The United Kingdom takes pride in its hardworking students – and it shows. Whether you put education on top of your priorities as a full-time student, or you prefer to hold a job while studying part-time, there are student loans available to help you realize your dream of a secured future. The terms of endearment: Qualifying for a UK student loan As much as the government want to support aspiring students earn their future, not everyone is eligible for the benefits that come with UK student loans. There are qualifications to help screen the thousands of students that apply for loans each year. What we're here for is to help you check if you qualify for a loan in your country. The first and most crucial step in applying for a student loan is the qualifying phase. There are several rules and regulations in determining a student's eligibility for financial help, though it all basically boils down to three major criterion. You are eligible if:
It should be noted that the previous two conditions encompass a broad range of qualification rules. They are discussed in the following section. The Bachelor: Are you personally eligible? Personal eligibility is determined by three conditions: residence, previous study, and age. Place of residence, where you normally live, plays an important role in your being eligible for a UK student loan. For starters, you need to have been “ordinarily resident” in the UK, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands for at least three years before the start of the course. You also need to be an “ordinarily resident” of England. For the sake of clarity, you are an “ordinarily resident” of a place if that is where you normally live. So it doesn't matter if you're out of the UK from time to time—that's beside the point. Also you need to be a UK national or have “settled status” under the terms of Immigration Act 1971. What this means is that you shouldn't have any restrictions as to how long you can stay in the UK. Here's a recap of the qualifications to be personally eligible for a UK student loan:
Your previous study can also affect your chances of qualifying for a student loan. For instance, you are not eligible if you already took a course of higher education and either:
Age is another matter. The regulating body is pretty straightforward about it: you need to be under 60 at the time the course starts. You are no longer eligible for a student loan in the UK past that age. A school of thought: Is your university and course eligible? The university and course must be eligible if you are to qualify for a student loan in the UK. Naturally not all colleges and universities are accredited and not all courses are deemed worthy of government support—priorities on which courses are eligible change over time, though. Rules on school and course eligibilities are a bit murky, especially between full-time and part-time courses. But here are some general guidelines. You are eligible if your course leads to any of the following qualifications:
In addition you'll also qualify if the course you took is for either Initial Teacher Training or the further training of community and youth workers. But is your university eligible? Your course being eligible amounts to nothing if the university isn't. You could be granted a student loan if you're attending:
But what if the eligibility rules don't apply to you? What if you don't live in England? Let's say your residence is in Scotland or Wales and you want to apply for a UK student loan. What does that leave you? If you live in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland but you're studying in the UK, it doesn't mean you are out of the picture. You can still qualify for a UK student loan. Your application, however, it will be processed by the authorities in your region. So some of the regulations mentioned here are subject to change. What your parents can do for you Applying for a student loan in the UK doesn't mean that your parents' capacity, or desire, to support your education could go out the window. The LEA deeply acknowledge the role of parents in their child's education. So your parents may be asked to contribute a certain amount on top of the funding from student finance. The parents or spouse may be called on to support the student's needs while at a university or college. The LEA determines whether or not contribution is required. If it is, the LEA determines how much. This contribution amount is based on the information provided by the parents or spouse—the student's sponsors—when the student applies for a grant, assistance with tuition fees, or a student loan. As a general idea of how contribution is assessed, the LEA or the local authority in your country looks at your parent's income for the previous fiscal year. But say there has been a significant drop in their salary—around 15% or more—then it is possible the LEA will review your parent's salary based on that change. It should be noted that your parents are not liable to pay back your debt. The student loan is your responsibility and yours alone. There are ways to distinguish when and how to pay back your loans when the time comes. These will be discussed in the following articles. You just covered everything you need to know about qualifying for a student loan in the UK. Next we'll talk about how to apply for it. |