Transcript Document

Introduction/How much do you know?
Part 1: Student Finance 2015/16
Student Finance England
What finance is available?
Part 2: Applications and Beyond
Student finance applications
Student loan repayments
Managing your money
You can use the information and activities in this guide to find out more
about student finance and what it means to you.
But before you start, complete the questions below to see what you
already know about student finance then come back and review your
answers to see how well you did.
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Which of these are available from Student Finance England?
a) Sponsorship and scholarships
b) Loans and grants to help with tuition fees and living costs
c) A loaf of bread and a toaster
When should you apply for your student finance?
a) After you have started your course
b) When you have a confirmed offer from a university or college
c) As soon as possible
What will your student loan repayments be based on?
a) Your income
b) How much you have borrowed
c) Neither, you just pay a fixed amount regardless
How much do you need to earn before you start to repay?
a) £16,000 a year
b) £21,000 a year
c) Doesn’t matter, repayments will be taken whatever you earn
Student Finance England
Student Finance England (SFE) is a service provided by the Student Loans Company.
We provide financial support on behalf of the UK Government to students from England
entering higher education in the UK.
We’re here to help and can offer you financial support when you need it most — during your
studies.
Depending on your circumstances, your course and where you study, you may be able to get a
range of financial help and support.
You could get grants and bursaries (which you don’t have to pay back) and loans (which you do).
Most students won’t have to pay any tuition fees up front.
What finance is available?
The two main costs full-time students will have while studying are tuition fees and living costs.
There’s student finance available to help you with both.
Tuition Fee Loan
Universities and colleges can charge up to £9,000 a year for full-time courses.
No eligible, new student will have to pay for tuition fees up front. You’re entitled to a Tuition Fee
Loan of up to £9,000 to cover your fees, which won’t have to be paid back until your income is
over £21,000 a year.
The Tuition Fee Loan is not linked to household income levels and SFE pay this loan directly to
your university or college, so no need to worry about making the payments yourself!
Further information on eligibility for student finance or if you plan to
study a part-time course can be found at gov.uk/studentfinance
NHS Support
If you’re planning on studying an NHS course such as a degree in nursing, midwifery,
physiotherapy, dentistry or medicine then you may be entitled to funding through an NHS
Student Bursary*.
An NHS Bursary can help with your tuition fee and living costs and additional support is also
available from Student Finance England if required. For more information on NHS Bursaries,
eligibility and how/when to apply, go to www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/Students
*Additional support may also be available to students studying a degree in Social Work.
What finance is available?
Private universities and colleges
Some private universities and colleges also run courses which have been approved for student
finance by the government. These providers do not have an upper limit placed on the level of
tuition they can charge.
If you’re thinking of studying an approved course at a private university or college you can still
apply for a Tuition Fee Loan of up to £6,000 a year but if the tuition charged is above this you’ll
need to pay the extra unless any support is available from the provider.
You’ll find information on courses and tuition fees at open days, on
uni or college websites or on other useful websites like unistats
Living Costs
You’ll face a wide range of living costs while at university or college. This will include things you
have thought of, such as books, food and accommodation through to things you may not have
considered yet such as a TV licence or insurance.
There are two main types of support available from Student Finance England to help with these
costs, a Maintenance Loan and a Maintenance Grant.
Maintenance Loan
Depending on your household income and where you live and study you could get up to
£8,009.
Some of this support is available to all eligible students with the basic rate of Maintenance Loan
(65% of the maximum) not depending on household income, but the remaining 35% does.
Where you live and study
Full rate
(100%)
Doesn’t depend on
household income (65%)
Live with parents
Up to £4,565
£2,967
Study in London and not living
with parents
Up to £8,009
£5,205
Study outside of London and not
living with parents
Up to £5,740
£3,731
Live and study abroad
(Part of UK course)
Up to £6,820
£4,433
The Maintenance Loan has to be paid back (combined with Tuition Fee Loan) but not until your
income is over £21,000 a year.
What finance is available?
Maintenance Grant (or Special Support Grant)
A grant of up to £3,387 to help with living costs. This doesn’t have to be repaid. How much you
can get depends on your household income.
Household income
How much?
£25,000 or less
Maximum £3,387 grant
Between £25,001 and £42,620
Partial grant, depending on household
income
More than £42,620
No grant
The amount of Maintenance Grant you can get will affect the amount of Maintenance Loan you
can borrow. The amount of Maintenance Loan you can borrow will be reduced by £0.50 for
every £1 of Maintenance Grant you are entitled to.
The Special Support Grant replaces the Maintenance Grant for people who, as full-time students,
can claim income-related benefits. The maximum Special Support Grant is £3,387 and doesn’t
affect Maintenance Loan entitlement.
What is household income?
Generally your parents’ income* is assessed if you’re under 25 and depend on them financially.
*Taxable earned and unearned income (eg wages, benefits, pension or investments)
For more information on income assessments, go to
www.gov.uk/apply-for-student-finance/household-income
Using the calculator on gov.uk you can get an estimate of the student
finance which may be available to you and make a note of the results:
Estimate 1
University/College
Tuition Fee Loan
Maintenance Loan
Maintenance Grant
Estimate 2
What finance is available?
Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs)
DSAs are available to students who have extra costs because of a disability, mental-health
condition or specific learning difficulty.
DSAs don’t depend on household income and don’t have to be paid back. How much you can
get depends entirely on your circumstances and support through DSAs can go towards costs of
non-medical helpers, equipment or travel.
Childcare Grant
The Childcare Grant helps with childcare costs if you have dependent children under 15
(under 17 if the child has special educational needs) in registered or approved childcare.
Parents’ Learning Allowance
Parents’ Learning Allowance is to help with course-related costs if you have dependent
children.
Adult Dependants’ Grant
Adult Dependants’ Grant helps students who have an adult who depends on them financially.
For more information on DSAs and Dependants’ Grants go to
www.gov.uk/student-finance/extra-help
Bursaries and scholarships
Many universities and colleges offer additional financial support through bursaries and
scholarships. These can be linked to things like household income, academic achievement,
your course or if you play a musical instrument or a sport to a high standard.
It’s important to look into what may be on offer from the universities or colleges you are applying
to. The information can be found on their own websites or on sites such as scholarship search.
h
Find details of bursaries or scholarships offered by two of your uni
or college choices and record the information below:
University/College
Bursary/Scholarship
Amount available
How do you qualify?
When/how do you
apply?
Student Finance applications
How and when to apply
You only need to make one application for us to be able to assess the Tuition Fee Loan,
Maintenance Grant, Maintenance Loan and, if applicable, any Parents’ Learning Allowance or
Adult Dependants’ Grant you can get.
If you need to apply for other support, like the Disabled Students’ Allowances, or help with
childcare costs, tell us on your main application and we’ll send you a separate application form
for these.
Also make sure you and any parent(s) or partner supporting your application have ticked the
consent to share information boxes on the application form. By doing this we can share relevant
details with your university or college which can help in applying for many bursaries/scholarships.
Application hints & tips
•
Apply as soon as possible so we have time to assess your application and make sure
your student finance is ready at the start of your course.
•
Applying online at www.gov.uk/studentfinance is the quickest and easiest way for most
students to apply and for your parents or partner to support your application.
•
You do not need a confirmed offer from a university or college. Apply for your finance
using your preferred choice so we can start the assessment.
•
If your course, university/college or personal information does change before you start
you can log into your account and update your application.
•
As part of your application, you’ll need to supply your National Insurance number and
details of your bank account, so have these ready.
Identity evidence
We’ll need to see evidence to confirm your identity. If you hold a valid UK passport all you have
to do is provide the details on your application form with no need to send us anything else unless
we ask for it.
If you don’t hold a valid UK passport then original documentation such as a
birth certificate or non-UK passport will need to be provided.
Income evidence
If you’re applying for student finance that depends on household income, your parents or partner
will need to provide information on their income. In most cases they can do this by completing
their section of the online application, providing details of their household income and National
Insurance number. We can then automatically check this with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).
If necessary, we may then contact your parents or partner asking them to provide additional
evidence of their household income; this could include photocopies of P60s or payslips.
Student loan repayments
If you’ve been studying full-time while in higher education, you’ll usually enter repayment the
April after leaving or graduating from your course.
Once you enter repayment, the amount you repay will depend on your income and not how much
you borrowed. If your income is £21,000 a year or less, you won’t have to make any repayments.
When your income is over £21,000 gross (before tax) you’ll repay 9% of income earned over this
amount. The table below shows some example repayments.
Income each year
before tax
Income from which
9% is deducted
Monthly repayment
(Approx)
£21,000
£0
£0
£25,000
£4,000
£30
£30,000
?
?
£35,000
£14,000
£105
£40,000
£19,000
£142
Your income is
£30,000
9% is deducted from?
Monthly repayment?
...................................
..................................
Repayment amounts will be rounded down to the nearest pound so £142.50 becomes £142 etc.
Repayment facts
•
If you’re employed, your employer will take your repayments directly from your salary along
with tax and National Insurance contributions.
•
If you stop working, your repayments will stop, only starting again when your income is
back over the threshold.
•
Any loan remaining 30 years after you’re due to start making repayments will be written off,
but you can make penalty free repayments at any time if you want to clear your loan earlier.
•
If you’re planning to travel or work abroad for more than three months after you finish or
leave your course, you’ll need to fill in an Overseas Income Assessment form so your
repayments can still be made if necessary.
Interest on your loan
Interest is charged from the day we make your first payment until your loan is paid off in full or
written off. The interest charged is linked to the Retail Price Index (RPI) and will vary.
While you’re studying until entering repayment, interest will be added at RPI +3%, then on
entering repayment will be linked to your income. For more information on repayments and
interest go to www.studentloanrepayment.co.uk
Managing your money
Studying in higher education (particularly if you live away from home) can mean a lot of
expenses will need to be covered. Some will be one-off like a laptop or printer, some will be
termly (rent and books), monthly (mobile phone bill) or more frequent such as food, travel,
nights out and other leisure activities.
Any maintenance support you get from SFE will usually be paid to you in three
instalments across an academic year (one each term) so you need to make it last.
When the cash lands in your account, the temptation to spend it all on things like a whole new
wardrobe of clothes, technology, gig tickets, or whatever else floats your boat will be right there
in front of you, but do remember to be sensible with your money so you are not flat broke a
month into term and struggling to pay the bills and buy your books or food!
To avoid getting into a mess, it’s definitely worth planning some kind of budget based on what
you expect to receive from Student Finance England, any bursaries/scholarships and any other
source of regular income (job, family, etc) and putting these up against the costs you will be
facing.
We’re not all finance or accountancy students so it doesn’t have to be an in depth balance sheet
but getting an idea of the basics will help and a lot of the information can be found online or by
asking staff at your university or college.
NUS extra
Extra is a scheme offered through the National Union of Students and offers students discounts
across a wide range of shops, restaurants, websites and on leisure activities, and from £12, it is
worth checking out: www.nus.org.uk/en/nus-extra/
Student bank accounts
Many high street banks have accounts designed for students and they are keen to get your
business. Some will try and tempt you in with various freebies, but what you want to be looking
out for first is the best interest free overdraft on offer, because if you do run low on funds and
need a little extra to see you through, you don’t want to be running up any interest charges.
Be sure not to go over your agreed limits though or the fines will start and think very carefully
before even considering credit or store cards. Once you’ve decided on a bank and signed up,
do remember to update your student finance account online so we know where to pay your
support!
Part-time or holiday jobs
Obviously getting the best degree possible will be the main use of your time in higher education,
but if you do have a couple of afternoons, evenings or weekends free then you may be able to
balance a part-time job with your studies to earn a bit of extra cash. Of course, working during
the holidays is also an option if term time is just too busy.
Managing your money
Use this page to make a note of the finance you expect to receive, check out some of the
expenses you will face and get an idea of how your budget will look.
Income source
How much
How often
Maintenance Loan
Maintenance Grant
Bursary or
Scholarship
Not all of your income will
necessarily come in at once.
Some will be termly, some
monthly or maybe even weekly.
Job & family
Savings
Other
Total
Expense
How much
How often
Rent
Utility bills
Phone bills & internet
TV licence
Accommodation costs can usually
be found on university websites.
Travel (16-25 Railcard?)
Sites like unistats and push.co.uk
are also useful for finding out what
costs might be in the town or city
you’re going to be studying in.
Books & materials
Insurance
Total
How much you spend on some other expenses will depend on your personal
tastes, some are listed below with extra spaces for your own suggestions too.
Expense
Clothes & shoes
How much
How often
Expense
Haircut
Music & films
Gym & sports
Nights out & social
Food & toiletries
Total
How much
How often
Your student finance checklist
APPLY
ONLINE
Steps to follow for completing your student finance application.
•
I’ve read this guide and checked out the extra information at
www.thestudentroom.co.uk/studentfinance
•
I’ve used the Student Finance Calculator and have an idea of what
student finance I could get at www.gov.uk/studentfinance
•
I know how to apply for student finance and when the deadline for
applications is.
•
I’ve registered online at www.gov.uk/studentfinance and now have a
CRN (Customer Reference Number).
•
I’ve made a note of my CRN and the security details for my account
(password and secret answer) and will keep these safe.
•
I’ve found out whether I need financial details from my parents or
partner to support my application.
•
I’ve logged in to my student finance account and applied online before
the deadline.
•
My parents or partner have completed their part of my application
before the deadline.
•
I’ve sent any necessary evidence or further information to SFE,
remembering to only send photocopies of financial evidence.
•
SFE have sent me a Student Finance Entitlement letter telling me how
much I’ll get.
•
I’ve signed and returned my declaration form (SFE need this before
any money can be paid to you or your uni!).
APPLY
ONLINE
Remember, you can make changes to your application later if
you need to.