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• Paying for your tuition
• Money to live on
• How much to live on
• Help with living costs table
• Applying for student support

Paying for your tuition

You do not have to pay your tuition fees up-front. So long as you are eligible for student support, you can apply for a Tuition Fee Loan to cover your actual fees − up to a maximum of £3375 pa in 2011, £9000 pa in 2012. This loan is not means-tested; the money is paid direct to your university (so you can’t spend it on anything else); and you repay the loan later (you begin when you are earning at least £15k pa if you start in 2011, £21k if you start in 2012).

You have to apply: you will not get the Tuition Fee Loan unless you do (and if you don’t apply, you may be charged the full cost of the course, which may be much more).

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Money to live on

You are expected to live on money from a variety of sources, depending on your personal circumstances. (If you are already a graduate, you should check carefully; you may not be eligible for any of this help and your fees may be higher too.)

• Maintenance Loan & your family. Almost all UK undergraduates are entitled to take out a student loan to provide money to live on, which you pay back after graduation. Most of this is available to everyone but if your family income is above a certain threshold, your family (parents, spouse/civil partner) will be expected to make a contribution.
• Maintenance Grant. If your family income is less than £42k, you will also qualify for a non-returnable Maintenance Grant (or a Special Support Grant, if you are eligible for eg income support or housing benefit).
• Special help. In addition, there is Special help for certain categories of students, eg those with a disability, those with children or other dependants.
• Bursaries. Universities usually provide some (non-returnable) bursary help for the lowest-income students (they are obliged to if they charge the maximum fee).

For more information, check out the Student Finance England website, www.studentfinance.direct.gov.uk.

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How much to live on

How much this all amounts to will depend both on your family income and on where you live while you are at university. No information is available for a 2012 start but this is the position for 2011.

The maximum Maintenance loan is £4950 pa. Most (72%) is available to everyone so, even if your family is rolling in money, you will still get £3564 pa and your family expected to contribute £1386 pa. The remaining 28% is means-tested so if your family does not have much money, you will receive the whole amount. The maximum loan is reduced to £3838 pa if you are living with your parents, increased to £6928 pa if you are studying in London.

A Maintenance Grant of £2906 pa is available to anyone whose family income is £25k or below; you do not repay this. The amount of grant gradually decreases as family income rises – down to no grant at all when your family income is more than £42k pa. If you do get a maintenance grant, it will reduce the amount of Maintenance Loan you can take (by half the value of your grant) so you have less to pay back later.

University bursaries certainly should be available if your family income is below about £25k, unless you are studying in Scotland. Bursaries are not repayable. Each university has its own bursary scheme, helping different groups of students with varying amounts of cash – from at least £338 pa to maybe £5000 pa for bright students from low-income families in specified subjects. The bursaries available are outlined in our university descriptions; and on the university search lists you can compare the amount available if your family income is around £18k−£20k pa.

Horribly complicated? See if this chart helps, which shows the approximate amount of help available to a student, depending on the family income.

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Help with living costs table in 2011 (if you live in England)

If your family income is..	£20k	£30k	£40k	£60+k
Maintenance Loan is.. (Less if you live with parents, more if you study in London)	£3497	£3997	£4595	£3564
Maintenance Grant is... (You don’t need to pay back)	£2906	£1906	£711	Nil
Bursaries from university (You don’t need to pay back)	£338+	Maybe	Unlikely	None
Total help of	£6741+pa	£5903+pa	£5306pa	£3564pa
Assumed your parents pay at least...	Nil	Nil	Nil	£1386
So what you have to live on	£6741+pa	£5903+pa	£5306pa	£4950pa

Some small print. There are allowances against your family’s gross income before you arrive at the figure used in the calculation – other siblings still in education etc. All these figures go up in line with inflation each year. If your parents (or spouse/civil partner) don’t want to complete the financial assessment, you will only be able to claim the non-means-tested loan, ie £3564 pa.

This maintenance money is all in addition to the Tuition Fee Loan.

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Applying for student support

Apply. Apply for student support as soon as you can (usually from about March). Do not wait until you have received an offer of a place or you risk not having your money by the start of the academic year. You need to apply each year of your course.

You make a single application for all types of student support. Go to the Student Finance England website, www.studentfinance.direct.gov.uk and you can then track your application with the password you will be given.

Are you eligible? The first decision on your application is whether you are eligible for student support (you may not be if you are already a graduate). This first stage is important because it caps the tuition fee your university can charge you (so you won’t be charged the full cost of your course) and entitles you to take out those loans that are not means-tested – the Tuition Fee Loan and 72% of the Maintenance Loan.

If you only want to take the non-means-tested loans, you indicate this on your application. But if you want to apply for more, then you and your family must complete the financial sections, so a financial assessment can be made.

Financial assessment. If you opt for a financial assessment, you will need to declare your family’s income (yours and usually that of your parents or any partner). You will then be told how much help you are entitled to for that year – that is, how much you can take out as a Tuition Fee Loan and how much maintenance money (Maintenance Loan, whether you are eligible for a Maintenance Grant and if so how much, whether you qualify for a Disabled Students Allowance etc).

Getting the money. Your money will be paid once you have started the course. The Tuition Fee Loan is paid directly to your university; your maintenance money will be paid directly into your bank/building society account (usually a third at the start of each term).

Bursaries. Your university will usually use your financial assessment to decide if you are eligible for a bursary too. You need to indicate on your application that you agree to your financial data being shared with the university and then you should get the bursary money automatically if you qualify. At some universities you actually need to apply for bursary help. So if you think you may qualify, make sure you know the procedure at your university.

You can find out more about student support and apply directly on the Student Finance England website www.studentfinance.direct.gov.uk or ring the helpline, 0845 300 50 90.

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