How to Apply for Student Loans in the UK
Student loans issued by the UK government are intended to pay your university tuition fees and your living costs while you are away at, or attending, college or university. You are entitled to take out two loans per academic year. These must be paid back but not until you have left university and have a job that pays more than £15,000 per year. As well as student loans, you may still be eligible for a student grant.
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Instructions
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Find out if you're eligible for a student loan. This is determined by several factors, including the type of course you're doing, the university or college of your choice and where you live, among other criteria. You don't have to wait until you have a full-time university placement, however, to determine if you would be eligible for a student loan or to learn how much of a loan you would be granted. Plan your finances ahead. Use Directgov's online Student Finance Calculator to determine your eligibility (see Resources).
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Investigate your options. Two types of student loan are available each year. The Tuition Fee Loan is intended to cover tuition fees and totals £3,290 for 2010/11, while a Maintenance Loan is worth up to £4,950 if you live away from home (potentially more if you study in London). This is intended to help cover the cost of accommodation and other living costs. The latter is measured against your household income. Both of these need to be repaid when you leave university.
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Apply for Grants. Don't assume you can only apply for loans. Exhaust all options when it comes to student finance. You may be eligible for a bursary from your chosen university or college or even a Maintenance Grant or Special Support Grant from the government. The government predicts that 40 percent of new students for 2010/11 will be eligible for a Maintenance Grant. These are worth up to £2,906. Neither the grant nor the bursary need to be paid back.
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Apply early. Don't wait until you have been offered a place on a university course to apply for a loan. Apply early to make sure your loan or grant will be ready on your first day of term. Loan applications were open from April for courses beginning 2010/11, but you can still apply if you have missed the deadline. See the Directgov website for advised dates for application.
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Apply online. The fastest way to gain your student loan or grant is to apply online at Student Finance England (see Resources). You will first need to register with the website to receive your Customer Reference Number. Use this Customer Reference Number to log in to your student finance account and apply online. Once you have finished your application, you will have to return an online declaration form, which you can download from your student finance account. You may be asked to include certain documents or details as evidence of your claims. These will depend on your exact circumstances but may include your passport (details about and not the passport itself), university or college details and the course you're applying for, course start date, bank and National Insurance details, income details if relevant and the name and address of anyone who will be supporting your application. You can also apply by post using the form PN1 if you're a new full-time student. Find this on Directgov's website (see References).
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Tips & Warnings
Part-time students have different finance options to those available for full-time students. See the relevant government website for your area for specific details. Visit the Student Loans Company website for information on student loans, grants and bursaries in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Each has different procedures and loans available and you should apply for your loan in the country where you normally live, regardless of which country you are planning to study in.
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