Loans, grants and bursaries – how university funding stacks up

University is a big investment – so it’s important to know exactly what’s available to help with the bill.

Prospective full-time students living in England have to pay tuition fees, which are paid directly to your university. To cover the cost of these, students are eligible for a tuition fee loan.

Students can also apply for a maintenance loan, which is paid directly to them, and can be used for living costs. How much they get depends on where they’re living – at home with parents or away – and where they will be studying: London-based students are eligible for more. The maximum for a student living away from home outside London during the 2017-18 academic year, for example, is £8,430. Neither loan will start being repaid until the course has finished and the student is earning £25,000 a year.

Students who have lived in Scotland for three years before their course starts can go to university in Scotland without paying any tuition fees. The Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) pays this (£1,820).

However, Scottish students wishing to study in England, Wales or Northern Ireland still need to pay the full tuition fees. They’ll need to apply to the SAAS for a loan to cover this, as well as for a maintenance loan of up to £5,750. Students under 25 can also apply for a young students’ bursary of up to £1,875 – which doesn’t have to be paid back. The amount they are eligible for depends on parents’ household income.

Students from Wales will also have to pay standard tuition fees wherever they study in the UK; they need to apply to Student Finance Wales for a student loan to cover these.

However, Welsh Government Learning Grants (WGLGs) – which don’t have to be paid back and are awarded according to where the student will be studying and what their parents’ household income is – are now available. Welsh students can apply for a maintenance loan too – also assessed on parental income.

Students living in Northern Ireland can apply to Student Finance NI to get tuition fee loans of up to £9,250 for studying in England, Scotland or Wales, and loans of up to £4,030 for studying in Northern Ireland, as tuition fees are cheaper there. They can also apply for a student loan for maintenance.

Regardless of where students live, there could be extra help available if they have a disability, if they have children, or if they’re a care leaver.

Scholarships or bursaries may also be available. Students will be more likely to be eligible for these if they fit particular criteria, such as: having a lower household income; having a disability; excelling in a particular subject, musical instrument or sport; living in a particular region; or being from a particular background. Smaller grants for specific needs, such as travel or childcare, could also be available. The best way to find out about these is to contact individual universities directly.

Money talk: university funding facts

• Tuition fees for publicly funded universities can be as high as £9,250 a year in Scotland, England and Northern Ireland and up to £9,000 a year in Wales.
  

• Student loans expire after 30 years. It’s estimated 60% of students will never pay back their entire loan.
  

• The average student living in England will graduate after a three-year course with about £35-£40,000 of student loans.
  

• The Welsh Government Learning Grant is the most generous support package: students could get up to £11,250 a year, and most are eligible for the minimum of £1,000 a year.
  

• Cardiff topped the list of the most affordable university cities in NatWest’s Student Living Index 2017, followed by Aberdeen, Durham, Canterbury and Swansea.
  

• The index also found that students work an average of 14.6 hours per week, earning £96.70 – less than half the average parental contribution of £205.20.
  

• If you live in England or Wales, you won’t start repaying your loan until you earn £25,000 a year or more. Students in Scotland or Northern Ireland start paying it back when they earn £18,330 a year.
  

• £8.39bn in tuition fee loans was paid to 1.03 million full-time students in the academic year 2016-17.