Grants and Loans

Your Money for academic year 2013/14

The following information is relevant to students living in England beginning their first under-graduate degree.If you are from other countries within the UK please go to the appropriate Student Finance webpage:

Student Finance England application deadlines

We advise that you submit your application before the deadline to ensure that your funding is in place for the start of the term. The deadlines are:

New students: 31 May 2013

Continuing students: 28 June 2013

What funding is available?

Repayable Loans

Fee Loans

You may take out a fee loan of up to £9,000 to cover the full cost of your tuition fees. The loan will be paid direct to the University on your behalf by the Student Loan Company.

The tuition fee loan is not means tested, that means all eligible students can apply for a fee loan and will get the full amount regardless of the level of household income on which their application is assessed.

Maintenance Loans

This is to help with your living costs: 65% of the loan is non-means tested, and the remaining 35% is means-tested (based on the household income where you are usually resident). In 2013/14 the maximum Student Maintenance Loan, (if studying outside London and living away from home) is £5,500.

You apply for all your student finance via one application - this can be accessed through the Student Finance links above.

The loan is then paid to you by the Student Loans Company in three instalments during the academic year; in early October, January and April.

You will start repaying both these loans in the April following your graduation, but only when you are earning over £21,000. The important point to remember about repaying your student loans is that the amount you repay depends on your income and not on how much you owe.

You will repay 9% of any earnings above £21,000 - so, for example, if your annual income is £25,000 you will repay £30 per month. The interest rate applied depends on your earnings:

Earn less than £21,000, interest at rate of inflation
Earn between £21,000-£41,000, interest at rate of inflation + up to 3%
Earn over £41,000, interest at rate of inflation + 3%

Repayments are made automatically through the tax system and any outstanding loans are written off after 30 years.

Interest Free Overdrafts

As a student you will find that almost all banks and building societies offer you a student account. This usually means that you will be entitled to an interest free overdraft to a prescribed limit - individual banks choose their own limits. Banks will be keen to entice you to open an account with them because of your long-term earning potential, and will often offer all sorts of incentives. Before choosing which bank to open your account with we recommend that you shop around and see beyond the promotional enticements to the longer-term picture.

Remember that you can only have one student account, and be very careful not to exceed your overdraft limit. We recommend you try and avoid credit cards altogether.

Non-repayable Grants

Maintenance Grants

This is a government grant of up to £3,354 for students from families with household incomes of £25,000 or less. Partial grants are awarded to students from households with income between £25,001 and £42,611. You will need to apply for this Maintenance Grant via Student Finance and you will receive the payment in three instalments. This grant does not need to be repaid.

Special Support Grant

If you get or qualify for Income Support or Housing Benefit you may get the Special Support Grant instead of the Maintenance Grant. The amount you can get through the Special Support Grant is the same as that available through the Maintenance Grant but it won’t reduce how much you get for your Maintenance Loan.You are likely to qualify for the Special Support Grant if:

you are a lone parent
your partner is also a student
you have certain disabilities

The Special Support Grant doesn’t count as income when calculating your entitlement to income-related benefits or tax credits.

Other Grants

You may be entitled to the Parents Learning Allowance (up to £1,508, income related) and the Childcare Grant (up to £148.75 a week for one child in approved childcare, or up to £255 a week for two children). There is also an Adult Dependants' Grant for students who have an adult who depends financially on them (other than their adult child), worth up to £2,642.

Repaying your student loans

One of the most important things to remember about repayment, is how much you repay is based on how much you earn and NOT how much you owe. The following is a summary of the key facts about repayment:

You don't become liable to start repaying your student loan/s until the April following your course completion; and
Only when you are earning over £21,000 a year; and
Then it is only 9% of any earnings over £21,000; so, for example, (and remembering how much you will repay is based on earnings and not outstanding loans): two graduates, both of whom are earning £25,000 per year, one has outstanding studnet loans of £30,000 and the other £20,000. Because of their earnings they would both repay around £30 per month
Payments are deducted at source, that is through the PAYE system (you will see a deduction on your wage slip, similar to the ones for Tax and National Insurance)
As your earnings increase, so will your repayments. there are currently three earnings thresholds, visit: www.direct.gov.uk for further detail
Any outstanding loans are written off by the Government after 30 years.

Part-time students

There is specific advice and guidance for part-time students at: www.slc.co.uk/england