What support is available in Academic year 07/08?

This page applies to Academic Year 07/08. You can find information regarding support available in Academic Year 08/09.

Student Loans

help towards your tuition fees

Grants and Other Assistance

Part-Time Students

Additional Information: Postgraduate and Open University Students

Student Loans

Loans are available to help with your living costs, e.g. course materials, accommodation, food, clothes, travel etc. Interest is charged at the rate of inflation, so the amount you repay will be equal in value to the amount you borrow.

Can I apply for a loan?
If you are on a full-time, sandwich or part-time initial teacher training course, you are eligible to apply for a loan. If you have previously studied in Higher Education, your Local Authority will tell you if you are eligible to apply for a loan again. To receive a student loan you must be aged under 60.

How will my loan be paid?
Your loan is usually paid in three instalments, one at the start of each term, directly into your bank account. Student Finance Direct will issue a payment schedule letter to you which will explain what amounts will be paid and when.

How much can I Borrow?
This will depend upon your household income and where you live whilst you study. The amounts you can borrow are shown in the table below. Of this loan entitlement, 75% is non income-assessed, while 25% is income-assessed. This means that a proportion of the loan paid to you will be dependent upon your household income.

Your ‘household income’ means either:
1. Your income if you are an independent student, i.e.
- You are over 25 when you commence your studies OR
- You have been married or entered into a civil partnership before you start your course (your Local Authority (LA) may ask for proof of this) OR
- You have supported yourself financially for at least three years before you start your course OR
- You have no living parents.
- You are a full-time student who has care of a child or children, under the age of 18, on the first day of your course

If you identify yourself as an independent student and are married or in a civil partnership, your spouse or partner's income will also be taken into account.

OR

2. Your parents’ income if you are a dependent student (i.e. you live in your parental home and / or rely on at least one of your parents for financial support). For example, if you live with both parents, both their incomes will be taken into account. If you live with only one of your parents, it will be their income only that is taken into account. If they live with a spouse or partner (of either sex), this person’s income will also be taken into account.

If your parents or partner do not provide details of their income to your Local Authority, you will not receive all the financial support to which you are entitled.

Loan Rates

Loan Rates are slightly higher for students living in London (and not in their parental home) to accommodate the higher cost of living there. Your Local Authority (LA) will decide whether you will be entitled to the London loan rates on the basis of the post code of your place of study. If you are unsure whether you come into this category, your LA will be able to advise you.

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Help towards your tuition fees

Variable Tuition Fees and Tuition Fee Loans

Universities and colleges offering HE courses in England will be allowed to vary the amount of fees they charge new students. Institutions can charge between zero and £3,070 per year. You will not be required to pay fees before you start your course or while you are studying, although you can do so if you wish.

You can apply for the new Student Loan for Fees to cover the cost of these fees. This will give you the advantage of not having to find this money from elsewhere, and we will pay the fees directly to your institution. You then repay the fee loan in the same way as your other student loan – only once you have finished studying and are earning over the repayment threshold of £15,000 per year.

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Grants and other assistance

Maintenance grant

New full-time students from lower income households will be eligible to receive a new (non-repayable) Maintenance Grant which is worth up to £2,765 a year. The actual amount you will be entitled to receive will depend upon your household income.

• Household residual income of less than £17,910 or less: student receives full grant
• Household residual income of £17,911 - £38,330: student receives part of the grant
• Household residual income of more than £38,330: student receives no grant

This grant will be paid in three instalments, one at the start of each term, just like your student loan.

Special Support Grant

A new Special Support Grant is available for new students who are eligible to receive Income Support and other means-tested benefits such as Housing Benefit. It will cover additional course costs such as books, equipment, travel or childcare that result from attending your course. The amount of support, the income assessment arrangements and the payment arrangements are the same as for the Maintenance Grant above. New students who are receiving the Maintenance Grant, existing students and gap year students are not entitled to receive a Special Support Grant.

Bursaries and other help from your university or college

Universities and colleges wishing to charge more than £2,765 a year for a course will be required to provide additional non-repayable financial support, such as bursaries, to students on these courses who are receiving the full £2,765 maintenance grant.

What this means is that students who receive the full maintenance grant and are being charged the maximum fee of £3,070 a year will receive at least £300 a year in additional financial support from their university or college. This may take the form of a bursary or some other type of financial help. The type and amount of financial help will depend on the university or college concerned.

Some students may be entitled to more than this and you should therefore speak to the university or college that you wish to attend.

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Part-time students

Fee Grant

This grant will be up to £1150. Students must be studying at a rate of 50% or more of a full-time equivalent course, and the amount of support that you could receive is linked to the intensity of your study. You will not have to repay this grant, and the amount you get is based on your household income.

Help with course costs

A grant of up to £250 is available, to help meet the cost of books, travel and course expenditure. You will not have to repay this grant, and the amount you get is based on your household income.

Summary of support available for part-time students

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Additional information

Postgraduate students

In general, there is no mandatory support for postgraduate study centrally funded by the DIUS for students in England; an exception to this are PGCE studies for those wishing to become teachers.

Further details can be found on theDirectGov website.

Open University students

The Open University deals with applications for the fee grant, the course grant and Disabled Students Allowance from its own students. If you are studying with the Open University (OU) and you need any information, you should contact them on 01908 653411, or e-mail them at reg-fees@open.ac.uk for more details. If you are a disabled student studying at the Open University, you should contact your OU regional centre and ask about the conditions of eligibility for Disabled Students Allowances and how you should apply for them.

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