Some of the support available to students is dependant on their income or their household’s income. Entitlement to the Assembly Learning Grant, Special Support Grant, Higher Education Grant, and the extra portion of the Maintenance Loan depends on the student’s household income. The higher the income, the less grant or Maintenance Loan they will be entitled to. Students who wish to apply for income assessed support are required to supply information about their personal income, and the income of relevant members of their household in their application.
Some of the support available to students is available to everyone, and is not dependant on the level of their income or their household’s income. Entitlement to the student loan for Tuition Fees and the basic level of Maintenance Loan does not depend on the student’s household income. Students who wish to apply for non-income assessed support will not need to supply information about income in their application.
You are considered a ‘dependent student’ for the purposes of student finance if you are:
under 25;
are not married or in a civil partnership;
have no dependant children; and
have not supported yourself financially for at least three years before the start of the academic year.
If you are a dependent student the income of your parents will be considered, unless you choose to only apply for support that is not based on your household income.
You are an independent student if, at the start of the academic year for which you are applying for support, you are:
aged 25 or over;
have care of a child or children;
are married or in a civil partnership;
have supported yourself for at least three years prior to the start of your course;
or, if you have no living parents.
A period of supporting yourself includes any time when you were:
in paid full-time employment;
received Income Support or Jobseeker’s Allowance;
or were registered for unemployment;
received incapacity benefits, invalidity pension or maternity allowance;
or received training under any scheme for the unemployed or other funding by any state authority or agency.
If you are an independent student, your parents' income will not be taken into account.
If you are an independent student who is 25 or over, or married or in a civil partnership, your partner’s income will be included when working out how much finance you can get.
If you are applying for student finance which does not require any financial information to be provided, you must return your form to us by 23 April 2010 in order to ensure you receive your first payment at the start of term.
If you are applying for student finance based on your household income you must return your form to us by 28 May 2010. This will ensure you receive your first payment at the start of term.
If you miss these deadlines, your application will be processed as soon as possible. But your first payment may not be available at the start of term.
You must complete your application within 9 months of the start of your academic year. Otherwise you may not get any student finance.
Student Finance Wales will send you a letter informing you of the dates, amounts and payment method to be used for each of the instalments.
You can expect payment to your account within 3-5 working days of your Higher Education Institution (HEI) confirming your attendance at the start of each term.
This will only apply if your application has been submitted on time.
Your Customer Reference Number is an eleven-digit number that is used to uniquely identify your personal student finance account.
When applying for support for the first time, if you apply online you will receive your Customer Reference Number when you first register your details. If you apply on paper you will be sent your Customer Reference Number in a letter.
You will find your Customer Reference Number on all correspondence relating to your student finance application.
Keep your Customer Reference Number in a safe place you will need it every time you login to your online account or contact us by phone. You can use your Customer Reference Number to have your Password and Secret Answer reset and sent to you by e-mail. Your Customer Reference Number can also be used in conjunction with your personalised pin number to obtain information on your account through our automated telephone system.
What happens if I misplace my Customer Reference Number?
You can view your Customer Reference Number online by clicking on ‘Forgotten your details?’ from the login page on the Student Finance Wales website. You will need to know your Secret Answer and Password.
You will need these details each time you login to your account or contact us by phone. We use the Password and Secret Answer to ensure the security of your personal information. We want to make sure we never give out information to the wrong person.
You can change your Password and Secret Answer anytime from your online account under ‘Update My Profile’.
If you have forgotten these details, but have your Customer Reference Number, you can have new details sent to your e-mail address from ‘Find out your login details?’
What happens if I forget my Password and Secret Answer?
If you have forgotten these details, but have your Customer Reference Number, you can have new details sent to your e-mail address from ‘Find out your login details?’
I’'m having trouble resetting my Password and Secret Answer online
I am getting an error message after I enter my details
The details you have entered may be incorrect, or not recognised by our system:
You can only use this function if you have given us a valid e-mail address. You may have provided this when you first applied for support.
If you are resetting your Password and Secret Answer, make sure you are correctly entering your Customer Reference Number. This can be found on any correspondence you have received from us.
If you are attempting to view your Customer Reference Number, make sure you are entering you Password and Secret Answer correctly.
I reset my Password and Secret Answer online, but I didn’t receive an e-mail with my new details
Certain types of e-mail accounts, such as Hotmail, Yahoo, and AOL, may detect some e-mails as spam. Check any junk mail or spam mail folder for an e-mail from ‘sfd_webmaster’.
A provisional assessment happens when a new student has not been able to provide their Local Authority with all the financial information needed.
If you have not been able to provide your Local Authority with all the information needed, your Local Authority can make a provisional assessment using the information they have. Your Local Authority will confirm the assessment when you are able to provide the missing information.
The Calculator asks if I have lived in the UK for the last 3 years. If I haven't, will I be ineligible for Student Support?
On the first day of the first academic year of your course you must have been ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for the three years immediately before this date. You must have been resident for reasons other than for the purpose of receiving full-time education.
If you were away from this country because you or your family were temporarily employed abroad, you may be treated as if your residence in the UK had not been interrupted.
If you have been granted humanitarian protection, discretionary leave or exceptional leave to enter or stay in the UK by the Home Office, you must meet the three-year ordinary residence requirement.
If you are an asylum seeker in the UK, you will not normally be eligible for support towards your fees unless you have been granted ‘settled status’ by the Home Office. You must also meet the three-year ordinary residence requirement.
Why did the Calculator give me a larger amount than the actual assessment has?
The Calculator provides an estimate of your entitlement and is for guidance only. The amount you are entitled to, is assessed by your Local Authority based on the information you provide in your application.
Why can't the Calculator provide an estimate for EU students?
In the case of EU students, more information is required for an assessment of financial support. If you are an EU national (that is, a national of a member state of the European Union) or the child of an EU national, and you would like further information about financial support arrangements while you are studying at college in England, contact the European team.
The European Team Room 38 Mowden Hall Staindrop Road Darlington County Durham DL3 9BG
Phone: 01325 391199 (10am to 4pm) Website: www.direct.gov.uk/eufinance E-mail: EUTeam@dfes.gsi.gov.uk
Please note that these details will change as from 3rd April 2006. The new contact details will be:
The Calculator does not give an estimate for part-time students. Does this mean I am not entitled to funding?
The calculator is for full-time students and those studying part-time initial teacher training courses only. Part-time students can apply for funding, depending on the course they are studying. To discuss whether you would be eligible for this contact your Local Authority.
I want to provide my financial details in support of a student’s application online, when and/or how can I do this?
The student must have completed and submitted their application before you can also provide the financial details required online.
In their application for student support, the student is asked to indicate if their sponsor(s) will provide their financial details online or by paper form. You can support their application online, in the same session, or by logging in with your own Customer Reference Number.
If the student applied before 9 April 2010 the student will be given an Alias ID to pass onto their sponsors. Sponsors cannot support a student’s application online without this Alias ID.
Sponsors are required to register on the Student Finance Wales website (if you do not have an existing student finance account), and then log in to your account using the unique Customer Reference Number provided. The sponsor should then select 'Support an Application', and use the Alias ID to link their information with that of the student they are supporting. .
You need an Alias ID if the student you are supporting applied before 9 April 2010.
When a student applies online for income assessed financial support while they study, they will be asked to provide contact details of those people they depend on for financial support, such as their parents or partner – their ‘sponsors’. They will also be asked to indicate if their sponsors will provide details of their income online or by paper form.
If the student indicates that the sponsor will provide their information online, the student is given an Alias ID to pass onto their sponsors. The Alias ID is a unique identification that is used to link the student's online application with the information provided by their sponsors. Sponsors cannot enter their information online without this Alias ID. The Alias ID is needed each time a sponsor wishes to provide or update their details online. Sponsors should keep their Alias ID in a safe place.
How do I inform SLC that a student or former student has passed away?
If you need to let us know that a student or former student has passed away, you can do so by calling our Customer Support Office or alternatively in writing to our offices in Glasgow.
You will need to provide us with the original death certificate or coroners’ report which you can send for the attention of the following:
Douglas Gould Student Loans Company Limited 100 Bothwell Street Glasgow G2 7JD
How may the amount of my financial support change if another member of my family is also in receipt of student finance?
We will reassess your parents' contribution to student finance, based on the circumstances for your family. In most cases, where two or more students from the same family are receiving student finance, the parental contribution will be divided equally between them.
However, if any of you are attending for part of the year only, we may divide the contribution between students according to how much time each student spends at university or college during the year.
Will my brother’s or sister’s own income be taken into account?
No. If you are a dependent student, only your parents' and your own incomes are taken into account. If you have some income of your own you may have to contribute to your own student finance, but you do not contribute to your brothers' or sisters' student finance.
How will you know when other members of my family become eligible to receive student finance?
When applying for student finance, they will be asked to provide the full name and details of any other member of the family who is in receipt of student finance. We will then assess the parental contribution for the family as a whole and divide this between all the students from that family who are receiving student finance.
So if you have a family member who will be at university or college at the same time as you, and who has not yet been assessed for student finance, your own entitlement may change when we deal with their application. If the circumstances of your family member change during the year, your entitlement may also change.
How will I know if my entitlement has changed and how much my revised financial support will be?
We will send you a letter to advise you of any new entitlement as soon as we have reassessed your financial support.
If you started your course in academic year 2005/06 or before, or you were a gap year entrant in academic year 2006/07, any amount of Grant for Tuition Fees and Tuition Fee Loan you are entitled to may be affected by a reassessment.
If you started your course in or after academic year 2007/08 or you were a direct entry student in academic year 2006/07, your Tuition Fee Loan entitlement will not be affected by a reassessment.
If you have applied for an income assessed Maintenance Loan and are entitled to borrow more as a result of the reassessment, the letter will tell you how much more you can now borrow.
You must advise us immediately if you or another member of your family stops studying part way through the academic year so we can adjust the parental contribution to the remaining student or students. If a member of your family leaves university or college during the year, your financial support may also change
We will notify you of any reassessment of your financial support. Do not assume that a reassessment has been carried out until we have told you. Sometimes there may be a delay in us advising you about any change to your financial support, this is because we may require more information from the university or college.
Parental contributions are assessed differently for students who entered higher education in different years due to changes to rules, which have changed from year to year.
We will determine the contribution for each student using the rules that apply, based on the year in which each student began their course of study. This may mean that different students in the same family have different contributions.
If all students started their course in or after academic year 2007/08 or were direct entry students in academic year 2006/07, we will reassess your entitlement. This could result in an increased amount of Maintenance Loan. This will not affect your Tuition Fee Loan, Maintenance Grant or Special Support Grant.
If all students started their course in academic year 2005/06 or before, or were gap year entrants in academic year 2006/07, we will reassess your entitlement. This could result in an increased Grant for Tuition Fees as well as an increase in the amount of Maintenance Loan you can borrow. It will not affect your entitlement to the Higher Education Grant.
You can update your personal details, including your preferred contact address, permanent home address, email address, and contact phone numbers by logging into your online account and selecting ‘Update My Profile’.
What is the difference between my ‘preferred contact address’ and ‘permanent home address’?
Your preferred contact address (or correspondence address) is where you will normally live during your studies, such as a hall of residence. We will send most letters to you at this address.
Your permanent home address is where you normally live outside of term time, such as your parents’ home. This is the address which is used to assign your case to the appropriate Local Authority.
You can update your contact and home address from the ‘Update My Profile’ section of your online account.
You can update your bank details from the ‘Update My Bank Details’ link in your online account or by completing a Change of Circumstances form.
Note: there may be a limit on how close to the payment of your loan instalments you are able to change your bank details. Any time restrictions will be announced on the Student Finance Wales website.
I am unable to attend my course due to illness, what happens to my loan?
If you are unable to attend your course for more than 60 days, you should contact the Student Loan Administrator at your college or university. It may be possible for you to continue receiving the loan instalments.
I have withdrawn from my course, what do I do now?
If you are thinking about leaving your course before it ends, or transferring to a new course, this could affect your entitlement to support for other courses in the future. If you want to transfer courses or withdraw from your course, talk to your college and your Local Authority (LA) as soon as possible. You will need to complete a Change of Circumstances Form (available to download from the Student Finance Wales website) and return it to your LA.
What if my personal details change after I have applied, e.g. what if I get married?
If your personal details have changed since you started your course you should complete a Change of Circumstances Form and return it to your Local Authority.
I have decided not to continue with my course, will I be eligible for financial support in the future?
Leaving you course early could affect your eligibility for financial support if you decide to take another course in the future. How your eligibility is affected will depend on your personal circumstances. Contact your Local Authority for further details.
You will also be asked to pay back any overpayment you have received.
Should I wait until I know which course I’m going to study before I apply for finance?
No. Apply now.
You need to choose a course you intend to study when you apply online or using a paper form. However, it’s common for people to change the course they’re planning to do after getting their A level or other exam results.
If you’ve changed course since applying for student finance, there’s no need to worry: you’ll still get paid and you don’t need to re-apply. Even if your Offer Letter has details of your old course or university, you should still take it with you when you register for your new course.
But you’ll need to report the change – just complete form CO1 and send it to your Education and Local Authority (LA). They will then work out whether there’s any effect on the student finance you’re entitled to, and make any necessary adjustments to your payments.
HND students - I am on an HND course and I want to transfer to a degree course. Can I do this?
Yes. The process is the same as if you were transferring from one degree course to another. If after finishing your HND you decide to transfer to the final year of a three year degree course, you would be eligible to apply for a Tuition Fee Loan.
I started in academic year 2005/06 or earlier (or you were a gap year student who started in 2006/07)
We will reassess your entitlement to a Grant for Tuition Fees for the whole of your new course. If you are changing to a different university or college, they will decide which university or college will receive payment of tuition fees for that academic year on your behalf. This depends on when you changed from your old course to your new one.
I’m changing course after the start of the second year - or if you are changing course for the second (or third, etc.) time
You may have to pay your own tuition fees for part of the new course. This depends on the duration of your new course and the number of years of previous study you have been financially supported for.
Provided you do not already have a UK Honours degree, you will be able to receive a Maintenance Loan for as long as you are studying a course of higher education.
I want to transfer but I must go through ‘Clearing’ to obtain a place on a new course. Can you still transfer my student finance?
Yes. Your existing university or college must confirm the change to us, and you must inform them once you have been accepted onto a new course. Your new university or college will then confirm that you are in attendance at your new course.
We will suspend your student finance until you are attending your new course, and reinstate it when they receive confirmation of attendance from your new university or college.
I am an EU national, how can I find out about financial support to study in Wales?
If you are an EU national (or a child of an EU national) and wish to study in Wales, you may get a Tuition Fee Loan on a similar basis to UK students.
If you are an EU student, and applying through UCAS, they will send you an application form when you are offered a place on a course. If you do not apply through UCAS, you will be able to get an application form and further details about the support available from the EU Team:
European Team PO box 89 Darlington Staindrop Road DL1 9AZ United Kingdom
Phone: 0141 243 3570 (Monday to Friday - 9am to 5:30pm) Email: EU_Team@slc.co.uk
I will be entering postgraduate study, am I entitled to support?
In general, there is no mandatory support for postgraduate study for students in Wales. An exception to this is PGCE studies for those wishing to become teachers. Information on funding for Teacher Training courses can be found on the Training and Development Agency for Schools website
Postgraduate students who have a disability may be able to receive an allowance. See What additional support is available for 2010/11 for further information
