Loans

Apply for your funding now at https://www.gov.uk/student-finance

Each academic year, eligible full-time students can apply for a Tuition Fee Loan, available from the Student Loans Company, equivalent to the tuition fee for the course they are studying. At BGU in 2023/2024, the tuition fee for new entrants to undergraduate BA/BSc (Hons) programmes, and PGCE study will be £9,250. Full details of the University’s tuition fees can be found here.

The Tuition Fee Loan is paid directly to the University in three instalments during the academic year, subject to your attendance on your course. Your liability for each instalment of fees begins at the start of each term once you are a registered student.

You are only liable for tuition fees for the portions of academic year in which you actually study. The liability is structured as follows:

• Autumn Term 25%
  
• Spring Term 25%
  
• Summer Term 50%
  

The three instalments of Tuition Fee Loan match the liability points in the academic year.

The Tuition Fee Loan is not income-assessed and there is no upper age limit. Eligible undergraduate and PGCE students are able to apply for the Tuition Fee Loan.

To be eligible for a Tuition Fee Loan you must:

• be a UK national; or an EU national with pre-settled or settled status in the UK under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS); or an Irish citizen who has been resident in the Common Travel Area; and
  
• have been ordinarily resident in the UK (and islands) or the European Economic Area for the three years leading up to the September 1st immediately before your course begins (1st April for part-time PGCE students); and
  
• be resident in the UK on the first day of your course (September 1st for funding purposes (1st April for part-time PGCE students); and
  
• not already hold an honours degree (except in the case of PGCE programmes); and
  
• be studying a course which qualifies for funding (all our undergraduate and PGCE programmes qualify).
  

If you previously studied in higher education in the UK or elsewhere, or if you should have made repayments to the Student Loans Company but have not, your entitlement to further funding may be affected – please contact Student Advice for more information.

APPLY FOR YOUR FUNDING NOW AT https://www.gov.uk/student-finance

The amount of Maintenance Loan you receive depends on where you live during term-time, whether you are in your final year of study, your household income assessment (as determined by Student Finance England, Student Finance Wales, Student Finance N. Ireland, or SAAS), and your age (different rates apply for student aged 60 or over at the start of the course). If you are studying on a part-time course, you will receive a loan based on your intensity of study (either 25%, 33.3%, 50%, 66.6% or 75% of the full-time rate).

You can apply for a Maintenance Loan by applying online via the Gov.uk website.

If you live away from your parental home during term time (including students who are deemed “independent” (e.g. those aged 25 or over at the start of the academic year, students from care, or those estranged from their parents), you can apply for a Maintenance loan of up to £9,978,

If you live with your parents during term time, you can apply for a Maintenance Loan of up to £8,400.

If you are entitled to receive welfare benefits whilst you study full-time (e.g. lone parents, student couples with children, and students in receipt of some disability benefits having previously undertaken a work capability assessment) you can apply for a higher rate of Maintenance Loan of up to £11,374.

A non-income assessed Maintenance Loan is available of up to £4,651 (subject to you satisfying the eligibility critieria, e.g. being ordinarily resident in the UK for at least 3 years before the course begins).

Students aged 60 or over at the start of the course can apply for a loan of up to £4,221. No maintenance Loan is available if you are aged 60 or over at the start of your course and your household income is over £43,812.

Maintenance Loans are only available to those EU nationals who are continuing on a course which began before September 2021, or who have obtained settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) and who have been ordinarily resident in the UK for at least 3 years prior to the start of the course. (Please contact us at studentadvice@bishopg.ac.uk if you are unsure as to whether your residency will satisfy the eligibility requirements).

The Maintenance Loan is paid in three roughly equal instalments in September (33%), January (33%) and April (34%).

Your Maintenance Loan will be paid at a reduced rate in your final year of study.