Student Finances 2020/21
Student finance may seem confusing, but we have all of the information here that you need to know about applying for funding for undergraduate courses at The University of Northampton in 2020/21. There’s a lot here, so feel free to bookmark and come back to this page when you need it.
Am I eligible for funding?
Eligibility to receive funding for an undergraduate course will depend upon your circumstances; eligibility criteria may include residency, previous higher education study, age, household income assessment, etc.
In general, you’re likely to be eligible for funding if you meet ‘Home’/UK residency criteria and are enrolling on your first undergraduate course.
Residency can be complicated; in general, you usually meet ‘Home’/UK residency if you are ordinarily resident within the UK and have been living here for three years or more before the start of your course, and there are no restrictions on your stay here (most students with a UK passport will meet this criteria).
If you’re an EU national, you may meet ‘Home’/UK residency status if you have been ordinarily resident within the UK and have been living here for five years or more before the start of your course, and there are no restrictions on your stay here.
Usually, if you already hold a degree qualification, you may not be eligible for funding towards a new undergraduate course. If you have previously been enrolled on a higher education course — even if you did not gain a qualification — this may limit the amount of funding available to you.
Although there is no upper age limit for Tuition fee loans, if you are over the age of 60 when you enrol on a full-time course, the amount of Maintenance loan you receive may be limited.
Household income will be taken into consideration when assessing for loans and grants towards living costs. Students who are in receipt of means-tested DWP benefits are advised to contact their benefits provider and/ or Citizens Advice for further guidance as student funding is likely to affect eligibility.
Further information about eligibility criteria can be found here: www.gov.uk/student-finance/who-qualifies
The funding outlined in this blog may be available to students who usually live in England; if you usually live in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, further information about funding is available here: www.gov.uk/apply-for-student-finance
Tuition fees
The University of Northampton’s tuition fees for undergraduate courses are charged for each year of study; here are our fees for 2020/21 academic year www.northampton.ac.uk/undergraduate/undergraduate-tuition-fees/
Tuition fee loans
The good news is that you can apply for a loan to cover the full cost of fees while you are studying (eligibility criteria apply). This may be available to ‘Home’/UK and EU students on their first undergraduate course.
The Tuition fee loan is not based on household income, and you can apply for this for each year of your course. The loan is paid directly to the University on your behalf, and it usually will not be expected to be repaid until you finish your course.
Maintenance loans
You may also be eligible to apply for a Maintenance loan each year towards living costs such as rent, food, and travel while you are studying. It is paid directly into your bank account in three termly instalments. How much you receive will depend upon where you are studying, your household income — and if you are studying on a part-time basis, your intensity of study.
If you are living our Halls of residence, in a shared house in Northampton, or if you are a mature student living in your own house, the maximum loan you can apply for in 2020/21 is £9,203, and the minimum is £4,289 (this is known as the ‘Elsewhere’ rate of loan). For students who are living in their parents home and travelling to university, the maximum loan is £7,747, and the minimum is £3,410.
Students will receive the maximum amount of loan if their household income is assessed as being £25,000 per year or less (based on 2018/19 tax year). If you are under the age of 25 and you have not been supporting yourself financially for 3 years or more before coming to university, you will usually be assessed based on your parents household income. If you are over 25 and live with a partner, their income will be assessed. Student Finance will also take into consideration other dependent children living in the household when calculating household income.
If your household income has increased or decreased by 15% or more since 2018/19 tax year, you can request to be assessed on your current year income.
If you are assessed to receive the minimum amount of Maintenance loan but you know that your household income is above £62,249 (if you are due to live in Halls/ shared house/ own home) or £58,222 (if you are due to continue to live at your parents house while studying), this may mean that you have not been fully financially-assessed for your funding — please contact Student Finance directly to check whether they have all of the necessary information.
Further information is available here: www.gov.uk/apply-for-student-finance
For a personalised quote, please see the Student calculator: www.gov.uk/student-finance-calculator
Loan repayment
You will not usually be expected to repay Tuition fee loans and Maintenance loans until the April after you have finished or left your course, and have an income of £25,725 or more per year (this is your income only — not including that of your parents or partner).
If your income is £25,725 or more, the repayment rate is 9% of any income over this threshold.
If your income falls below the £25,725 repayment threshold, you will not be expected to make any repayments until your income rises to this figure again. However, interest will still accrue on the outstanding loans.
If there is any loan balance left after 30 years after you were due to start making repayments, this will be written off (unless you have defaulted on any payments).
For further information about loan repayment (including terms and conditions), please see www.gov.uk/repaying-your-student-loan.
Additional grants
If you have dependent children, adult dependents, and/ or disabilities, you may be eligible to receive additional non-repayable support from Student Finance.
Parents’ Learning Allowance*: up to £1,766 per year additional support for full-time students with dependent children www.gov.uk/parents-learning-allowance
Childcare Loan*: may cover up to 85% of actual childcare costs (up to £174.22 per week for one child, and £298.69 per week for two children or more) for full-time students with a low income who do not receive childcare support from other sources (e.g. Working Tax Credits) www.gov.uk/childcare-grant
Adult Dependents Grant*: up to £3,094 per year additional support for full-time students who live with adults who are financially dependent upon them www.gov.uk/adult-dependants-grant
Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA): this may be available to full-time and part-time students who have a disability, long-term health condition (physical and/ or mental health), or specific learning difficulty (e.g. dyslexia, etc). The DSA is not means-tested, but is based upon your assessed needs at University, which may include equipment, software, non-medical helpers, etc. www.gov.uk/disabled-students-allowances-dsas
For further information about DSA and additional support available for students with disabilities or specific study needs at the University of Northampton, please contact ASSIST team. Assist@northampton.ac.uk
*assessment based on household income assessment
Healthcare course funding
If you are enrolling on a Nursing, Midwifery, or Allied Healthcare Professional (AHP) course such as Occupational Therapy or Podiatry, you can apply for a Tuition fee loan, and Maintenance loan from Student Finance, as well as additional grants such as the Childcare grant if you have dependents and/ or disabilities, while studying.
You may also be eligible for additional grants from NHS Learning Support Fund:
· A maintenance payment of £5,000 per year
· Additional annual payments for students enrolled on specific disciplines
· An additional £1,000+ for students with child dependents
· Support towards placement travel and/ or dual accommodation costs
· Exceptional support of up to £3,000 per year in case of severe hardship
Further details for 2020/21 will be confirmed soon
For further details, please see the following link: www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/learning-support-fund/new-student-funding
EU students
If you’re from the EU, you may be eligible to receive a Tuition fee loan and a Maintenance loan (as well as additional grants if you have dependents and/ or disabilities) if you have been living in the UK for at least 5 years (and meet other eligibility criteria).
If you’re from the EU and have been living in the UK for less than 5 years at the beginning of your course (but for 3 years or more in the EU), you may be eligible to apply for a Tuition fee loan only — and therefore will need to self-fund living costs. Further information is available here: www.gov.uk/studentfinance/eu-students
However, if you are working and expect to continue doing so while you are studying, or are financially dependent upon someone who is working, you may be eligible to be assessed for funding as an EEA Migrant Worker, of the dependent of an EEA Migrant Worker www.ucas.com/finance/student-finance-england/student-finance-migrant-workers
How to apply
If you are enrolling on a full-time course in 2020/21, you can apply now for funding www.gov.uk/apply-online-for-student-finance
You will need to have your passport with you (if you have one) as proof of identity and residency, as well as your NINO (National Insurance Number), bank account details, and details about the course you’d like to study.
If your application is being sponsored by parents or a partner, they will also need to complete part of the application, and will be asked for their NINO(s), details about household income for 2018/19 tax year, and whether there are other child dependents in the household.
Don’t forget to ensure that you agree to terms and conditions by re-entering your password — or you will not receive the funding.
It can take up to 8 weeks to be fully assessed for your funding; you will then receive an entitlement letter by post and to download from your Student Finance account.
To ensure that your funding is available to you when you enrol, please apply before 22 May 2020.
If you decide to study a different course at a different university, you don’t have to complete a new application; simply, log on to your account and update those details.
You won’t receive any funding until after you have enrolled on your course; after enrolment, please allow a further 3–5 working days for your first instalment to be paid (it is recommended that you bring some money with you to cover your expenses for your first week of study).
University funding
The University has additional funding to support to help you while you are studying.
This includes a selection of bursaries and scholarships available to eligible students to help with study costs; for further details, please see www.northampton.ac.uk/student-life/bursaries-scholarships-and-awards/
In addition, the Financial Guidance team administer the Financial Assistance Fund (for ‘Home’/UK students) and EU Hardship Fund (for EU students), which can help students who need additional financial assistance while they are studying. Further information is available here: www.northampton.ac.uk/student-life/fees-and-funding/
Budgeting and money management
Whether going to university is the first time you have had to do your own grocery shopping, or you’re swapping your salary for a student loan, we recommend that you investigate ways to manage your money effectively before you start.
Creating a budget is one of the best ways to manage your finances — our Money Matters blog has lots of information about how to balance your finances while at university; posts include money advice for prospective students, how to budget, top 5 good money habits to start. http://moneymatters.northampton.ac.uk/ http://moneymatters.northampton.ac.uk/one-piece-of-money-advice-for-a-prospective-student-part-1/ http://moneymatters.northampton.ac.uk/how-do-i-budget-and-why-do-i-need-one/ http://moneymatters.northampton.ac.uk/top-5-good-money-habits-to-start/
There are plenty of online tools and apps which can help you with this; we like these calculators from Which University and Money Saving Expert www.which.co.uk/money/university-and-student-finance/student-budget-calculator www.moneysavingexpert.com/students/student-budgeting-planner/
If you open a student bank account, you may be able to apply for an interest-free overdraft; this is not free money, but it can help buffer you between loan instalments. Further information about student bank accounts and overdraft guidance can be found at Money Saving Expert and Save the Student websites. www.moneysavingexpert.com/students/student-bank-account/ https://www.savethestudent.org/money/student-banking/student-bank-accounts.html
Part-time work is an excellent way to boost your bank balance as well as improving your CV while you study; for further information, see Unitemps who specialise in student-friendly work, as well as internships and graduate jobs. www.unitemps.com/Northampton-homepage
Contact info
For further information about applying for funding from Student Finance, please visit www.gov.uk/studentfinance or phone 0300 100 0607.
To apply for the NHS Learning Support Fund, please visit www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/learning-support-fund
For further information about the additional support offered by the University such as the Financial Assistance Fund and EU Hardship Fund, please see www.northampton.ac.uk/student-life/fees-and-funding/ — you can also contact the Financial Guidance team by email money@northampton.ac.uk
To find out more about University bursaries, scholarships and awards, please see www.northampton.ac.uk/student-life/bursaries-scholarships-and-awards/ — you can also email scholarships@northampton.ac.uk
