Being a student can be expensive, so getting the right student financial support is a must. What’s more, after the pressures of UCAS applications and actually sitting your A-Levels, the hassle of sorting out your loan is the last thing you need. Thankfully, however, the Moneymagpies are on the case, so if you are heading up to uni this autumn then read on for the Moneymagpie guide to student loans and grants.

• Maintenance loans
• Grants
• Applying for loans and grants
• Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
  

There are actually some other sources of funding, aside from government loans and grants. However, you’ll have to be prepared to do some legwork to get them – check out our article on bursaries, scholarships and sponsorship to find out more.

In this article, however, we are going to be talking about the two basic forms of student support that you can get from the government: the student loan, and the grant. A loan has to be paid back, but a grant does not. We’ll start by looking at the student loan.

Maintenance loans

The first point is do not confuse the maintenance loan with the tutition fee loan. Tuition fee loans get paid straight to the university on your behalf, so you never actually see a penny of it. Read our article on tuition fees and the tuition fee loan here.

The maintenance loan is great because it gets paid straight to you. You can spend it on whatever you want – although obviously blowing it on a new car might not be a great idea! If you don’t need all of it for your rent, food and spending money, then you could think about investing it and earning some interets – find out all about student bank accounts and savings here.

To start with, everyone on their first degree can apply for a basic maintenance loan. That’s the simple bit. It gets complicated because the amount the basic maintenance loan covers depends on your circumstances.

Students from poorer families are also entitled to an extra, means-tested portion. However, how much of this they get also depends on whether they’ve been awarded a maintenance grant. If you are awarded a maintenance grant then you’ll probably not be allowed to take out the extra portion of the loan, whereas those who don’t get a grant probably will be allowed it. The basic idea is that students shouldn’t end up getting more money than they need, so the system works to vary the proportion of that money that will need to be paid back, depending on your/your families financial circumstances.

Basically,  what this means in practice means is that if you come from a rich family you’re likely to be able to get just the the non-means-tested portion of the loan. If you aren’t quite so well off you’re likely to qualify for both the basic loan and the extra means-tested portion. Lastly, the poorest families will probably be eligible for a full grant and the basic loan. The options aren’t quite so simple because the calculations are done on a sliding scale, but that is the basic idea.

Lastly, there are  a few other things to be aware of when it comes to calculating our entitlement. For example, because the cost of living is higher in the capital, students in London are entitled to a bigger maintenance loan. Also, students living with their parents won’t get as much money either. It is assumed that they will be paying very little or no rent, getting their Mum’s cooking for free and things like that and so their living costs are seen to be cheaper.

The maximum amount of maintenance loan you can recieve for the 2011/2012 year is:

• £3,838 if you’re living in your family home
• £4,950 if you’re living away from home and studying outside London
• £6,928 if you’re living away from home and studying in London

The government website DirectGov has a neatly summarised table of the different amounts you could get here.

Grants

The full grant is slightly lower than the maximum amount of tuition fees being charged in England and Northern Ireland. Grants have slightly different names and come in slightly different forms in Scotland and Wales – check here for local information.

Applying for grants and loans

The most important thing when it comes to applying for support is don’t delay! Look into student finance when you apply to university – there’s no need to wait until you have a confirmed place. In fact, getting your forms in late may mean you’re still waiting for money at the start of your first academic year! This is especially true as more people than ever are applying to university, which means the number of people sending in application forms is also on the rise.

The process for applying for student finance has now changed. Applications used to go through StudentFinanceDirect, however this has now been rebranded as StudentFinanceEngland. Registering and logging in to the service is now done via the DirectGov website. You can get all the info, including the latest deadlines, as well as download forms and guides or apply for support online through the site. Get in touch with your Local Education Authority (LEA) – whose details you can find here - for more specific queries.

Other good sources of information are the Student Loans company and aimhigher.

Wales and Scotland and Northern Ireland

As with tuition fees, student support arrangements are different for students in Scotland and Wales.

Wales

Eligible Welsh students studying in Wales get a Tuition fee grant for their tuition fees and an Assembly Learning Grant to help with their living costs. Loans are also available and a national bursary scheme for students going to university in Wales has now been introduced.

Click here for the Welsh Assembly’s comprehensive guide to student finance in Wales.  StudentFinanceWales is the government agency responsible for administering all aspects of student finance in Wales.

Scotland

Scottish students studying in Scotland get a means-tested loan towards living costs. Young students from poorer families get part of their living cost in the form of a non-repayable young students’ bursary (YSB). Other grants are available for mature students, student parents and disabled students. For more information, check out the Students Awards Agency for Scotland.

Northern Ireland

Students in Northern Ireland are also entitled to a range of loans and grants. For more information, click here.