10 facts about fees and finance

1. There are no upfront costs with University Fees

  • You do not need to pay upfront to go to University. No eligible student has to find this money before they attend University and they don’t pay a penny until they have left their course and are earning a good salary.

2. Tuition Fee Loans are available regardless of household income

  • Loans for fees are for the full amount – regardless of whether your household income is high or low. There is no means testing for fees.
  • Once you’ve successfully applied for a Tuition Fee Loan it is paid directly to your University – you don’t need to do anything.

3. Maintenance loans are there to help with living costs

  • How much you can borrow depends on your household income and where you live when you’re studying. Here are some examples:

   All eligible students can apply for  Depending on household income you could also get up to  Max. Loan
 Living in parents’ home  £2,843  £1,532  £4,375
 Not living with parents, studying outside London  £3,575  £1,925  £5,500
 Not living with parents, Studying in London  £4,247  £2,288  £6,535
Source: Student Finance England

4. Repayments depend on how much you earn – not on how much you owe

  • You only begin to repay your loan once you earn over £21,000 per year
  • When you are earning above the threshold your first loan repayments will begin the April after you graduate.
  • If you aren’t earning above £21,000 you don’t pay anything.
  • If you start repaying and for some reason you stop earning over £21,000 you stop repaying.

5. Loan repayments are designed to be manageable

  • Repayments are deducted from your salary – just like National Insurance contributions and Income Tax
  • Repayments are calculated at 9% of income above the £21,000 threshold. So, if you’re earning £24,000 you’ll be paying approximately £22 a month (9% of £3,000).
  • How much you repay will increase as your salary increases – just like National Insurance and Income Tax.

Examples of repayments:

 Income each year before tax  Monthly salary  Approx. monthly repayment
 £21,000  £1,750  £0
 £24,000  £2,000  £22
 £27,000  £2,250  £45
 £30,000  £2,500  £67
 £40,000  £3,333  £142
Source: Student Finance England

6. Not all funding for University needs to be repaid

  • You can also apply for maintenance grants.
  • Grants do not need to be repaid.
  • The maximum you can get is £3250 per year, available to those whose household income is less than £25,000. Varying amounts are awarded to students whose household income is less than £42,600 a year.

7. Extra financial help is available

  • There is a £150 million national scholarship scheme being introduced from 2012 to help students from lower income households. The University of Worcester will be offering 200 scholarships through this scheme.
  • The University of Worcester offers additional support through Academic Bursaries and Access to Learning Grants.
  • If you have dependents you may be eligible for different grants and allowances (childcare grant, parents’ learning allowance or adult dependants’ grant).
  • Extra support is also available if you have special circumstances (disability, mental health condition, learning difficulty).

8. Part-time students are now able to apply for Tuition Fee Loans

  • For the first time students studying at least 25% of the equivalent full-time course can apply for a Tuition Fee Loan of up to £6,750.

9. A student loan won’t affect your credit rating

  • Information about your loan is not included on your credit file.

10. Loans are written off after 30 years

  • You stop owing when you have cleared the debt or after 30 years (from the April after graduation), whichever comes first.