STUDENT FINANCE MATTERS

C My daughter/son can’t afford to go to university, it’s far too expensive! A Regardless of household income, eligible students can apply for a Tuition Fee Loan to help with the cost of fees, and a Maintenance Loan to help with their living costs. ! COMMON CONCERNS TUITION FEES

A Repayments don’t start until your child’s income is over £21,000 a year. They’ll then repay only 9% of their income over this threshold. C Debt from a student loan will be unmanageable! A The amount they repay will only increase with their earnings as repayments are based on their income, not how much they’ve borrowed. COMMON CONCERNS ! REPAYMENTS

SFE Provide financial support on behalf of the UK government to students from England entering higher education in the UK: The two main costs full-time students will have while studying are tuition fees and living costs. SFE make finance available to help students with both. Depending on their circumstances, course and where they study, students may be able to get a range of financial help and support. This includes grants and bursaries (which don’t have to be paid back) and loans (which do). i STUDENT FINANCE ENGLAND (SFE)

Bursaries & Scholarships Tuition Fee Loan Maintenance (Living Cost) Support Additional Support The Student Finance Package 1 THE STUDENT FINANCE PACKAGE SUPPORT AVAILABLE TO STUDENTS INCLUDES:

Universities and colleges* can charge new full-time students up to £9,000 per year (£6,750 part-time) for tuition fees. Eligible students won’t have to pay any tuition fees up front. A Tuition Fee Loan is available to cover the fee charged by the university. Remember that it doesn’t depend on household income. SFE pay any Tuition Fee Loan directly to a university or college. The loan is repayable, but only when the student’s future income is over £21,000 a year. *Publicly funded 1 TUITION FEES & LOANS

Maintenance support is available to help with living costs a student will face while in higher education. Two main types 1.Maintenance Loan 2. Maintenance Grant. The Maintenance Loan is repayable and all eligible students are entitled to get some funding. The amount of loan available will depend on where a student lives and studies and is paid directly into the student’s bank account each term.. 1 MAINTENANCE SUPPORT

Where Students Live & StudyMaximum Loan Available Parental Home Live at home £4,418 Elsewhere Live away from home and study outside of London £5,555 London Live away from home and study in London £7,751 Overseas Study overseas as part of a UK course £6,600 MAINTENANCE LOAN 2014/15 MAXIMUM RATES 1

The Maintenance Grant doesn’t have to be repaid. How much grant a student can get depends on their household income (100% means tested). Household income thresholds for 2014/2015: MAINTENANCE SUPPORT Household Income: up to £25,000 Household Income: up to £42,620 Full Grant of £3,387 Partial Grant MAINTENANCE GRANT 1

Household Income Maintenance Grant Maintenance Loan Total £25,000 & under£3,387£3,862£7,249 £30,000£2,441£4,335£6,776 £35,000£1,494£4,808£6,302 £40,000£547£5,282£5,829 £42,620£50£5,530£5,580 £42,875£0£5,555 £50,000£0£4,836 £62,132 & over£0£3,610 COMBINED MAINTENANCE SUPPORT LIVING AWAY FROM HOME, OUTSIDE LONDON 1 Students can get a quick estimate of their student finance entitlement using the calculator on gov.uk/studentfinancegov.uk/studentfinance

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT Extra support may be available to students who: have a child or an adult who depends on them financially have a disability, long-term health condition, mental-health condition or specific learning difficulty study an NHS or Social Work course NHS courses include: nursing, midwifery, physiotherapy, speech and language therapy, dietetics, radiography, the later stages of medicine and dentistry ADDITIONAL SUPPORT For more information on eligibility and applications for NHS support go to 1

STUDENT LOAN REPAYMENT STUDENT LOAN REPAYMENTS AN OVERVIEW 2 Students won’t make repayments until their income is over £21,000 a year gross (before tax). Full-time students will be due to start repaying in the April after graduating from/leaving their higher-education course. Repayments will be 9% of income over £21,000 and when employed deductions will be made from their pay through the HMRC tax system. If their income falls to £21,000 or below, repayments will stop. Early repayments can be made at any time, but any outstanding loan balance will be written off 30 years after entering repayment.

Income each year before tax Income from which 9% is deducted Monthly Repayment (Approx) £21,000£0 £25,000£4,000£30 £30,000£9,000£67 £35,000£14,000£105 £40,000£19,000£142 £45,000£24,000£180 £50,000£29,000£217 £60,000£39,000£292 STUDENT LOAN REPAYMENTS THE FIGURES 2 More information on loan repayments and interest rates can be found on

Each year thousands of students apply late for their finance and have no way to pay for their course or halls It will take at least six weeks* to process an application so apply early! Apply online at gov.uk/studentfinance to make sure that student finance is in place for the start of their course. Students don’t need a confirmed place at university or college to apply for student finance. Apply with their first choice, they can change details later if they need to. STUDENT FINANCE APPLICATIONS KEY MESSAGES FOR STUDENTS – APPLY EARLY 3 *SFE handle over 1 million applications a year, most involve interactions with other government departments, e.g. HMRC

NEED MORE INFORMATION? i i For further Information on student finance and applications go to: For a range of helpful tools and guidance, visit:

2 other sources of information are: