Guide to Tuition Fees

Full-time courses

If you’re a new student (or a continuing student who started your course in or after September 2006) the maximum tuition fees you’ll be charged are £3,290 for the 2010/11 academic year. For 2009/10, the maximum is £3,225. Exactly what you’re charged depends on the university or college you attend, your course, and where in the UK you study. Check your university or college prospectus to find out the fees for your course.

You can get a Tuition Fee Loan to cover the full cost of your tuition fees. This is paid directly to your university or college. The amount you get does not depend on household income. Remember that if you take out the student loans available to full-time students, you don’t have to start paying them back until you’ve left your course and are earning over £15,000. Student loans accrue interest from the date they are paid out, up until they are repaid in full. Generally, the interest rate is set in September each year.
 
Part-time courses

There are no regulations stating how much universities or colleges can charge in tuition fees for most part-time courses. Check with your university or college how much they charge. It’s also worth finding out how much the fees are likely to rise over the length of your course.

Student finance: how and when to apply
 
For full-time students, the quickest and easiest way to apply is to do it online. Don’t wait until you’ve got a place on a course: apply well before the start of the academic year, no later than the date given below. If you apply after this, your first payment may not be ready when term starts.

Full-time students

Apply for finance online
• You’ll need to apply separately for each year of your course.
• There’s a single application that lets you apply for student loans, grants and bursaries.
• You can also use it to indicate whether you want to apply for some forms of extra help - for example, because you’re disabled, or because you have children or an adult dependant.
• You can currently apply for the 2010/11 academic year. Make sure you apply for the right academic year: if you get it wrong, it may delay your application.

Full-time applications: when to apply
Starting a course in 2010/11?

To make sure you’re paid at the start of term, apply by:

• 25 June 2010 if you’re applying for 'means tested' finance
• 23 April 2010 if you’re only applying for 'non-means tested' finance
• If you don’t apply on time - supplying all the evidence you’re asked for - you may not receive your money at the start of term.
• Apply for finance as soon as possible: don’t wait until you’ve been accepted on a course. Put your first-choice course on your student finance application, and let Student Finance England know if it changes later.

Students continuing a course in 2010/11
To be sure of having your first payment for 2010/11 ready at the start of the academic year, you must apply by:
• 21 May 2010 if you’re applying for types of finance that mean your household income will need to be assessed
• 23 April 2010 if you’re only applying for types of finance that won’t require an assessment of your household income

Late applications

It's possible to apply up to nine months after the start of your university or college’s academic year.
The academic year may start on 1 January, 1 April, 1 July or 1 September - it’s not necessarily the first day of your course.

Full-time applications: what you need to do
• Register with Student Finance England
• New, full-time applicants need to register with Student Finance England before applying online.
• When you register, you’ll get a Customer Reference Number (formerly known as an ‘ART ID’).
• If you’ve already registered, or you’ve begun an application before - even if you didn’t complete it - you will already have a Customer Reference Number or ART ID.

Access your student finance account

Once you’ve registered, use your Customer Reference Number and security details to log in to your student finance account and apply online.

Applying on paper

It’s also possible to apply using a paper form.

Supplying evidence and changing your application

Whether you’re applying online or on paper, don’t forget to provide the documents you’re asked to supply as evidence. If you don't, your application won’t be processed and your payment could be delayed. If you've changed your course choice since you made your application for student finance, you must let Student Finance England know as soon as possible. This is to ensure that you receive the right amount of support, and that your Tuition Fee Loan is paid to the right university or college.

How your application is assessed

If you’ve applied for parts of the finance package that depend on household income, the information you (and your parents or partner) have supplied will be assessed to determine how much you get.

For full information and help log onto www.studentfinance.direct.gov.uk

Crown Copyright: Reproduced under the terms of the Click-Use Licence