Loan Application
The simple short answer on applying for student loans is to visit the student finance website (now called student finance for England and is under the umbrella of direct.gov.uk) - The longer version is shown below on what you can expect to receive to help pay your tuition fees and if any grants or bursaries are available.
Student Loan Application Deadline
Of course you need to ensure you get your application in good time. The general deadlines for non-assessed income is 25th April and for income assessed 27th June each year. The absolute deadlines are: for full time students send in your student loan finance application no later than 9 months after the start of the academic year and for part time students no later than 6 months after the start of the year. Of course the sooner you do it the sooner you'll receive your money.
Online Loan Application
For students starting in terms 2009, 2010 and 2011 you can apply for all your student loans and repayments online at the government's website. If you don't want to do this you can also used the old method and apply in writing from the same website. The online process is simple where you just need to enter your details.
The general student loan only covers tutition fees (see below) and you can also use the same application for you apply for a maintenance loan (for living expenses - currently £4,950 per year), and other specialist grants and bursaries that may be offered by your college or university so you don't need to mess around completely many forms and applications. Some of these are means tested such as a maintenance grant which if your household income is less than £25,000 can be worth up to £2,835 and does not need to be paid back. More information on student grants available and the student universary bursaries can be found on this site.
Student Loans - an Overview
Loans of Tuition
Although there is more information about the loans here we have provided an overview of what it is for and how to pay it back.
- The standard student loan is to cover tuition fees now charged by colleges and universities in the UK
- This loan is not means tested (ie: not based on your parents income)
- It's at favourable interest rates based upon inflation rates and run by the student loans company
- You only have to pay the loan back once employed and earning over £15,000 per year
- If you do not pay it back because you are not employed interest is added each month
- If you have not paid it back after 25 years the government writes off the debt and you will never have to pay it back
- You can get a new loan for each year of your course
Loans for Maintenance
The standard student loan only covers your annual tuition fees and if you need an additional loan to cover living expenses you can apply to have a maintenance loan. This differs slightly depending where you are based (in that in London the available loan is higher). This is not means tested and you can also get a loan if you are living with your parents whilst studying.
Maintenance Grants
As mentioned above there are grants available if your household income is less than £60,000 and these grants do not have to be repaid. Currently you can get £2,835 if the household income is less than £25,000 and a partial grant between £25,000 and £60,000.
The grant is instead of the loan and is not in addition. This means you'll have less debt at the end of university :)