Student Finance Part 1: Fees, loans and grants
So… you are nearly there! You are making your final decisions about where to go to university this year, and at the back of your mind is that nagging feeling that there is something still to do.
And it’s something important.
Yep, finance and funding: tuition fees, loans, scholarships, grants and budgets. The stuff that no-one really wants to deal with, but which underpins everything.
So this week and next, we’ll look at financing your time at university.
This week we’ll cover whether you will be entitled to funding from the UK government, how tuition fees work, and how you access student loans and grants.
Next week we’ll look at budgeting, and how to manage all your costs on a daily basis.
Home or Overseas fee payer?
The first thing you need to know is whether you will have home or overseas fee status. This is important, because those with home status pay a government set tuition fee, while those with overseas status pay a commercial rate set by the universities (which will always be higher). In addition, home students can apply for a range of loans, and sometimes grants, to support them at university. Those with overseas status cannot.
The super-short summary is that to be considered home you need to be a UK national or have settled status, and you need to have been living in the UK for at least three years prior to starting your studies.
For 95% of you this will be very straightforward. For a small number (for example UK nationals living temporarily abroad) there will be a highly complex series of factors.
If you are not sure whether you qualify for home status then you can start by having a look at the UKCISA Guidance. Just be prepared; it is not straightforward or easy to understand, and you may well need help interpreting the guidance.
Your school may have teachers with some experience of this, but they are typically not formally trained. Most universities, however, will have a handful of advisers who are fully trained to give fee status advice.
Determining fee status is a matter for an individual university to decide, and occasionally you may find you get a different decision from different universities. This is because the rules are not straightforward and there are cases where the decision is down to an interpretation of your circumstances.
Home, but which ‘home’?
If you are a home student, the question is then about which home country you are from: Scotland, England, Northern Ireland or Wales. The tuition fees are different for students from different parts of the UK, which might sound odd, but is simply the result of our devolved system of government. Higher Education funding is something that each of the local parliaments have control over, and each has decided to fund it differently.
Tuition fees
So, depending on your fee status and home country, you will be asked to pay the following for each year of study:
Students from England, will pay £9,250 wherever you study in the UK.
For those from Scotland, tuition will be free if you study in Scotland, but £9,250 for studying in the rest of the UK.
If you are from Wales, it’s £9,000 if you stay in Wales, and £9,250 for studying in rest of the UK.
Finally, those from Northern Ireland pay up £4,710 to study in NI, but up to £9,250 to study elsewhere.
If you are classed as overseas, none of the governments of the UK have decided to limit or cap your tuition fees, and so these are set at a commercial rate by each university. These typically range from around £12,000 per year for the cheapest options, right up to around £40,000 per year for the most prestigious universities (and even more for some subjects such as Medicine and Veterinary medicine).
Student Loans and Grants
Loans are available to students from all four parts of the UK, but not for those classed as overseas. They are designed to cover ALL of your tuition fees (where applicable), and help you with SOME of your living costs.
The loan you can access will depend on which home country you come from, and in some cases where you study (e.g. in London), and where you live (e.g. at home or away from home).
For those from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland there are also grants or bursaries available, which do not need to be repaid.
The specific amount of loan and grant (or bursary) that you will be entitled to for the living cost element will be based on an assessment of your household income (that is, the income of the parents or step-parents you currently live with). The intention is that your loan and grant will cover a proportion of your living costs, and your family is expected to make up the shortfall for the actual living costs, using their household income.
For example, a student from England, with a household income of £25,000 (at the lower end of the threshold), studying away from home, but not in London, would be entitled to a loan of £10,227. A student with a higher parental income of £60,000, but with otherwise the same circumstances, would be entitled to a loan of just £5,111 per year. In England there are no non-repayable maintenance grants or bursaries; only loans.
In Scotland the maximum and minimum loans are £9,400 and £8,400 respectively. Plus you will have access to a Maintenance bursary (non-repayable) of up to £2,000 (slightly different income thresholds apply).
In Wales, students studying away from home, but not in London, are entitled to a loan and non-repayable grant package totalling £12,150. The higher your household income, the more of this will be a loan (repayable) and less will be in the form of a grant (non-repayable).
Northern Ireland also operates a system of loans and grants, but figures for 2024 are not yet available.
Loan repayments
Loans, of course, need to be repaid, and the repayment schedule is based on your future earnings; you start paying back once your income reaches a certain threshold, and the amount you pay depends on your earning, not on how much you borrowed. Currently the threshold is £25,000 per year, and you will pay back 9% of your earnings above this amount.
Interest will be applied to the loan, capped at the prevailing inflation rate, as defined by the Retail Price Index, and this will impact the amount of time it will take you to repay the loan.
The maximum repayment period is currently 40 years, after which any remaining debt will be wiped clean (provided you are up to date with payments!).
Other sources of funding
There are a handful of other sources of funding from the government. These vary by home country, but broadly speaking include:
Extra support for those with children or adult dependents.
Allowances for students with disabilities.
Extra funds for medical, nursing, midwifery and allied health professionals, plus social work and teacher training students.
Study abroad travel expenses grants.
Many universities also offer extra funding in the form of:
Scholarships - for example to students with exceptional grades on entry, or perhaps for sporting or musical abilities.
Bursaries - often cash for students from lower income families.
Grants - for undertaking specific activities, such as field trips or study abroad.
These may be available to home students, overseas students, or both. They may take the form of cash, or fee discounts.
The main challenge for you is that these will all be different at different universities, and it is not easy to find comprehensive information. You are just going to have to allocate a bit of time to the task of checking each university that you are considering, and working out what funding they have that might apply to you!
A great place to start your search is The Scholarship Hub, by Blackbullion. There is loads of advice and support for students, parents and teachers, as well as a scholarship search that you can sign-up to use.
What next?
Well for all home students the time is coming soon when you’ll be able to apply. Normally applications open at the end of March. You don’t need to wait until your university place is secure in order to apply, and it is much better to have this done early, so that you have the funding in your bank account at the start of term.
So now is the time to really get to grips with how it all works, by having a proper look at the information that is specific to you.
All the relevant websites are below.
Next week we look at budgeting and managing your money!
