No-fuss Higher Education finance FAQs! 

There is a UCAS application fee for 2024 entry the fee is £27.50 and for 2025 entry, the application fee will be £28.50 for up to five choices.

In a new measure put in place by UCAS, for the 2025 cycle, if you have been in receipt of free school meals at some point during the last six years (during your secondary education) up until the end of your final year, you will not have to pay for your UCAS application.

• BA and BSc (Hons) – £9000 (per year)
• Foundation Degree (FdA and FdSc) – £8825 (per year) and £9250 for some Health Profession programmes
• Higher National Certificate (HNC)- £8825 (per year)

The tuition fees for part-time courses are calculated at a pro-rata basis of our full-time fee. Please contact the University Centre for specific details.

Please note there are different fees for international students; email [email protected] for more information.

You may qualify for a range of financial support options from Student Finance England to help support you with your studies, including a Tuition Fee Loan plus a Maintenance Loan for living expenses.

You will need to register at your university or college before the first payments are received.

Tuition Fee Loans are available for those studying an undergraduate course, which covers the cost of the fees charged by your university or college. This could be up to £9,250 for undergraduate study at an eligible university or college. It is paid directly to your place of study in three instalments during the academic year, so you will not receive the money into your own account.

To apply for a Tuition Fee Loan, please visit Student Finance England website here: SFE – Student Finance England

A Maintenance Loan helps towards your living costs, covering outgoings such as rent, food, books, travel, and other expenses. It is determined by your household income, where you’ll be living while studying and where in the UK you normally live. The more your household income is (from parents’ wages, benefits or a partner’s income) the less Maintenance Loan you will be entitled to.

The maximum amount available for students in 25/26 is up to £8,877 if you’re living with parents and up to £10,544 if you are living away from your parents (outside London).

Students who receive State Benefits and are entitled to get the means-tested element of funding may be eligible for an increased amount of Maintenance Loan. If eligible, their Maintenance Loan will be made up of the Maintenance element and the Special Support element.

The Maintenance Loan is paid directly into your bank account, in three instalments, usually at the start of each term. It is then your responsibility to budget wisely!

Disabled Students’ Allowance is support to cover the study-related costs you have because of a mental health problem, long-term illness or any other disability.

This can be on its own or in addition to any student finance you get.

The type of support and how much you get depends on your individual needs, not your household income.

You do not need to pay back DSA.

For more information on Disabled Students’ Allowance please visit Help if you’re a student with a learning difficulty, health problem or disability: Disabled Students’ Allowance – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

If you accept a place at university or college through Clearing (open July-October), and have already applied for finance, you’ll need to update your Student Finance England account with any changes.

If you haven’t applied for your student finance when clearing opens, you must do so as soon as possible.

You may get a smaller amount to begin with but you will receive a top-up payment as soon as your household income is processed.

For students applying through Clearing there is specific advice available, including how to apply, here – Guidance for students going through Clearing – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

There are various bursaries available to those who are entitled to loans from Student Finance England. Bursaries do not need to be repaid and are awarded in addition to any funding received from Student Finance England.

For more information on bursaries and other financial support schemes in place at University Centre South Devon, please visit: Funding, Finance and Bursaries – University Centre South Devon (ucsd.ac.uk) or email [email protected]

You may be able to get a loan if your part-time course has a ‘course intensity’ of 25% or more.

‘Course intensity’ measures how much of your course you complete each year compared to an equivalent full-time course.

Not all foundation degrees qualify for maintenance loan support.  

You may be eligible for a Maintenance Loan if your course is one of the following (and based in the UK): 

• A first degree, such as BA, BSc or BEd 

• An initial Teacher Training course (if it’s degree level or abvoe) 

• A Foundation Degree in dental hygiene and dental therapy 

• A DipHE in dental hygiene and dental therapy or operating department practice 

• A level 4 or 5 course with HTQ approval. 

You are not eligible for student finance if you’re doing a degree apprenticeship. 

You’ll need to repay any loans you borrow once you’ve finished your course. Repayment is made to the Student Loans Company. Interest is charged from the day the Student Loans Company makes the first payment to you or your university, until your loan is repaid in full or cancelled.

The amount you’ll repay will be based on how much you earn, not how much you borrow. Currently repayments will start once you earn £25,000 per year.

For a Plan 5 loan (if you’re from England starting higher education in or after September 2023) the £25,000 threshold is frozen until 2027, when it is suspected to increase with inflation.

The loan is automatically wiped after a certain period and, unless you’ve paid it off beforehand, you stop paying 40 years after the April you leave university.

Interest is charged from the day the Student Loans Company makes your first payment to you or your uni or college, until your loan is repaid in full or cancelled.

The interest rate is based on the Retail Price Index or RPI, which measures changes to the cost of living in the UK. The interest rate is normally updated once a year in September, using the RPI from March of that year.

It’s important to remember that the amount of interest you’re charged doesn’t affect the amount you’ll repay each month.

How much interest you’re charged depends on which repayment plan you’re on.

Repayments will only be made when your income is above the repayment threshold, depending on which repayment plan you’re on, and will update automatically if your salary changes or stops.

For full-time courses you’ll normally be due to start repaying the April after you finish or leave your course, but only if you’re earning over the repayment threshold.

For part-time courses repayment will start from the April four years after the start of your course, or the April after you finish or leave your course, whichever comes first, but only if you’re earning over the repayment threshold.

If you start work and meet the repayment threshold, your employer will automatically take 9% of your income above the threshold from your salary, along with tax and National Insurance.

If you’re self-employed, you’ll make repayments at the same time as you pay tax through self-assessment.

Repayments will update automatically if your salary changes or stops.

Any outstanding loan balance will be cancelled after a certain period of time, depending on which repayment plan you’re on, even if you haven’t repaid any of it. At the moment, you stop paying 40 years after the April you leave university.

If you move overseas, you’ll repay directly to the Student Loans Company, instead of having it taken automatically from your pay. The repayment threshold could be different from the UK, which means the amount you repay could be different.