The Student Loan scheme is open to every student who has been resident in the British Isles, without any restrictions on their stay here, and who wish to study at Higher National Diploma up to and including Degree level. In addition, those wishing to qualify as teachers may also apply for funding for their post graduate teacher training course.
To apply to Wigan for Student Finance this should be your place of residence prior to commencing your studies.
The detail of the student support scheme is complex and this page does not attempt to provide an exhaustive source of information on the scheme - full details are available on the Department for Education and Skills (external link) web site.
All students wishing to obtain Student Finance to assist them with their studies in Higher Education have only one means of funding available to them; the local government administered Student Support scheme.
The government introduced the following to the student finance system in the 2006/7 academic year:
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A new loan for eligible, full-time students to cover their tuition fees
Both new and current students will be able to put off paying their tuition fees by taking out a Student Loan for Fees. No eligible student will have to pay any fees before starting their course, or while they are studying. They will start repaying this after they have left higher education and are earning more than £15,000 a year.
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Universities and colleges of higher education will be able to charge new fulltime undergraduates fees of up to £3,000 a year.
Any increases will be limited to the rate of inflation until at least 2010. The amount charged will vary between courses, as well as between universities. (Current and gap-year students will continue to make a contribution of up to £1,200 towards fees.)
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Student Loans for Maintenance raised to help students meet their basic living costs
The biggest increases will be for students studying in London and for final-year students, and these higher rates will be available to both new and current students.
In addition any student applying for assistance must have ordinary resident in the British Isles for 3 years prior to the start of their course, (this is taken as the 1st September for any course starting in the autumn). The subject of where a student was born is therefore not the matter under consideration, but whether the student is considered to have been ordinarily resident for 3 years prior to the course commencing.
The course being studied must be supported from central government and offered at publicly funded institutions (i.e. all Universities and Colleges of Higher Education in the country). Mainly this covers,
- Foundation years which are part of degree courses,
- degrees
- HND's,
- DipHE,
- Cert Ed, and
- PGCE courses.
Any full or part time student wishing to apply for support and who feels that they may qualify under the above broad guidelines may either:
