Financial assistance
Student finance for home/EU students
The fastest and easiest way is to apply for financial assistance online. Student Finance England provides the service for online applications in 2010–2011.
Student Finance Direct has been replaced by a new service: Student Finance England. Full-time higher education students from England can use its secure system to apply for finance online – and parents and partners can support an application online. If you’ve already registered online with Student Finance Direct, you can log in to your student finance account using the same details as before.
If you’re a new student
It’s best to apply as early as possible in order to ensure that Student Finance England receives your application in good time.
Online applications are quick and easy. You can save changes to the interactive application form as you go, and print off a copy for your records.
For details, visit www.direct.gov.uk/studentfinance
Tuition Fee Loan
Home/EU Students are eligible for a tuition fee loan through the Student Loans Company (SLC) to match the level of tuition fees payable. Fees will be paid directly to Rose Bruford College by the SLC on your behalf.All eligible students on a full-time HE programme can apply for up to the full amount. Help from a loan means fees do not need to be paid up-front; you pay them back once you have completed your studies and are earning. The loan is not like a credit-card debt – repayment amounts depend on how much over £15,000 you earn each year. These are low-interest loans and if you stop earning, you stop paying and do not have to renegotiate the payment schedule.
Student maintenance loan
In addition to your tuition fee loan, you will also be eligible for a student maintenance loan to help with living costs. These are available to eligible full-time undergraduate students permanently resident in the UK. The amount you are entitled to depends on your income (or that of your parents), whether you will be living at home or in student accommodation, and whether you will be studying in or outside London. Rose Bruford College is a London HE institution, so students qualify for the higher London region loan. The loans have the same low interest and repayment terms as the tuition fee loan.
To apply for a Tuition fee loan or a Student maintenance loan, visit the SLC website at www.slc.co.uk
Grants & Bursaries
Maintenance grants
Home/UK full-time undergraduate students may be eligible to receive financial assistance by applying to be assessed by Student Finance England. If you are a new full-time home undergraduate student starting a programme in 2010–11, you may be eligible for a maintenance grant of up to £2,906. These grants are to help with living costs and they do not have to be repaid. How much a student receives will depend on the student’s income and that of the student’s household. As a guide, if that income is £25,000 or less, you are likely to be eligible for a full grant worth £2,906. Partial grants are likely to be available for students with an income of between £25,000 and £50,000.
Visit www.dfes.gov.uk/studentsupport/ for more guidance.
EU students should contact the Government’s EU Services Team at
Access to Learning Fund
This is a fund provided by the Government to assist home/UK students (not EU) in severe financial hardship and requiring extra financial support. You’ll be expected to have applied for any Student Loans, grants and bursaries you’re entitled to before applying for help from the Access to Learning Fund. The College will look at your circumstances to assess whether there is a shortfall between your income and your outgoings.
Disabled/Dyslexic students
If you have an impairment, health condition (including a mental health condition) or specific learning difficulty such as dyslexia, you may be entitled to claim extra financial help as a student. This is an additional non-repayable support paid on top of anything you get through the standard student finance package.
If you incur additional costs as a result of undertaking your programme and as a direct result of your disability or learning difficulty, you can apply for support from the Disabled Students Allowances (DSA). DSA support is not income-assessed. You will need to apply to www.direct.gov.uk/studentfinance using the same PN1 form used to apply for all of your other financial support. Be sure to indicate that you have a disability and/or learning difficulty on this form. You will need to supply evidence for any disability listed.
Sources of extra financial help for disabled students include:
- Disabled Students’ Allowances
- Access to Learning Fund
- Disability Living Allowance
- Employment and Support Allowance
These are paid on top of the standard student finance package.
Disabled Students Allowances
This allowance is available to full time, part time and postgraduate home students with disabilities or dyslexia.
- It is administered by local education authorities, though the money is from central government
- The DSA is a non-means-tested grant that all students with disabilities can apply for
- The DSA is designed to bring disabled students to a ‘level playing field’
- It can be used to purchase equipment and to pay for personal assistants.
Students with dependents
If you are a full-time Home/UK student with children or financially dependent adults, you may be eligible for all or some of the following additional support:
- The Childcare Grant (to help with childcare costs)
- The Parents’ Learning Allowance (to help towards programme costs such as books, materials and travel)
- Help through the Access to Learning Fund (if you’re in financial difficulties)
- Child Tax Credit.
Forms and information are available from www.direct.gov.uk/studentfinance