STUDENT FINANCE Student Finance England provide financial support on behalf of the UK Government to students from England entering higher education in the UK: The two main costs full-time students will have while studying are tuition fees and living costs. Student finance is available to help with both. Depending on household circumstances, course and place of study, there may be a range of financial help and support. You could get grants and bursaries (which you don’t have to pay back) and loans (which you do).

TUITION FEE LOAN Universities and colleges can charge new full-time students up to £9,000 per year in tuition fees. Eligible students won’t have to pay any tuition fees up front. A Tuition Fee Loan is available to cover the fee charged by a university or college. A Tuition Fee Loan doesn’t depend on household income. SFE pay the Tuition Fee Loan directly to the university or college. The loan is repayable, but only when income is over £21,000.

PART-TIME AND NHS COURSES Part-time courses - If you are planning to study a part-time course, the finance available to you is different. Depending on your course intensity you can apply for a Tuition Fee Loan of up to £6,750 (£4,500 at private providers) and DSAs only. NHS and social work courses - If you study for a degree on a pre-registration health professional training course such as nursing, midwifery, dentistry, physiotherapy or medicine you may be entitled to get some funding through an NHS Student Bursary. Visit for more information.

MAINTENANCE LOAN Maintenance support is available to help with your living costs while in higher education. There are two main types of support, Maintenance Loan (repayable) and Maintenance Grant (non-repayable). All eligible students are entitled to receive some maintenance support. The amount of Maintenance Loan you can get depends on where you live and study. Maintenance support is paid directly into your bank account each term.

London Live away from home & study in London Up to £8,009 £ Elsewhere Live away from home & study outside London Up to £5,740 £ Parental home Live at home while you study Up to £4,565 £ MAINTENANCE LOAN MAXIMUM LEVELS 2016/17 If studying overseas as part of a UK course, Maintenance Loan support is still available. Up to £6,820 for 2015/16. i

Full-Year Student* 65% Non Means Tested 35% Means Tested Maximum Loan Parental home£2,967£1,598£4,565 Elsewhere£3,731£2,009£5,740 London£5,205£2,804£8,009 Overseas£4,433£2,387£6,820 i Additional loan may be available for any extra weeks of study if your course goes beyond 30 weeks in an academic year *Lower rates are available to final year students MAINTENANCE LOAN MAXIMUM LEVELS 2015/16

The Maintenance Grant doesn’t have to be repaid. How much grant you can get depends on your household income (100% means tested). Full Grant: £3,387 Partial Grant: (Min £50) Household income: Up to £25,000 Household income: Up to £42,620 MAINTENANCE GRANT SUPPORT AND MEANS TESTING Household income is the taxable earned and unearned income of the parents/partner you live with most of the time. i

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Household Income Maintenance Grant Maintenance Loan Total £25,000 & under£3,387£4,047£7,434 £30,000£2,441£4,520£6,961 £35,000£1,494£4,993£6,487 £40,000£547£5,467£6,014 £42,620£50£5,715£5,765 £42,875£0£5,740 £50,000£0£4,998 £62,143 & over£0£3,731 COMBINED MAINTENANCE SUPPORT LIVING AWAY FROM HOME OUTSIDE LONDON

Extra money or support may be available if you: have children or an adult who depends on you financially. have a disability, mental-health condition or specific learning difficulty. Bursaries and scholarships Many universities and colleges offer financial support to their students through bursaries and scholarships. These can be linked to things like your household income, your course, academic achievement or if you play a musical instrument or a sport to a high standard. EXTRA SUPPORT AN OVERVIEW

It’s important you spend some time looking into bursaries and scholarships offered and find out what’s on offer and how/when to apply. A lot of bursary applications can be started as part of your main student finance application, but for many scholarships you may have to apply direct to the university. Where to find the information: University and college websites – usually in the Fees & Funding sections. Other sites such as BURSARY & SCHOLARSHIP SEARCH

STUDENT FINANCE APPLICATIONS KEY MESSAGE – APPLY EARLY Apply online at gov.uk/studentfinance as soon as possible when the application process opens to make sure your student finance is in place for the start of your course. It will normally open end of February beginning of March. The school will let students know. Make a note of your account log-in details (password etc) and your Customer Reference Number. You don’t need a confirmed place at university or college to apply for student finance. You can change your details online before starting your course. Agree to share information from your application, this helps apply for many bursaries/scholarships.

GOV.UK FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO APPLY

SFE ONLINE FOR MORE INFORMATION AND RESOURCES

Before starting an application, have the following to hand: passport - SFE can check identity using valid UK passport details university and course details bank account details and National Insurance number The easiest way for parents, partner or other sponsor can support an application is online through GOV.UK, providing information including: National Insurance number(s) household income information (based on prior tax year*) details of other child dependants STUDENT FINANCE APPLICATIONS KEY MESSAGE – COMPLETING AN APPLICATION *If your household income drops by 15% or more in the current tax year, SFE can reassess your application. i

You won’t make repayments until your income is over £21,000 a year gross (before tax). If you study a full-time course, you will be due to start repaying in the April after graduating from/leaving higher education. You’ll repay 9% of your income over £21,000 and if you’re employed deductions will be made from your pay through the HMRC tax system.* If your income falls to £21,000 or below your repayments will stop. Any outstanding loan balance will be written off 30 years after entering repayment. STUDENT LOAN REPAYMENTS AN OVERVIEW *If you move/work overseas you will repay 9% of your earnings over the repayment threshold for the country you are living in i

Income each year before tax Monthly Repayment (Approx) £21,000£0 £25,000£30 £30,000£67 £35,000£105 £40,000£142 £45,000£180 STUDENT LOAN REPAYMENTS THE FIGURES To get an estimate of how much student load you could owe and how long you might repay for go to:

Interest on your loan: Interest is charged from the day your first payment is made until your loan is paid off in full or written off. The interest charged is linked to the Retail Price Index (RPI) and will vary. While you are studying until entering repayment, interest will be added at RPI +3%. On entering repayment interest will be linked to how much you earn, from RPI only if earning under £21,000 to RPI +3% if earning over £41,000. i For more information on student loan repayments and interest rates, go to STUDENT LOAN REPAYMENTS THE INTEREST