What support is available in Academic Year 2009/10?

This page applies to academic year 2009/10.

You can also find support available in academic year 2010/11.

• Student Loans
• Loan Rates
• Help Towards Your Tuition Fees
• Grants and Other Assistance
• Bursaries
• Part Time Students
• Open University
• Gap Year Students

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, sandwich or part-time 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

From 1 September 2010 to 31 August 2011 the interest applied to income based loans is 1.5% per year.

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.

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 much can I borrow?

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

For continuing students 72% of the loan is non income-assessed, while 28% 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 as 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 £3,225 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 £3,225 for academic year 09/10.

Fee Grant: If you study in Wales

If you normally live in Wales AND study at a higher education institution in Wales, you will also be entitled to a fee grant of up to £1,940 which does not have to be repaid.

The fee grant is available irrespective of family income, and is paid directly to your place of study.

If you study in England or Northern Ireland

If you normally live in Wales but study in England or Northern Ireland, you will not be entitled to a fee grant. You will be charged the fees set by your college or university, up to a maximum of £3,225. 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. 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 2009/10

For every £1 of ALG you receive, the amount of Maintenance Loan you are entitled to will be reduced by £1, up to £1,288. This means that up to £1,288 of repayable loan will be replaced, by the non-payable grant.

New Initial Teacher training students

Students on Initial Teacher training courses that do not lead to a first degree, and are studying for 10 weeks or more will receive £1,288 minimum, regardless of your household income. Students who are studying between 6 and 10 weeks will receive a minimum of £644.

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 £1,075. 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

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.

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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 09/10, you must have received a letter offering you a place by 1st August 2009, to receive the 09/10 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 10/11 package and will not be entitled to the tuition fee grant.

You will receive 09/10 finance if any of the following applies to you:

• you take up an offer of a place in academic year 10/11 which you held on or before 1st August 2009 (this can be either a conditional or unconditional offer)
• you have an offer for 09/10 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 09/10, but took up the place in 10/11 instead of 09/10 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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