Part-time Study: Fees and Funding Facts
Tuition Fee Loan - Key Facts
- All part-time UK students studying in an undergraduate course in Higher Education for the first time may apply for a non-means tested, Government-backed tuition fee loan to cover the costs of tuition fees.
- Repayments of the tuition fee loan will be 9% of income over £21,000, beginning three years after the start of your course.
- You will not see this money. It goes directly from the Student Loans Company to the University.
- After 30 years any remaining debt is written off.
- The tuition fee loan is not available for postgraduate students.
- Part-time students are not eligible to apply for maintenance grants to help with living costs.
Find out more about:
- Eligibility - you should be a first-time student resident in England
- Repayments - after three years, repayments start automatically if your income is above a threshold, and will pause if your income dips below that level.
How much?
Your loan will cover the full cost of your tuition. Tuitions fees vary between different courses - please see the relevant course information page. So the amount of money you can borrow will depend on the cost of your course.
You are not obliged to take out the tuition fee loan and can choose to pay your fees upfront if you wish, or you can pay some of your fees upfront and the rest via a loan.
Applying for the loan
We expect that you will be able to apply online for a loan from early summer 2012, with confirmation received four to six weeks after submitting the online application. We will make an announcement on our website as soon as the online application portal opens.
You can apply for a loan before or after being accepted onto a course, but you should not delay in submitting your course application
Tuition fee loans are not subject to a credit check.
Disabled students’ allowances
Disabled students’ allowances (DSAs) are available to help you if you are doing a higher education course (including part-time courses) and you will incur extra costs because of a disability. This includes long-term health conditions, mental health conditions or specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia.
DSAs are paid in addition to the standard student finance package. They are not dependent on income and do not have to be repaid. For more information on this kind of support please contact the welfare office: welfare@le.ac.uk
Mortgages and future loans
The Council of Mortgage Lenders has advised that a tuition fee loan is very unlikely to impact materially on an individual’s ability to get a mortgage. The amount of mortgage available may depend on net income.
For other loans, decisions will rest with the loan provider.
Student Finance England will not share tuition fee loan information with credit reference agencies.
