Thinking of entering full-time higher education in 2010/2011

What’s in this presentation? Investing in your future with Student Finance Wales Tuition fees and fee loans Other Financial help: –Maintenance/ Living cost loans –Assembly Learning Grant –Special Support Grant –Bursaries Examples The application process Useful contacts

Investing in your future It’s worth spending some time finding out what support you are entitled too and applying for it: To start, some key facts to keep in mind: Student Loans (Fee loans and maintenance loans): These are provided by the Welsh Assembly Government at an interest rate linked to inflation so what you repay is equivalent to the amount you borrowed. You need to repay loans when you start earning £15,000 a year or more after graduation. Grants: These are provided by the Welsh Assembly Government, and do NOT need to be paid back (unless you leave your course early). Grants are available for students from low income households or students with special circumstances. Bursaries: These are provided by your ‘college’ and do NOT need to be paid back.

Student Finance Wales Student finance services available to you now depend upon where you live If you normally live in Wales, you are entitled to Student Finance Wales services, regardless of where you choose to study in the UK

How much are my tuition fees? If you choose to study in Wales or elsewhere in the UK in 2009/10 colleges can charge a tuition fee of up to £3,225 a year. Figures for 2010/2011 will be confirmed within the next few months.

Can I get a loan to pay my fees? Wherever you study in the UK you can apply for a tuition fee loan so that: Your fees are paid directly to your place of study Your fee payment is ‘deferred’ You will need to repay your fee loan after you have left your course and are earning more than £15,000 a year

When you are studying a full-time higher education course, you will also need money to live on and to pay for your books and equipment There is financial help available to MOST full-time students What other financial help is available to me?

How do Student Loans work? Student Loans are available for living expenses (maintenance loans), and to cover what you have to pay towards tuition fees (tuition fee loans) Payable in instalments – Maintenance loans are paid at the start of each term Not commercial loans Provided by the Government. Interest rate linked to inflation – so the money you repay is the same in real terms as the money you borrowed

In addition to any tuition fee loan that you take out, you can also apply for a student loan to assist with your living costs (maintenance loan) How much you can borrow depends on your household income, on your entitlement to the Assembly Learning Grant, and on where you are living Student loans are repayable The three rates of loan available are: –Living at home rate –Living elsewhere rate –Living in London rate How much can I borrow?

Maintenance Loans – Living Costs Where a student is entitled to an Assembly Learning Grant of £1,288* or above, equating to a household income figure of up to £27,852*, the student is only entitled to apply for the minimum amount of the relevant loan rate payable. *These are for 2009/2010. Figures for 2010/2011 will be confirmed shortly. Rate of Loan Living at Home rate£3,673* Living Elsewhere rate£4,745* Living in London rate£6,648*

Maintenance Loans – Living Costs Applicable rate of student loan Household income figure Non-Means Tested loan available Living at Home rate£48,303*£2,755* Living Elsewhere rate£50,788*£3,559 Living in London rate£55,200*£4,986* Where the household income is above the levels shown, an application should be made for Non Means-Tested Support Only. In these cases, it is only the student who has to complete the application form. The rate of Non Means-Tested Support depends on where the applicant will be studying. For example, you will receive a higher rate of student loan if you are lodging in London than you would if you were living at home. The table above shows the relevant figures. *These are for 2009/2010. Figures for 2010/2011 will be confirmed shortly.

Repayment of Student Loans Your maintenance loan and your fee loan will be combined together as one amount You don’t start paying anything back until you have left your course and are earning more than £15,000 a year Repayments are recovered at a rate of 9% of any income you receive above the £15,000 a year threshold Repayments are made automatically through the tax system How much you repay is determined by how much you earn From 2010/2011 new students who take out a maintenance loan will receive up to £1500 debt relief from Student Finance Wales once they start to repay their loan.

From 2010/2011 an Assembly Learning Grant of up to £5,000 a year will be available to students from households with a lower income (the maximum award for 2009/2010 is £2,906) The amount of grant that you receive depends on your household income. If this is lower than £18,370* you will qualify for the maximum amount. The Assembly Learning Grant does not have to be repaid * This figure is for 2009/2010. Figures for 2010/2011 will be confirmed shortly. Grants Assembly Learning Grant

In certain circumstances you may be eligible to claim the Special Support Grant instead of an Assembly Learning Grant e.g. if you are a lone parent, in receipt of incapacity benefit or a registered deaf or blind student. This Special Support Grant will be for the same amount as the Assembly Learning Grant, but which will be disregarded as income by Jobcentre Plus There is also no reduction in Maintenance Loan when the student is entitled to the Special Support Grant Special Support Grant

Bursaries If you are studying in Wales and eligible for the maximum Assembly Learning Grant, you will be eligible for a new Welsh National Bursary of a minimum of £319* a year This core Welsh National Bursary is in addition to scholarship or bursary programmes run by individual universities or colleges Ask you college for details *This figure is for 2009/2010. Figures for 2010/2011 will be confirmed shortly.

Specific Grants There is extra help available for you if you have special circumstances such as: Disability – This is a grant to help provide non-medical equipment that you may need to enable you to study your course. This could be a special computer program for example. Children Adult Dependants Contact your Local Authority for further details.

How do I apply for student support?

Complete an application form You need to get a form PN1 from your school, college or LA. You can also apply online. Forms will be available this autumn. Fill this in with your parent(s) leaving no question unanswered. Send this form to your Local Authority, together with the documents that are required Your financial entitlement will be assessed by the Local Education Authority You will receive a ‘Financial Support Notification’, which lets you know the amount of support to which you are entitled

Or apply on-line You can also apply on-line at the Student Finance Wales website: At this website you can: Track the progress of their application Calculate the amount of student finance that may be available Calculate any household contribution that has to be made The website also gives valuable advice on all aspects of student finance

What information will you need to provide on your application? The PN1 form (and on-line application) includes questions about: Your current and previous residences Your college and course details, including the UCAS codes Confirmation of your likely unearned income for the period 1st September 2010 to 31st August 2011 Confirmation of your parents’ or step parent’s earned income for the previous tax year, i.e: Financial year ending March 2009 On the form you will also need to: Complete the maintenance and tuition fee loan request forms to inform the Student Loans Company of the amounts you wish to borrow You can apply for some, all or none of the loan at this stage and you can change your mind later

What information will you need to provide on your application? If you want to take out a loan complete the loan request form. If you miss out your bank account details or National Insurance Number no payments can be made You also need to submit either your original Birth Certificate, current valid Passport or other endorsed paperwork. Photocopies are not acceptable Important: You must ensure that you have completed the form, in full, leaving no question unanswered and supplied the relevant certification as requested. If you have to be contacted for further information, this will delay the application process This may mean that the first instalment of the student finance will not be paid on time, and that the tuition fees are not paid to the college

What happens next? The fully completed PN1 form should then be sent, along with the relevant certification, to the Local Authority – NOT the Welsh Assembly Government Applications are dealt with on a date order basis, so please complete and submit your forms as soon as possible ENSURE YOU PUT THE CORRECT POSTAGE ON THE ENVELOPE

The assessment procedure Once the Local Authority has received the form, they will then enter and submit the details online to the Student Finance Wales website The details entered are used to calculate if are any deductions from the maximum maintenance loan and ALG All paperwork regarding the application will then be sent out directly by Student Finance Wales, including the Financial Support Notification

The assessment procedure The Financial Support Notification informs the student of their entitlement to student finance. It confirms the student’s entitlement to Assembly Learning Grant and Student Loan The notification will also show whether or not the student has applied for the Tuition Fee Loan and, if so, how much Shortly before you are due to start college, Student Finance Wales will send a payment schedule letter detailing the date and method of payments It is vitally important to contact the Student Finance Wales Contact Centre on if any details change after submission of the PN1 form, such as change of course/college after ‘A’ level results etc

Useful Contacts Website: Telephone: (Mon–Fri 8am–8pm; Saturday 9am–1pm) Or contact your Local Authority – their address is in the phone book or on the Student Finance Wales website