Funding for undergraduate students

It is important to check out your own funding situation by referring to the official webpages. The information below is a broad overview only and subject to change.

Applications for 2019/20 funding

You can apply for funding from mid February.

You should not delay making your application, see the links below for the deadlines for ensuring your funding will be in place ready for September.

For information about your student finance entitlement and how to apply, please visit:

• Student Finance England
• Student Finance Wales
• Student Finance Northern Ireland
• Student Finance Scotland
• EU students

You can apply for a non means-tested loan up to the maximum of £9,250 each year to cover the full amount of your tuition fees. You can choose to borrow a lesser amount (or none). The fee loan is paid directly to the University. 

Eligibility for the loan may be affected if you have previously studied in higher education even if you paid the fees yourself.

Can I change my tuition fee loan amount?

If you change your mind about the amount of tuition fee loan that you want to borrow for an academic year, you can still amend the loan up or down (up to the maximum tuition fee loan entitlement).

If you decide, during the academic year, that you wish to change the amount of tuition fee loan that you have requested, you should contact Student Finance England.

Maintenance loans are available for your living costs during the academic year. The maintenance loan is paid into your bank account once your registration has been confirmed at the University.

If you started your course on or after 1 August 2016:

• If you are living at home, you could receive a loan of up to £7,529 in 2019/20.
• If you are living away from home, outside London, you could receive a loan of up to £8,944 in 2019/20.

If you started your course before 1 August 2016:

• If you are living at home, you could receive a loan of up to £5,099 in 2019/20.
• If you are living away from home, outside London, you could receive a loan of up to £6,411 in 2019/20.
• You could also be entitled to a Maintenance grant or a Special Support grant. Please see the Student Financewebsite. 

You may need to give details of your household income to be assessed for part of the maintenance loan. The GOV.UK website explains what is meant by household income in more detail.

Use the Student Finance calculator to estimate how much maintenance loan you could receive.

studying abroad The tuition fees charged and the funding available is different if you take a placement year as part of your degree.

Tuition fees

The tuition fees are between £1,385 and £1,850. You can apply for a tuition fee loan to cover the fees.

• studying abroad for a full year under the Erasmus scheme or doing a work placement for a full year under the Erasmus scheme or studying abroad for part of a year under the Erasmus scheme where the periods of full-time study at the UK institution are in aggregate less than 10 weeks is £1,385 – 15% of the full-time fee
• undertaking a sandwich work placement (paid & non-paid) year where the periods of full-time study are in aggregate less than 10 weeks is £1,850 – 20% of the full-time fee

Maitenance loan for living costs

If you started your course on or after 1 August 2016:

• If you spend a year of a UK course studying abroad, you could receive a loan of up to £10,242 in 2019/20.

If you started your course before 1 August 2016:

• If you spend a year of a UK course studying abroad, you could receive a loan of up to £7,617 in 2019/20.

Studying abroad: travel grants for students (England) 

You may get a grant to cover some of your travel expenses if you normally live in England and:

• you’re studying abroad as part of your course or Erasmus study abroad/work placement
• you’re a medical or dental student studying abroad or attending a clinical placement in the UK

There’s a different process if you’re a student from Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

When will students have to start repaying their loan?

From 6 April 2018 the earnings threshold will increase and full-time students start to repay their tuition and maintenance loan in the April after leaving higher education but only when and if they are earning at least £25,725.

How much will students be repaying each month?

Repayments will be 9% of income above £25,725, so the amount repaid each month will depend on earnings. Please see Student Finance website for more information.

How will interest affect the loan?

For information on the loan interest, please see the Student Loans Company website on how they calculate interest.

How long will students be making repayments for?

All outstanding repayments will be written off after 30 years.

How will students make the repayments?

This will depend on whether you are employed, self-employed or working abroad.  Please see Student Finance website for more information.

What if they earn less than £25,725?

If for any reason the graduate's income falls below £25,725, their repayments will be suspended.

You may be able to get a Tuition Fee Loan and help with living costs if you’re from an EU country.

Use the Student Finance calculator to see what finance you can get and visit the Student Finance website for more information on funding for EU students. 

Bath Spa University bursaries are non-repayable awards. To see whether you are eligible please select the year of entry below:

• Bath Spa University Bursaries - 2016/17 entry
• Bath Spa University Bursaries - 2017/18 entry
• Bath Spa University Bursaries - 2018/19 entry
• Bath Spa University Bursaries - 2019/20 entry

If you're facing unexpected financial hardship, the Student Funding Team may be able to help you. Find out more about our Bath Spa University Access Fund.

The Short Term Loan Scheme is designed to assist students who find themselves with a temporary cash flow problem caused by circumstances beyond their control.

There are not sufficient funds to provide substitute overdrafts for students, if you do not have an overdraft you will need to provide proof you have applied and been refused. 

A Short Term Loan is £60 in any given week for a single person with no dependents to be repaid in 30 days. If you feel that you require a higher amount or longer loan period, speak to a member of Student Support who may be able to approve this in exceptional cases.

Loans will not normally be offered to students who have defaulted on a previous Short Term Loan, or who have not exhausted other sources of funding available to them.

Any currently registered home UK student may apply for a Short Term Loan but loans are not normally given in the last 2 months of your course of study. We aim to contact you via email regarding the application within two working days (Monday to Friday).

Successful applicants must provide a debit card repayment dated for 30 days’ time [or your next student loan instalment, whichever is sooner] for the full value of the loan. 

Short-term loans can be collected from the Finance Office in Main House, Newton Park Campus (MHG07). You must provide your University student ID card on collection of the loan and all loans need to be collected within 2 working days, or they will be cancelled. In exceptional circumstances the loan can be paid via BACS into your bank account.

Failure to repay your loan may result in you being excluded from the short term loan scheme or being unable to register for your next year of study.

• STL - Application form

Bath Spa University is eligible to certify loan applications for William D. Ford Federal Direct Loans (Direct Loans) including Direct subsidized loans, Direct Unsubsidized Loans, Parent PLUS loans and Graduate PLUS loans.

The Bath Spa University school code is: G35333.

More information about US Federal Direct Loans is available on the Federal Student Aid website via the following link www.ed.gov.

For information on Federal Aid, fee payments and general financial information, please see the US Federal Loans webpages.

The only private loan currently available to students at foreign schools is the Smart Loan from Sallie Mae.

Please review the Direct Lending programme before you progress with a private loan as this may be a more favourable option

For information on private loans, fee payments and general financial information, please see the Sallie Mae Private Loans webpages.

Bath Spa University participates in the US Veterans Affairs Educational Benefits Program and is approved to process Veterans Affairs Benefits under various GI Bill programmes.

The University is unable to process Yellow Ribbon Benefits Programme. 

US Veterans or their dependants can use funding to contribute towards tuition fees and living expenses whilst studying at Bath Spa University.

Bath Spa University will need to confirm your attendance before your benefits will be released. This confirmation is sent via VA 22-1999 form.

For information on Veterans Affairs Benefits, fee payments and general financial information, please see the Veterans Affairs Benefits webpages.

The Government of Canada offers full and part-time loans to students with demonstrated financial need in all provinces and territories across Canada, with the exception of Quebec, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

The purpose of a Canadian Student Loan is to supplement, not replace, the financial resources that you (and your family, where applicable) are expected to contribute.

For information on Canadian Loans, fee payments and general financial information, please see the Funding for students from Canada webpages.

Bath Spa University offers a range of scholarship opportunities for high-achieving international students who would gain from studying in the UK. The scholarship programme includes opportunities at undergraduate level. 

For information on Scholarships, please see the Scholarships webpages.