www.gov.uk/studentfinance

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INTRODUCTION

TO

STUDENT

FINANCE

INFORMATION &ACTIVITES

2015/16

Before going any further, answer these questions to see what you alreadyknow about student finance:

Which of these are available from Student Finance England?a) Sponsorship and scholarshipsb) Loans and grants to help with tuition fees and living costsc) Book tokens to purchase University books

When should you apply for your student finance?a) After you’ve started your courseb) Once you have a confirmed offer from a university or collegec) As soon as possible

Q1

Q2

? HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW?

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Mark your answers in your work book, then come back and see how youdid at the end of these sessions:

What will your student loan repayments be based on?a) Your incomeb) How much you have borrowedc) Neither, you just pay a fixed amount regardless

How much do you need to earn before you start to repay?a) £16,000 a yearb) £21,000 a yearc) Doesn’t matter, repayments will be taken whatever you earn

Q3

Q4

? HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW?

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STUDENT FINANCE ENGLAND

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STUDENT FINANCE ENGLANDAN INTRODUCTION

Student Finance England 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.

• Student finance is available to help you with both.

• 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).

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WHAT FINANCE IS AVAILABLE?

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Tuition Fee Loan

Maintenancesupport

Extra support

StudentFinancePackage

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• Universities and colleges* can charge new full-time students up to £9,000 per year in 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 a university or college.**

• A Tuition Fee Loan doesn’t depend on household income.

• SFE pay your Tuition Fee Loan directly to your university or college.

• The loan is repayable, but only when your income is over £21,000.

*Publicly funded unis and colleges**Up to £6,000 for approved courses at private providers

TUITION FEES AND LOANSAN OVERVIEW

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TUITION FEES AND LOANSPART-TIME & NHS COURSES

Part-time courses - If you are planning to study a part-time course, the finance available to you is different.

Depending on your course intensity you can apply for a Tuition FeeLoan of up to £6,750 (£4,500 at private providers) and DSAs only.

NHS and social work courses - If you study for a degree on a pre-registration health professional training course such as nursing, midwifery,dentistry, physiotherapy or medicine you may be entitled to get somefunding through an NHS Student Bursary.

Visit www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/students for more information.

i Details of the tuition fees charged for specific courses can be found on university/college websites or at websites like unistats

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• Maintenance support is available to help with your living costs while in higher education.

• There are two main types of support, Maintenance Loan (repayable) and Maintenance Grant (non-repayable).

• All eligible students are entitled to receive some maintenance support.

• The amount of Maintenance Loan you can get depends on where you live and study.

• Maintenance support is paid directly into your bank account each term.

MAINTENANCE SUPPORTAN OVERVIEW

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London Live away from home & study in London

Up to£8,009£

Elsewhere Live away from home & study outside London

Up to£5,740£

Parental home Live at home while you study

Up to£4,565£

MAINTENANCE LOANMAXIMUM LEVELS 2015/16

If studying overseas as part of a UK course, Maintenance Loan support is still available. Up to £6,820 for 2015/16.i

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Full-Year Student*

65% Non Means Tested

35% Means Tested Maximum Loan

Parental home £2,967 £1,598 £4,565

Elsewhere £3,731 £2,009 £5,740

London £5,205 £2,804 £8,009

Overseas £4,433 £2,387 £6,820

i Additional loan may be available for any extra weeks of study if your course goes beyond 30 weeks in an academic year

*Lower rates are available to final year students

MAINTENANCE LOANMAXIMUM LEVELS 2015/16

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• The Maintenance Grant doesn’t have to be repaid.

• How much grant you can get depends on your household income (100% means tested).

Full Grant:£3,387

Partial Grant:(Min £50)

Household income: Up to £25,000

Household income: Up to £42,620

MAINTENANCE GRANTSUPPORT AND MEANS TESTING

Household income is the taxable earned and unearned incomeof the parents/partner you live with most of the time. i

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www.gov.uk/studentfinance

Activity 1 – By 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 in your work book.A

GET YOUR ESTIMATE

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Household Income

Maintenance Grant

Maintenance Loan Total

£25,000 & under £3,387 £4,047 £7,434£30,000 £2,441 £4,520 £6,961£35,000 £1,494 £4,993 £6,487£40,000 £547 £5,467 £6,014£42,620 £50 £5,715 £5,765£42,875 £0 £5,740 £5,740£50,000 £0 £4,998 £4,998£62,143 & over £0 £3,731 £3,731

COMBINED MAINTENANCE SUPPORTLIVING AWAY FROM HOME OUTSIDE LONDON

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Extra money or support may be available if you:• have children or an adult who depends on you financially.

• have a disability, mental-health condition or specific learning difficulty.

Bursaries and scholarshipsMany universities and colleges offer financial support to their studentsthrough bursaries and scholarships.

These can be linked to things like your household income, your course, academic achievement or if you play a musical instrument or a sport to a high standard.

EXTRA SUPPORT AN OVERVIEW

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It’s important you spend some time looking into bursaries and scholarshipsoffered and find out what’s on offer and how/when to apply.

A lot of bursary applications can be started as part of your main studentfinance application, but for many scholarships you may have to applydirect to the university.

Where to find the information:

• University and college websites – usually in the Fees & Funding sections.

• Other sites such as www.scholarship-search.org.uk

BURSARY & SCHOLARSHIP SEARCH

Activity - Use university/college websites and scholarshipsearch to find examples of bursaries/scholarships offered by two of your UCAS choices and record the details in your work book.A

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STUDENT LOAN REPAYMENTS

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• You won’t make repayments until your income is over £21,000 a year gross (before tax).

• If you study a full-time course, you will be due to start repaying in the April after graduating from/leaving higher education.

• You’ll repay 9% of your income over £21,000 and if you’re employed deductions will be made from your pay through the HMRC tax system.*

• If your income falls to £21,000 or below your repayments will stop.

• Any outstanding loan balance will be written off 30 years after entering repayment.

STUDENT LOAN REPAYMENTSAN OVERVIEW

*If you move/work overseas you will repay 9% of your earnings over the repayment threshold for the country you are living ini

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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£45,000 £24,000 £180

Activity 3 - If your income is £30,000 a year, the amount used to work out your student loan repayment would be: ?£...................... Giving a monthly repayment of: ?£......................

A

STUDENT LOAN REPAYMENTSTHE FIGURES

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Interest on your loan:• Interest is charged from the day your first payment is made 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 are studying until entering repayment, interest will be added at RPI +3%.

• On entering repayment interest will be linked to how much you earn,from RPI only if earning under £21,000 to RPI +3% if earning over £41,000 .

i For more information on student loan repayments and interestrates, go to www.studentloanrepayment.co.uk

STUDENT LOAN REPAYMENTSTHE INTEREST

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MANAGING YOUR MONEYSECTION 4

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Some of your living costs will include things you have thought of, such asaccommodation and food, through to things you may not have consideredyet such as a TV licence or insurance.

Some costs to think about include:

• rent, bills, books and study materials

• clothes, shoes, toiletries, make-up, haircuts

• leisure, sports and social activities• Care – make sure you find out the cost of accommodation – in some

cases it can be more than the maintenance loan you receive.

MANAGING YOUR MONEYYOUR BUDGET PLAN

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For further information on student finance and applications go to:

www.gov.uk/studentfinance

For a range of helpful tools and guidance, visit:

www.thestudentroom.co.uk/studentfinance

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NEED MORE INFORMATION?REMEMBER SFE IS ONLINE

Keep track of the progress of your student finance applicationusing the checklist in your work book.A