Frequently asked questions about 2012 fees

No, the changes only affect students who start at University from September 2012. If you start your course in 2011 or earlier you will continue on the old financial arrangements. The annual tuition fee will remain at the same level for current students and students starting in 2011, but will be increased by a small amount (linked to inflation) each year. This is set by the government and details will be published on our website. 

Yes. The new arrangements apply from 2012 entry for all students starting their course in that year, even if they applied earlier with deferred entry.

Full-time undergraduate fees for home* (UK) and EU students will be set at £9,000 per year, subject to agreement by the Office for Fair Access (OFFA).

There is currently a review of how NHS students are funded. Please visit the Student Services Financial Support website for further information on nursing or NHS funded courses.

Please visit the Student Services Financial Support website for further information on funding for PGCE students.

It is important to remember that you will not have to pay for the cost of your tuition up front. The government will provide the money up front for any eligible student in England who secures a place in higher education. You then take out a tuition loan which you start to repay when you are working and earning more than £21,000 a year.

There will be a range of financial support available for students including non-means-tested loans to help with tuition fees and living expenses, plus means-tested loans, grants and scholarships.

The University of Nottingham is providing a generous package of bursaries to support home* students from lower-income families. Well over a third of our students will be eligible for our core bursaries, which offer up to a maximum of £3,000 for each year of undergraduate study.

Students from families with incomes up to £42,600 are eligible for our core bursaries. Additional support is available for students with particular circumstances. Our bursary scheme is designed to be fair, clear and easy to access. You don’t have to repay these bursaries.

We estimate that we will provide over £4m in means-tested bursaries to students entering in September 2012. We will continue to support students who entered prior to 2012 with our current bursary scheme, which will provide £5m of means-tested support in 2012-13.

Eligible full-time students in England who are studying for their first degree, or other higher education course, from September 2012 can get a tuition loan.

Whether you are eligible will depend on factors including where you live, the course you choose to study, where you study, and whether or not you already hold a higher education qualification.

Eligible full-time students can get a loan to cover the full amount of their tuition costs.

You can apply for student loans and non-repayable grants by completing an application form online at Directgov.

If you don’t have access to a computer you can call Student Finance England on 0845 300 5090, who will send you a paper application form.

Home* students accepted on to one of our Year 0 courses (preliminary or foundation years) and with family incomes under £25,000 are likely to be eligible for a full fee waiver under the National Scholarships Programme. Care leavers enrolled on any undergraduate course are also likely to be eligible. We do not currently plan to offer fee waivers to other students or for other courses. We will confirm our arrangements for fee waivers, once the Government has issued detailed guidance on the National Scholarships Programme.

Don’t wait until you’ve been formally offered a place – you can apply for your student finance in late 2011 or early 2012.

The loan will be paid directly to the University. It isn’t paid to you.

You will only start to repay your loans after you have left university and are earning at least £21,000. This threshold will increase in line with earnings from 2016 onwards. If for any reason your income falls below £21,000, for example if you take maternity leave, your repayments will be suspended. The amount repaid each month will depend on your earnings - repayments will be 9% of income above £21,000.

For example, someone earning £21,500 - currently the salary of a newly-qualified teacher - would initially make repayments of £4 per month. The monthly repayment would increase to £23 for someone earning £24,000 per year; £30 on a salary of £25,000; £45 on £27,000; and £68 on £30,000.

The repayments will normally be deducted automatically from your salary through the tax system. Interest on your loan will be charged at inflation plus 3% while you are studying, and up until the April after you leave university. From the April after you leave university if you are earning below £21,000, interest will be applied at the rate of inflation.  Graduates earning between £21,000 and £41,000 will be charged interest on a sliding scale up to a maximum of inflation plus 3%.

Graduates earning above £41,000 will be charged interest at the rate of inflation plus 3%.  All outstanding repayments will be written off after 30 years.

For further information go to student finance website at Directgov.

The fees and financial support arrangements are changing for part-time students. The two most significant changes are that: 1) students on most programmes will no longer have to pay any tuition fees up front; 2) loans for the graduate contribution will be extended to eligible part-time first-degree students who complete a minimum of 25% of the full-time course load per year (30 credits or more).

Please note: part-time students are not eligible for maintenance loans or grants.

This would be a decision for the loan provider, but student loan information won't be shared with credit reference agencies by Student Finance England.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders has advised that a student 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.

Graduates do not have control over how much they repay each month via the tax system.

Even if you don’t finish your course you still have to pay back any money you have borrowed, but not until you are earning more than £21,000 a year.

No, the two loans are added together so you only have to make one repayment.

No, these changes only affect students from the UK and elsewhere in the European Union. Fees and financial support arrangements for international students are decided by universities themselves.

No. Students who normally live in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland will receive financial support for university from the Scottish Government, the Welsh Assembly Government or the Northern Ireland Executive (as appropriate).

EU students from outside the UK that meet certain eligibility criteria will have access to a loan to cover the cost of their tuition. They will generally not be entitled to support for their living costs?