One of the biggest worries for students heading off to university is money. You need to finance your education and also ensure you have enough money to live on. maximum tuition fees in England are: £9,790 per year for full-time students and £7,145 per year for part-time students. The fees for 2027/28 have not yet been confirmed.
Tuition fee loans are available as well as maintenance loans to help with living costs. Tuition fee loans are paid directly to the university. Interest is charged on the loan from the day you take it out. Maintenance loans can be applied for at the same time, lending you money at the start of each term and are re-paid in the same way as tuition fee loans. How much you receive depends on your household income and other factors such as where you study, how long for and where you are going to be living. When you are studying, the interest on your loan is the UK Retail Price Index (RPI) plus three per cent. After you graduate, the rate depends on how much you earn.
You will not have to start paying your loans back until you are earning aboveacertain threshold. The Student Loans Company uses your National Insurance number to keep track of your income. They will instruct HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) to notify your employer when you start working, and payments will be deducted from your taxable earnings. If your income falls below the starting threshold within a certain month, there won’t be a repayment deduction made for that month. Once the loan is paid off in full, HMRC notifies your employer and the repayments stop.
The quickest and easiest way to apply is online at www.gov.uk/studentfinance and it’s important to apply as soon as possible so your funding is in place for starting your course. Additional financial support is available for students on a low income, students with children or dependent adults, disabled students, medical, social work and teacher training students and students studying abroad.
As soon as you have an offer for a place through UCAS, you can talk to the banks about opening an account. The advantage of this is that student bank accounts normally have an interest-free overdraft facility which is useful if you accidentally overspend. This will usually be activated once your first instalment of loan goes in. Make sure to take one or two forms of photo ID such as a passport or driver’s licence along to the bank along with proof of address, such as a bank statement, and your UCAS offer letter.
