What type of funding is available?

The main student support package available to continuing undergraduate students includes loans and grants to assist students in paying for their tuition fees and living costs during each year of their course.

In 2012-2013 this includes;

• A Tuition Fee Loan of up to £3,465
• A Maintenance Loan of up to £4,950 (if studying outside of London)
• A Maintenance Grant/ Special Support Grant of up to £2984

Tuition Fee Loan

During academic year 2012-2013 the tuition fee charged to Home (UK) and (EU) students, continuing an undergraduate degree at the University of Leicester will be £3,465. You can apply to Student Finance ENgland for a Tuition Fee Loan to cover this cost.

The University of Leicester's tuition fees will be £3,375 for the 2011/12 academic year for all full-time home students studying an undergraduate degree course.

You can choose to take out a loan to cover the full amount; you can also request a lower amount of loan if you wish to use money from elsewhere to pay some of this charge.

Eligibility for a Tuition fee Loan is not means-tested (it doesn't depend on your income). However, if you have been to university before your entitlement may be affected. See the section "Am I eligible for support?" for further information on previous study rules.

The Tuition Fee Loan is paid directly to the University, on behalf of the student. 

You begin to repay this loan once you have completed your studies and are earning above £15,000 per annum. See full information regarding repayment rules.

Maintenance Loan

The Maintenance Loan is paid directly to you to help cover your living costs whilst you are a full time student. The amount of Maintenance Loan that you are entitled to depends on your household income, where you live, when you start your course and which year of study you are in.

The maximum Maintenance Loan available to students continuing their course in 2012/2013 is;

• £3,838 if you live at home
• £4,950 if you live away from home outside London
• £6,928 if you live away from home in London 

All eligible continuing students will qualify for 72% of the full Maintenance Loan available to them. (If you are living away from your parental home whilst studying in 2012-2013, this equates to a Maintenance Loan of £3,564.)

In order to be assessed for the remaining 28% of the Maintenance Loan (and a Maintenance Grant) you will have to provide information on your household income when you apply for support.

The amount of Maintenance Loan you are eligible for will be reduced by £0:50 for every £1:00 of Maintenance Grant that you are entitled to.

The Maintenance Loan is usually paid in three instalments. An instalment of Maintenance Loan is usually paid into your bank account at around the beginning of each academic term.

You begin to repay this loan once you have completed your studies and are earning above £15,000 per annum. See full information regarding repayment rules.

Maintenance Grant

The Maintenance Grant is awarded to students from lower income households to provide additional support with general living costs whilst you are in full time study.

The amount of Maintenance Grant that you are entitled to depends on your housheold income.

The Maintenance Grant is a non-repayable grant, so you will not be expected to repay it unless you have received an overpayment following an incorrect assessment or early withdrawal from your studies.

In 2012-2013 the maximum Maintenance Grant will be £2,984 is available to continuing studnets whose housheold income is assessed as £25,000 or less a year.  A partial Maintenance Grant is available to students whose household income is assessed by Studnet Finance ENgland as between £25,000 but less than £50,695 per year.

The amount of Maintenance Loan that you receive is reduced by £0:50 for every £1:00 of Maintenance Grant that you are awarded. HOWEVER, if you receive a Special Support Grant no reduction wil be made to your loan

Special Support Grant

The Special Support Grant is provided to assist students with living costs whilst they are studying on a full time undergraduate course. Students will receive a Special Support Grant instead of a Maintenance Grant 

The maximum level of Special Support Grant available to continuing studnets in 2012-2012 is £2,984.

If you apply for the Special Support Grant, you can also apply for a Maintenance Loan. The amount of Maintenance Loan that you receive will vary according to where you are living (i.e. with parents or elsewhere) or studying (in London, or outside London)). However, if you qualify for a Maintenance Loan the amount you receive will NOT decrease if you are assessed to receive a Special Support Grant.

Unlike the Maintenance Grant, the amount of Maintenance Loan that you can apply for is NOT affected if you receive a Special Support Grant

You are likely to be eligible for a Special Support Grant, rather than a Maintenance Grant, if you fall into one of the categories below:

• You are a lone parent responsible for a child OR for a young person aged under 20 who is a member of the student’s household and who is in full time non-advanced education
• You are a lone foster parent of a child or young person aged under 20
• Your partner is also a full-time student and one, or both of you, are responsible for a child or young person aged under 20 who is in full-time non advanced education.
• You have a disability and qualify for a Disability Premium or Severe Disability Premium
• You have been treated as incapable of work for a continuous period of at least 28 weeks (two or more periods of incapacity separated by a break of no more than 8 weeks count as one continuous period).
• You are deaf and you qualify for Disabled Students’ Allowances.
• You have a disability and you qualify for income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• You are waiting to go back to a course having taken approved time out because of an illness or caring responsibility that has now come to an end for a period not exceeding one year.
• You are from abroad and entitled to an Income Support urgent cases payment because you are temporarily without funds for a period of up to six weeks.
• You are aged 60 or over.

If you are a full time student claiming income-related benefits, neither Job Centre Plus nor the Housing Benefit office will count your Special Support Grant as income when assessing your entitlement to means tested benefits.

Further information on claiming benefits whilst a student can be found on the Benefits information pages of our website.