What support is available in Academic year 08/09?

This page details information for academic year 08/09.You can also find information for academic year 09/10.

Student Loans

Help Towards Your Tuition Fees

Grants and Other Assistance

Part Time Students

Additional Support Available

Student Loans

The loan rates for your final year are lower since you complete Higher Education at the end of the Summer term.

Loan rates are slightly higher for students living in London (not in their parental home) to accommodate the higher cost of living there. Your Local Authority (LA) will decide whether you will be entitled to the London loan rates on the basis of the post code of your place of study. If you are unsure whether you come into this category, your LA will be able to advise you.

Loan Rates

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Help towards your tuition fees

You will be charged tuition fees of up to £3145. You may be entitled to a grant for all or part of your tuition fees, but the amount of grant you can get will depend on your household income.

Student Loans for Tuition Fee Contributions

You will not have to pay fees before you start studying, or while you continue your course.

Eligible students will be able to apply for a Student Loan for Fees to cover the cost of any assessed contribution towards your fees. You can borrow any amount up to the full amount of fee charged. This may be the difference between the total fee charged and the amount of fee grant awarded.

These will be paid directly to your place of study and will be repaid like any other student loan, once you have finished studying and are earning over the repayment threshold.

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Higher Education Grant

If you started your course between 1 September 2004 and 1 September 2006, you may qualify for a Higher Education Grant, You must be on a full-time undergraduate, sandwich or part-time ITT course.

How much you get depends on your household income, and will be calculated by your Local Authority when you make your application. The tables below will help you estimate your entitlement:

If you are from Wales, and your household income is below £5,750 you will also receive £500 from the ALG scheme.

For further information contact your contact your Local Authority.

Assembly Learning Grant (HE) for continuing students

The Assembly Learning grant (HE) (ALG) continues to provide extra support for students from low-income famalies.  Students may apply for an ALG from their Local Authority on top of a student loan and other forms of support.

This information is only relevant to students who enrolled on a course of higher education before 2006/07, and are already in receipt of an Assembly learning Grant (HE) and remain eligible until such time as they complete that particular programme of study.

To qualify for an ALG (HE) this year, you or you family's or household income must be £17,250 or less.

For further  information contact your contact your Local Authority.

How much you get depends on your househould income, and will be calculated by your Loacal Authority when you make your application.  The table below will help you estimate your entitlement.

Academic Year 2008/09
Household Income	Full Time Course
£0 to £5,745	£1,500
£5,746 to £11,490	£750
£11,491 to £17,250	£450

Part-time students

Fee Grant

Part-time undergraduate students studying at least 50% of an equivalent full-time course (your college will be able to tell you if your course qualifies) are entitled to receive a Fee Grant, depending on your household income. Your LA will work out how much support you can get.

There will be three different rates of fee grant depending on how intensive your course is. For example, if you study at a rate equivalent to 75% of a full-time course, you could qualify for a higher fee grant than a student studying at a rate equivalent to 50% of a full-time course. The table below sets out the maximum fee grant that you could get:

You can also apply for assistance with course related costs worth up to £1,050. If you are on a part-time teacher-training course, you are not eligible for part-time grants but you may qualify for full-time support.

Students who already have a degree cannot normally apply for this support.

Gap Year Students

If you wish to take a Gap Year, you must receive written confirmation that your chosen institution agrees to this by September 2007.

You will be subject to a £1,200 tuition fee for the first year of your course. From the second and subsequent years of your course, you will pay a flexible tuition fee of up to £3,070.

If you choose to study in England, you must have received written confirmation of acceptance from your chosen institution by 1st August 2006 to be eligible for tuition fees of £1,200 per year, for the duration of your course. If you receive your confirmation of acceptance after this date you will pay a tuition fee of up to £3,070 per year.

Postgraduate students

In general, there is no mandatory support for postgraduate study centrally funded by the Welsh Assembly Government for students who normally live in Wales; an exception to this are PGCE studies for those wishing to become teachers.

The Open University deals with applications for the fee grant, the course grant and Disabled Students Allowance from its own students. If you are studying with the Open University (OU) and you need any information, you should contact them on 01908 653411, or e-mail them at reg-fees@open.ac.uk for more details. If you are a disabled student studying at the Open University, you should contact your OU regional centre and ask about the conditions of eligibility for Disabled Students Allowances and how you should apply for them.