will probably need to budget for rent and also for buying and cooking your own food. Even if your institution has a canteen, you will usually need to pay for the meals you eat there separately from your rent. You should always plan your living expenses over 12 months, even if the academic year is shorter, as you may have to pay accommodation and other costs over the holidays. It's also worth checking what bills you are expected to pay and which are included in your rent, as this can have a big effect on your budget. Student accommodation in halls of residence can often look more expensive than a room in a shared house, but all bills and internet access are usually included in the cost of your room, whereas in private accommodation you will be expected to pay these separately. Before you arrive, your institution should be able to give you clear guidance on exact prices of its accommodation, meals in its canteen, bills you will be expected to pay and the cost of living in the local region.
Online budget planners such as the one you will find at http://www.educationuk.org/ can help you to work out how much money you will need throughout the year. You will find it helpful to look at this before you arrive in the UK. You may also find it useful to check out the websites of UK chain shops and supermarkets that sell a range of products, such as http://www.tesco.com/ and http://www.debenhams.com/, as this can give you a basic idea of UK prices for food, clothing and other essentials you will need throughout your time here.

Leisure and socialising

How much you spend on your leisure time and social activities can also vary hugely depending on what you choose to do. If you go to the cinema once or twice a week, dine in expensive restaurants every evening and make regular trips to the theatre or the ballet, you will spend much more than if you take advantage only of the entertainment arranged by student societies. Most on-campus activities with friends will cost you next to nothing. Of course, the actual amount you spend is likely to be somewhere between the two. Most universities have a student cinema, nightclub, theatre and other entertainment available that you can enjoy for much less than similar entertainment will cost you off-campus.

Cheaper options

If you're going to be living on a budget, there are several tips for value buying. Outdoor markets are good for fresh food and cheap clothing and you will often find these close to areas where there are large numbers of students. Larger supermarkets where you can buy in bulk are generally cheaper than smaller local shops and stores and many sell good quality clothing, household goods and electrical equipment as well as food and other provisions. Some supermarket chains will deliver, and while there is likely to be a small charge for this it may be no more than the bus or taxi fare and much easier than struggling home with bags of heavy shopping.

Student discounts

Many shops, theatres, cinemas, museums and galleries offer special reductions for students and special student fares are often available on buses and trains. To take advantage of these, you will usually need to prove membership of the National Union of Students (NUS), an organisation that represents the interests of all students in the UK. Recent discounts listed on the NUS website include 10 per cent off purchases of selected items at HMV (a music and DVD retail chain), Topshop/Topman (a chain of fashionable clothing shops), ShoeZone (shoe shops), Peacocks (a chain of family clothing stores) and Argos (homeware and hardware). Ask at your Students' Union for details of the latest student discounts or check online at http://www.nusonline.co.uk/. Student discounts are also available on most UK travel.

Health care

All international students on full-time UK courses that last more than six months can take advantage of the UK's National Health Service, including free consultation with doctors and free hospital care for you and your family.

Careers in political science

A degree in political science can lead to exciting careers in federal, state and local governments; law; business; international organizations; nonprofit associations and organizations; campaign management and polling; journalism; precollegiate education; electoral politics; research and university and college teaching.

Political science students gain analytical skills, administrative competence and communication abilities that are valued in a wide spectrum of potential career areas.

Examples of careers for political scientists:

• Activist, Advocate/Organizer

• Administration, Corporate, Government, Non-Profit, etc.

• Archivist, Online Political Data

• Budget Examiner or Analyst

• Attorney

• Banking Analyst or Executive

• Campaign Operative

• Career Counselor

• CIA Analyst or Agent

• City Planner

• City Housing Administrator

• Congressional Office/Committee Staffer

• Coordinator of Federal or State Aid

• Communications Director

• Corporate Analyst

• Corporate Public Affairs Advisor

• Corporate Economist

• Corporate Manager

• Corporate Information Analyst

• Corporate Adviser for Govt'l. Relations

• Corporate Executive

• Corporation Legislative Issues Manager

• Customs Officer

• Editor, Online Political Journal

• Entrepreneur

• Federal Government Analyst

• Financial Consultant

• Foreign Service Officer

• Foundation President

• Free-lance writer

• High School Government Teacher

• Immigration Officer

• Information Manager

• Intelligence Officer

• International Agency Officer

• International Research Specialist

• Issues Analyst, Corporate Social Policy Div.

• Journalist

• Juvenile Justice Specialist

• Labor Relations Specialist

• Legislative Analyst / Coordinator

• Lobbyist

• Management Analyst

• Mediator

• Plans and Review Officer, USIA

• Policy Analyst

• Political Commentator

• Pollster

• Public Affairs Research Analyst




• Public Opinion Analyst

• Publisher

• Research Analyst

• State Legislator

• Survey Analyst

• Systems Analyst

• Teacher

• University Administrator

• University Professor

• Urban Policy Planner

• Web Content Editor

British degree abbreviations

Degree abbreviations are used as an alternative way to specify an academic degree instead of spelling out the title in full, such as in reference books like Who's Who and on business cards. Many degrees have more than one abbreviation.

Note that usage in some Scottish universities, particularly the ancient universities, differs from that in England and Wales in that MAs are given out in place of BAs as first degrees, where the course of study is four years rather than the three years typical in England.

The usage in the two ancient English universities of Oxford and Cambridge also differs slightly from that in other UK universities - the MA degree is not a substantive qualification, but reflects the ancient practice of these universities of raising BAs to MAs (and thus full membership of the University) a few years after graduating. Conversely, some bachelor's degrees in the higher faculties (i.e. those other than arts) at those universities are postgraduate qualifications (e.g. the BCL and BMus at Oxford). Many have been changed to the corresponding masters degree (e.g. BSc is now MSc), but only within the last generation. The BD remains a higher degree at a some older universities (e.g. Oxford, Cambridge, St Andrews and Durham) but is an undergraduate degree at most (e.g. London, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Glasgow). Oxford and Cambridge grant BAs after three years to students on undergraduate courses lasting longer than this (the undergraduate masters degrees and the MB, ChB in medicine).

Undergraduate degrees may be awarded "with Honours" or may be "Ordinary" or "Pass" degrees. The meaning of non-Honours degrees changed in the course of the twentieth century, and varies somewhat between England and Wales on the one hand and Scotland and Northern Ireland on the other, and also between institutions. In some places to be awarded an Ordinary or Pass degree is nowadays a euphemism for failure, however, in the Open University and some of the newer universities with a strong commitment to broadening access to higher education, the Pass degree remains a valuable qualification though of a lower standard (or indicating a shorter period of study) than an Honours degree. Honours degrees are usually awarded with first, upper-second, lower-second or third class honours.

Usage of titles of masters degrees (in particular the undergraduate masters degrees) is in continuing flux, not least because of discussions of harmonisation of qualifications within the European Union as part of the Bologna process.

Bachelor's degrees

In England and Wales, almost all bachelor's degrees are awarded as honours degrees, sometimes indicated by '(Hons)' after the degree abbreviation without a space, for example 'BA(Hons)'.
At the Ancient universities of Scotland (St Andrews, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee), a BSc(Hons) indicates a four year course, being the equivalent of the Scottish MA for science degrees. A Scottish BSc without honours indicates a three year course with less specialisation (a General Degree).

Some of the following are postgraduate degrees in a few universities, but generally bachelors are undergraduate degrees.

So, here goes the list:

• BA - Bachelor of Arts

• BAE - Bachelor of Arts and Economics

• BASc/BAS - Bachelor of Applied Science

• BCL - Bachelor of Civil Law

• BD - Bachelor of Divinity

• BDes - Bachelor of Design

• BDS or BChD - Bachelor of Dental Surgery

• BEcon - Bachelor of Economics

• BEcon&Fin - Bachelor of Economics and Finance

• BEd or EdB - Bachelor of Education

• BEng or BE - Bachelor of Engineering

• BFA - Bachelor of Fine Art

• BFin - Bachelor of Finance

• BHSc - Bachelor of Health Science

• BLitt or LittB - Bachelor of Literature or Bachelor of Letters

• BMedSc or BMSc - Bachelor of Biomedical science

• BMid - Bachelor of Midwifery

• BMin - Bachelor of Ministry

• BMus or MusB - Bachelor of Music

• BNurs or BN - Bachelor of Nursing

• BPhil - Bachelor of Philosophy

• BSc - Bachelor of Science

• BScEcon - Bachelor of Economic and Social Science

• BScEng - Bachelor of Science in Engineering

• BSocSc - Bachelor of Social Science

• BTech - Bachelor of Technology (not to be confused with BTEC)

• BTh, ThB or BTheol - Bachelor of Theology

• LLB - Bachelor of Laws

• MB or BM - Bachelor of Medicine

• BS, ChB, BChir or BCh - Bachelor of Surgery

• GCGI The Graduateship (post-nominal GCGI) awarded by the City & Guilds of London Institute is mapped to a British Honours degree

• ACGI The Associateship is conferred by the Council of the City & Guilds of London Institute on the recommendation of the Dean of the City and Guilds College in recognition of the ability to demonstrate, to the level equivalent to that of a degree of Bachelor of Science (Engineering), or Bachelor of Engineering, or Master of Engineering, the understanding and application of the principles of a branch of Engineering or of Computing Science approved by the Institute

Master's degrees

Undergraduate

These, like most bachelors degrees, are honours degrees, indicated by putting '(Hons)' after the degree abbreviation. The majority of undergraduate master's degrees are within science and engineering subjects. The undergraduate MAs of the ancient universities of Scotland are also honours degrees and may also add '(Hons)'. MEng used to be offered by some universities as a postgraduate degree, but is now an undergraduate degree.

• MA - with or without honours in Scotland or from Oxbridge

• MBiochem - Master of Biochemistry

• MBiol - Master of Biology

• MChem - Master of Chemistry

• MDiv - Master of Divinity

• MEcon - Master of Economics

• MEng - Master of Engineering

• MEnvSci - Master of Environmental Science

• MESci - Master of Earth Science

• MGeog - Master of Geography

• MGeol - Master of Geology

• MGeophys - Master of Geophysics

• MInf- Master of Informatics

• MMath - Master of Mathematics

• MNatSc - Master of Natural Science

• MNursSci - Master of Nursing Science

• MOcean - Master of Oceanography

• MPharm - Master of Pharmacy

• MPhys - Master of Physics

• MSci - Master in Science (Master of Natural Science at Cambridge University)

• MStat - Master of Statistics

• MTheol - Master of Theology

• MCGI - awarded by the City & Guilds of London Institute is mapped to a British Master's degree

Postgraduate

Postgraduate degrees are not honours degrees, and do not add '(Hons)' to indicate this. MA (Hons) is only used for the undergraduate degree of the ancient Scottish universities: as there are no examinations for the MAs in Oxford and Cambridge there are consequently no honours to be awarded. The Oxbridge MA may be differentiated by putting the name of the institution after the degree, thus 'MA (Oxon)' or 'MA (Cantab)'. The MPhil is normally reserved for longer (often two year) research-based masters degrees (as at Oxford), although at Cambridge the MPhil is generally a nine-month, mostly taught, degree. The MUniv is only ever an honorary degree. Postgraduate masters degrees are considered higher status than undergraduate masters. Postgraduate masters degrees are generally classfied as pass, pass with merit and pass with distinction. The percentage bandings for these award levels are 50%-59% (pass), 60%-69% (merit) and 70%+ (distinction). It is more difficult to obtain a postgraduate masters degree with distinction than a bachelors with first class honours.

• LLM - Master of Laws

• MA - Master of Arts

• MBA - Master of Business Administration

• MBiolSci - Master of Biological Science

• MClinDent - Master of Clinical Dentistry

• MDrama - Master of Drama

• MeB - Master of Electronic Business (eBusiness)

• MEd - Master of Education

• MFA - Master of Fine Art

• MJur - Master of Jurisprudence (Law) (Magister Juris at Oxford)

• MLib - Master of Librarianship

• MLitt - Master of Letters

• MMus or MusM - Master of Music

• MPH - Master of Public Health

• MPhil - Master of Philosophy

• MRes - Master of Research

• MSc - Master of Science

• MSSc/MSocSc - Master of Social Science

• MSt - Master of Studies

• MTh or MTheol - Master of Theology

• MUniv - Master of the University

Political science topics

Political science is the field concerning the theory and practice of politics and the description and analysis of political systems and political behavior. Basic topics in political science include:

• Political theory and philosophy
• Political systems
• Policy analysis/Policy studies
• Public policy
• Public administration
• Ideology
• Game theory
• Psephology (voting systems and electoral behaviour)
• Political economy
• Geopolitics and political geography
• Policy studies and public policy analysis
• Comparative politics
• National systems
• Cross-national political analysis
• Supranational and intergovernmental politics
• Globalization studies
• Political development
• International relations theory
• Foreign policy analysis
• Peace studies, conflict analysis, international law and politics, public administration and local government studies
• Political psychology, bureaucratic, administrative and judicial behaviour
• Legislative processes and public law
• Power in international relations and the theory of great powers and superpowers.

This may be useful if you are interested in political science, but have no idea which specific topic to choose.