Kampus Group always provides its students with full guidance on how to apply for Student Finance. Students are able to borrow money through this route to help pay for university or college tuition fees and to help with their living costs. You might get extra money which is called a Maintenance loan, this is for those who may come from a low income household or have a child.
However, some student finance applications are granted only with the tuition fees, some are granted with living costs as well with the tuition fees to eligible candidates. Free studentships are also available in the UK…but the finances are granted based on the eligibility of the students applying. This is why it is important to know how to apply for student finance correctly.
All the students need to start repaying once they earn over a certain bracket. The student’s monthly repayments will depend on how much they earn, not what students owe altogether. Students will be charged interest on the loan from the day they take it out from student finance. The terms and conditions can change from time to time.
Who is eligible?
Learn More about How to apply for Student Finance brought to you by Kampus Group, eligibility of the candidates is assessed based on the following criteria below:
- Candidate’s nationality or residential status
- Candidate’s previous study background
- The university he/she is going to attend
- Age of the candidate
- The course he/she is going to apply for
The university and course will be cross-checked by Student Finance before being granted. Students usually get finance if they are doing their first higher education qualification although even if they have completed a self-funded course before. Under certain instances as well as some specific courses may still be eligible for funding which can be limited. If the students stop their course within their first year, they will get funding for the same course or a new course when they go back to complete it.
If someone stops studying for a valid personal reason like sickness or personal events, the individual might get funds for all of their courses under the condition of submitting supporting evidence online.
Students who are aged 60 or above on the 1st day of the academic year of their course and studying full time may get limited funding for their maintenance loans.
How to apply for Student Finance as a Full-Time Student?
A new full-time student can apply for both a Tuition Fee Loan and Maintenance Loan if their course starts on or after 1st August of 2016.
How to Apply for Student Finance?
The applying process for student finance within the UK depends on the academic background of the students and their nationality. The procedure is different for the students in regards to their history.
New part-time and full-time students can apply for student finance in England.
At first, the individual has to create an online student finance account of their own.
They can then login into the account where they are required to complete the online application.
If applicable, one can add their household income. The student’s partner or parent will be asked for confirming these details as the information will be used for working out on those individuals so that the candidate student may get extra money they’re entitled to.
The information will include the following:
- Household’s taxable income of the previous tax year
- Personal taxable income of the previous tax year
How to Apply for Student Finance
In the process, the partner’s income will be combined with the income of the student’s partner. Parent’s income will be put together with the income of the student, and their parents (both father and mother, if they live together and even if they were not living together during the previous tax year) as well as the student’s own savings, property or investments e.g. rent or dividends.
Once the student has applied for Student Finance, they will be notified within 24 hours via an email which will require them to send in evidence… this will occur only if the student is asked to send the evidence.
HMRC (HM Revenue and customs) verifies the information provided by the students given in the application.
Evidence of income and marital status might be asked to be provided by Student Finance.
It takes nearly 6 weeks to review the evidence.
After confirming all the information Student Finance England will notify the applicants.
Based on the eligibility of the students they will get a basic maintenance loan as well as their tuition fee loan even if their information is still being processed.
Students need to apply for finance each academic year.
After applying, students will get an email within 24 hours that will contain a link. The link will redirect the individual to sign in to the student’s account where the candidate student must provide any changes to the information, marital status, financial information for the previous tax year.
Students have to send proof of their identity if required. Individuals who are having trouble with their online application procedure may use ‘form finder’ to get necessary forms. They also have the option of calling Student Finance England to apply online if they face any issues in regards to their application.
How to Apply for Student Finance in terms of a Maintenance Loan
Maintenance loans will be granted for those students who’s eligible with the following criteria:
- a first degree, for example, BA, BSc or BEd
- an Initial Teacher Training course (if it’s degree level or above)
- an integrated master’s degree
- a Foundation Degree in dental hygiene and dental therapy
- a DipHE in dental hygiene and dental therapy or operating department practice
Which University Courses are Eligible for Student Finance?
You’ll most likely be eligible to apply for Student Finance if you’re studying one of the following courses in the UK:
- First degree (like a BA or BSc)
- Foundation degree
- Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE)
- Certificate of Higher Education
- Diploma of Higher Education (DipHE)
- Higher National Diploma (HND)
- Higher National Certificate (HNC)
- Initial Teacher Training (ITT)
- Integrated master’s degree
- Pre-registration postgraduate healthcare course
Please take into consideration that, in most instances, you will only be eligible to apply for the Student Finance route if this is your first degree. If you already have a degree, you may not be eligible.
It is worth contacting the relevant Student Finance body in the part of the UK your uni is in, to see what you’re eligible for, how to get student finance, or if any previous qualifications might be in the way of your application.
Maintenance Grant for living costs:
Students have to give details of their household income and their course start date.
The grant is paid into the student’s bank account at the start of each term. Students do not have to pay this back, but any funds they get will reduce the number of Maintenance Loans you can get.
Special Support Grant
You may get a Special Support Grant instead of a Maintenance Grant if you get or qualify for:
- Income Support
- income-related Employment and Support Allowance
- Housing Benefit
- the housing element of Universal Credit
The amount you get is the same as the Maintenance Grant and this will not affect your grant payment.
You may also get the Special Support Grant if, for example, you’re a lone parent or have certain disabilities.
You’ll be told if you’re eligible for the grant when you apply for student finance.
Repaying your UK Student Loan:
EU students/international students repay their loans in the exact same way as students from the UK do.
Our complete guide on ‘How to Apply for Student Finance’ and repaying your Student Loan has everything you need to know so far. Here’s a quick summary of the key points for those who are studying in England and Wales:
You don’t repay anything until April after you graduate and when you’re earning over the amount of £27,295 a year.
You pay back 9% of anything you earn over £27,295 a year. For instance, if you earned £32,295 you would pay back 9% of £5,000 which equates to £450 a year.
If you’re living and working outside of the UK region, repayments start when you’re earning the equivalent of £27,295 in your country.
As soon as you’re no longer earning over £27,295 or equivalent, your Student Loan repayments will stop for the time being.
Your loan starts accumulating interest from the start of your degree.
Your debt will be wiped out completely after 30 years, no matter how much you’ve paid off.
The key thing to remember is that student debt isn’t the same as other kinds of debt that you may accumulate. Repayments are manageable and always in line with what you earn; you’ll not be put in a situation where you have to pay it back if you can’t afford to.
Your student debt will affect your credit score:
Your credit score is important in determining whether you’re accepted for financial commitments… this can affect everything from your phone contract to getting a mortgage on your first property.
A lot of students share the same worry of how their credit rating will be affected by having a large chunk of debt. The good news is that your Student Loan debt won’t appear on your credit report.
The only way they’ll be able to find out if you have a Student Loan is through asking you through your application process, this is to calculate your net earnings.
Your Student Loan Will Stop you From Getting a Mortgage:
Your Student Loan repayments do affect your mortgage application to a small extent, however, it’s unlikely they’ll ever stop you from getting a mortgage altogether.
When applying for a mortgage in the UK you’ll undergo something called an ‘affordability check’. This is where a mortgage lender looks through your monthly incomings and outgoings to see how much you’ll realistically be able to pay up each month which will then decide how much cash to lend you.
As your loan repayments will be coming out of your salary at the end of each month, you’ll technically only be able to afford a smaller mortgage repayment each month.
However, the amount you repay is so little in the larger scheme of things for instance only 9% of anything you earn over £27,29. This certainly shouldn’t impact your ability to actually get a mortgage.
You Need to Pay for Master’s Degrees Yourself
Since 2016, the government has been offering Postgraduate Loans of up to £10,906 in the UK and for those looking to do a master’s degree.
As master’s courses tend to have a hefty price tag, many students have previously opted to go to Europe for their postgraduate study instead as it can turn out cheaper.
It’s important to note that the £10,906 loan given is intended to cover both your tuition fees as well as your living expenses. The tuition fees for most Master’s courses sit at around £9,000 – £11,000. This means that the loan will likely only cover your tuition fees, and you’ll have to find the money to cover your living expenses elsewhere.
As of 2018, the government has introduced Student Loans for PhDs as well. They’ll give you up to £25,700 to cover the entire course.
You Don’t Repay your Student Loan if You Move Abroad…
As much as we’d love this statement to be true… it is certainly false that you don’t have to keep repaying your Student Loan if you move abroad.
No matter where in the world you’re currently living, if you’re earning over the equivalent of £27,295, you are still required to make Student Loan repayments.
If this is the case, you have to take the initiative of contacting Student Finance first to let them know you’re working abroad and set up your repayments. This doesn’t occur automatically as it does in the UK.
If you don’t repay the amount that you owe, you’ll be expected to pay the backlog of months you’ve missed when you return to the UK…
We hope that this guide on ‘How to Apply for Student Finance’ brought to you by Kampus Group has been of help, we are always here to give you further assistance.