Government Financial Support for UK/EU Students - 2012/13
Summary changes to the Government financial support system will mean that from 2012 new Home UK students will be entitled to;
- A non-means tested tuition fee loan to the value of fees charged, for more details please see Tuition Fees Loan
- A variable means tested living cost loan, please see Maintenance Loan
- A variable means tested living cost grant If your household income is between £25,000 and £42,600 you would be entitled to a grant of between £50 and £3,250 which you won’t have to pay back. Please see our Maintenance Grant page.
EU students are eligible to apply for student support for tuition fees in the same way as home/UK students.
- For details on how to apply for the above supports, please refer to Applying for Government Financial Support page.
Repayments
Loans will be repayable once graduates are earning above £21,000
Graduates earning between £21,000 and £41,000 will be charged interest on a sliding scale up to a maximum of inflation plus 3%.
Graduates earning above £41,00 will be charged interest at the full rate of inflation plus 3%.
For detailed information please see BIS Student Finance - www.bis.gov.uk/studentfinance
BBC News have also produced a Student Finance Calculator to give students an idea of how much it may cost them to pay off their student loans.
Example Repayments
| Salary | Amount of salary from which 9% will be deducted |
Monthly repayment |
|---|---|---|
| £25,000 | £4,000 | £30.00 |
| £30,000 | £9,000 | £67.50 |
| £35,000 | £14,000 | £105.00 |
| £40,000 | £19,000 | £142.50 |
| £45,000 | £24,000 | £180.00 |
Source: Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS)
Other points to note
- As is the case currently, tuition fees will not have to be paid up front.
- Financial support will be available for UK students from a low income background.
- Student loans (to cover fees and maintenance) will be available for all students, regardless of family income.
- Student loans will continue to be available for all students, who will only start to pay the loan back after graduation and once they are earning over £21,000.
- Any outstanding repayments will be written off after 30 years
- Maintenance grants of £3,250 will be available to students from households earning less than £25,000, partial grants will be available to students from households with incomes up to £42,000.
Further information
UK Government
- Find out more about student finance at studentfinance-yourfuture.direct.gov.uk
- For the latest information from the department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) see www.bis.gov.uk/studentfinance
The Independent Taskforce on Student Finance
The Independent Taskforce is independent of the government, lead by Martin Lewis, and are aiming to help explain the “New Fees 2012/13 structure” to Students, Parents, teachers and all other interested parties by producing a series of free resources as follows:
- The Facts about Fees: Student Loans 2012
Animation by Bournemouth University based on Martin's 20 facts - Martin Lewis explains the changes to student finance
Video by the head of the Independent Taskforce - Student Loans 2012
The 20 key facts on fees, loans & grants everyone should know
(also available as a PDF - StudentGuide.pdf)
Latest News
Deadline!
Student Finance England (SFE) 2012/13
The deadline for submitting applications for Continuing Students is 29th June 2012
The deadline for submitting applications for New Students is 31st May 2012
- Apply online at www.direct.gov.uk/studentfinance
- The sooner you apply, the sooner you’ll get your finance sorted