What support is available this year 2010/11?

Student Loans

Loans are available to help with your living costs - course materials, accommodation, food, clothes, travel, and so on.

Who can apply for a loan?

If you are on a full-time or sandwich initial teacher training course, you are eligible to apply for a loan.

You may be eligible even if you have previously studied in Higher Education. Your Local Authority will tell you if you are eligible to apply for a loan again.

To receive a student loan you must be under 60 in age.

Interest Rates

There are two options for establishing the interest rate for income contingent loans.  The first is to use Retail Prices Index (RPI), or the bank base rate, whichever is lower.  There is also a low interest cap linked to that option, which means that the loan interest rate can be cut in-year, when the base rate plus 1% across a group of banks, is lower than RPI, as happened in December 2008 for the first time.  The second option is for Welsh Ministers not to apply an interest rate. 

Whilst to date the March Retail Price Index (RPI) has set the student loan interest rate, the Minister for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills decided not to apply an interest rate for the academic year 2009/10 - effectively making the rate 0%.

If you repay through PAYE or Self-Assessment, interest accrual will be suspended from the start of the tax year until the end-of-year repayment details are received from HMRC. Interest will then be calculated and applied to your account retrospectively.

How will my loan be paid?

Your loan is usually paid in three instalments, at the start of each term, directly into your bank account. If your application is successful, Student Finance Wales will issue a payment schedule letter to you which will explain what amounts will be paid and when.

How much can I borrow?

This depends upon your household income and where you live while you study.

For continuing students 75% of the loan is non income-assessed, while 25% is income-assessed. This means that a proportion of the loan paid to you will be dependent upon your household income.

For new students, the amount of loan available will depend upon household income, and may also depend on the amount of any Assembly Learning Grant awarded.

How do you work out my "household income"?

This depends on whether you are an independent or a dependent student

You are classed as an independent student if at least one of the following statements applies to you -

• you are over 25 when you commence your studies
• you have been married or entered into a civil partnership before you start your course (your Local Authority (LA) may ask for proof of this)
• you have supported yourself financially for at least three years before you start your course
• you have no living parents
• you are a full-time student who has care of atleast one child under the age of 18

If you identify yourself as an independent student and are married or in a civil partnership, your spouse or civil partner’s income will also be taken into account.

You are classed as a dependent student if you live in your parental home and / or rely on at least one of your parents for financial support.

"Household income" for dependent students is worked out in the following way -

• if you live with both parents, both their incomes will be taken into account
• if you live with only one of your parents, it will be their income only that is taken into account
• if you live with a spouse or partner(of either sex), this person's income will also be taken into account

If your parents or partner do not provide details of their income to your Local Authority, you will not receive all the financial support to which you are entitled.

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Loan Rates

Loan Rates are slightly higher if you live in London and outside your parental home, as London has a higher cost of living than the rest of the UK. 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.

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Help towards your tuition fees

You can apply for a loan of up to £3,290 to cover the exact amount that the university or college charges for a course and the money will be paid directly to the university or college to cover the cost of fees.

Flexible Tuition Fees

Universities and colleges in Wales can charge their own level of fees, up to a limit of £3,290 for academic year 10/11.

If you study in England or Northern Ireland

You will be charged the fees set by your college or university, up to a maximum of £3,290. Student Finance Wales will provide a loan to cover these fees which you will need to repay in the same way as the loan to cover your living costs.

If you study in Scotland

If you normally live in Wales but study in Scotland, you will be charged £1,820 a year for all courses, except medicine, which is £2,895 a year. These figures are based on the 2009/10 academic year as the Scottish Government have no yet published the 2010/11 rates.  Student Finance Wales will provide a loan to cover these fees which you will need to repay in the same way as the loan to cover your living costs.

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Grants and other assistance

If you normally live in Wales, you may be entitled to the following support from the Welsh Assembly Government:

Assembly Learning Grant

The Assembly Learning Grant (ALG) provides financial support to help meet general living costs.

If you want to apply for The Assembly Learning Grant you should complete this Application Form (927kb). For further information contact your Local Authority.

The Assembly Learning Grant is paid in three instalments, one at the start of each term, just like your Student Loan.

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

Academic Year 2010/11

For every £1 of ALG you receive, the amount of Maintenance Loan you are entitled to will be reduced by 60p, up to £2,844. This means that up to £2,844 of repayable loan will be replaced, by the non-payable grant.

New Initial Teacher training students

Students on full-time Initial Teacher Training courses that do not lead to a first degree, and are studying for 10 weeks or more will be eligible for an Assembly Learning Grant or Special Support Grant based on household income.

Financial Contingency Funds

These are available through your university or college. The fund enables the institutions to provide discretionary assistance to students who are experiencing financial difficulties, or who might not otherwise have been able to afford to enter or remain in higher or further education.

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Bursaries

Bursaries are extra financial help for students which are provided by the college or university that you attend.

There will be a National Bursary Scheme operating for students in Higher Education in Wales. Further details are available at the Welsh Bursaries Scheme home page.

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Part-time students

Fee Grant

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

There are 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 £1,095. 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.

Other Part-time Support available

Part-time undergraduate students studying at least 50% of an equivalent full-time course may be entitled to receive Adult Dependants’ Grant (ADG), Childcare Grant (CCG) or Parents’ Learning Allowance (PLA). Your college or university should be able to tell you whether your course qualifies.

The maximum grants payable for part-time students will be 50%, 60% or 75% of the full-time maximum, according to whether the student is studying at 50-59%, 60-74% or 75%+ intensity of as full-time equivalent course.

The table below sets out the maximum grant amounts you could get if you are eligible.

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Open University students

You need to apply directly to the Open University rather than applying through Student Finance Wales. The Open University acts as Local Authority for Open University (OU) students and assesses all applications for part-time financial support (Fee Grant and Course Grant) and Disabled Student's Allowances (DSA), regardless of where you live. For information about the support available please visit www.open.ac.uk.

If you are studying with the OU and you need any information about part-time financial support please contact the OU Financial Support Office on 01908 653411, or e-mail financial-support@open.ac.uk. If you are a disabled student please contact the OU DSA Office for information about eligibility and how to apply. You can contact them on 01908 654136, Textphone: 01908 659955 or email to DSA-Queries@open.ac.uk.

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Gap Year Students

The student finance rules are changing for academic year 10/11 - courses starting after September 2010. You will no longer receive the tuition fee grant if you are a new student but will be able to apply for an enhanced tuition fee loan.

If you are taking a gap year in 2009/10, you must have received a letter offering you a place by 1st August 2009, to receive the 2009/10 student finance package. You can also use a printout of the offer on the track screen from UCAS. If you miss this deadline, you will receive the 2010/11 package and will not be entitled to the tuition fee grant.

You will receive 2009/10 finance if any of the following applies to you:

• you take up an offer of a place in academic year 2010/11 which you held on or before 1st August 2009 (this can be either a conditional or unconditional offer)
• you have an offer for 2009/10 but you take up a place in academic year 10/11 for a different course. You will need to send Student Finance Wales a copy of a letter confirming that the subject matter of your new course is mainly the same
• you held a conditional offer for academic year 2009/10, but took up the place in 2010/11 instead of 2009/10 after successfully appealing your exam results

Please read the following Questions and Answers document for more information:

• Q&A: Gap-Year Students (pdf 89.7 kB)

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