Students in England Contact Number

If you are set to study in England in the next few months and are unsure about how to fund both your tuition and your living expenses, help is at hand from Student Finance England. This service is set up to help ensure that undergraduates and postgraduates of all ages have access to a variety of support platforms to ensure that they can study the courses they want to without having to worry about funding their study or lives outright. The way this works in England can differ depending upon the level of education you are currently at, and what sort of financial help you may require.

Levels of Education

In England, you can applying for student finance and financial help with your studies whether you are heading to college, to university or even if you are returning to university. College is referred to as Further Education, while Higher Education refers to university degrees and equivalents. Postgraduate education refers to those students who are returning to attend a further degree or doctorate after they have finished their initial undergraduate assignments.

The various types of finance and support available to you when studying in England vary depending upon the type of education you are seeking – and there’s plenty of avenues you can go down when it comes to finding relevant support and financial care.

When to Apply

Knowing when to apply is very important as you will need to make sure that you have enough finance to cover you for your projected course. GOV.UK has a thorough guide on when you should be applying for certain types of finance and when you will need to make sure that all your details are in by – and this will largely depend upon when your course is set to start. While many university students can expect to start in a given September and to leave for the summer by the next July, for example, certain courses can have staggered start dates, and this will of course mean that you will need to get your finance applications in sooner rather than later.

If your course is due to begin between the start of August and the end of December in a given year, you will generally be asked to apply for student finance by the end of that May should you wish to be fully funded in time. Of course, the sooner is always the better – but when it comes to getting your application in on time, it is understandable that you may have other education-shaped balls to juggle!

If your course doesn’t start until the next January up until the end of that March, you’ll have until the end of the current September to apply. If your course is staggered to start after 1st April and before the 30th June, you will need to have your application filed by the end of the current December. Finally, if you course starts in the summer – between the 1st and 31st of July, generally – you’ll need to have all of your finance details in and ready by 31st March. Do take these dates down for your future records!

Further Education

Finance for college students in England has changed somewhat over the years, but there are still opportunities available for those students who wish to undertake additional learning after having left school. GOV.UK has information and application guides available for those students who may be attending Further Education over the age of 19 – an Advanced Learner Loan is a repayable bursary which applies to certain learners depending on the type of course you are undertaking, the institution you are set to study at, and more besides.

You won’t have to repay your loan until you earn more than £25,000 per year – otherwise, if you need additional help with finance while studying at this level, you may be eligible for the Advance Learner Loan Bursary Fund – with information, once again, supplied readily by GOV.UK.

Higher Education

In England, financial assistance is readily available for potential undergraduates who seek to attend university for degrees or otherwise.  Applicants may be able to find loans to cover for both their tuition fees and their living costs – particularly useful if, for example, you are living away from home for the first time.

Maintenance loans are used to help those who need additional financial care when it comes to self-support – and these loans are generally tested and based upon household income, meaning that you will need the support of your parents and/or partner if you are living with them. In addition to this, there’s also plenty of information available from loans companies, The Student Room and GOV.UK – and you may be able to get certain financial help if you have a dependent child or if you have a disability.

Postgraduate Education

Postgraduates are students who return to learn under new, additional disciplines once they have already graduated from an undergraduate scheme such as a BA degree.

Certain types of postgraduate learning will require extensive funding and – to this end – many postgraduates apply for bursaries and funding to ensure that they can continue with their doctorates and Master’s degrees.

Once again, certain loans are available based upon your existing circumstances, the disciplines you are set to study under, and the university you may be attending – meaning that you will need to discuss your eligibility for such finance with your student loans company and/or GOV.UK if you wish to obtain full financial coverage. When it comes to postgraduate education, the focus in terms of a loan is to cover the cost of study.

When Help is Available

If you are set to study in England, help is available from student loans professionals when you start your course, when you are set to finish, and – of course – along the way. It’s important to contact student loans and/or bursary support as soon as you know that your conditional application has been accepted with an institution – as you will need to be able to fund your course, at the very least, once you start learning at a particular institution.

Tuition fee loans will ensure that your course fees are covered completely – particularly useful for undergraduates coming from backgrounds where they may not be able to afford to foot the full costs outright when requested – and, along with all other types of loans, this type of support is only repayable once you are earning over a certain amount of money following the end of your course. This means that a slight deduction from your monthly wage – or on your yearly tax return – will take place to ensure that your loans are effectively paid back in increments.

Maintenance loans are a little different – these types of loan will be based upon your household income, and will therefore help you maintain the cost of living while studying.  This type of loan is particularly sought after by young undergraduates, and, as such, parents and partners may need to support certain students’ applications by offering data on the income that they have received for the previous tax year.

Other Bursaries

There are, of course, other bursaries and financial aids available outside the realm of student loans – these may come in the form of tax-free grants or even scholarships, many of which will be supplied by the institutions you apply for.

As well as from student loans experts, there is a wealth of support and guidance available from all educational services up and down England – meaning that if you are keen to start learning as soon as possible but are unsure how you may be set to fund such endeavours, help is always at hand.

Whether you’re leaving school or are undertaking further study in the form of a doctorate, you are always free to apply for bursaries.

Who Else Can Help?

Help with student finance is always available from the likes of GOV.UK and websites such as The Student Room – but there are a few other areas through which you may be able to find extra funding for courses in England.  Do always start with your institution’s admissions team – if there are any scholarships or special bursaries arising, help will be available – beyond this, you can also find help from other avenues such as the NHS – who can supply certain bursaries to medical students, for example – or certain arts foundations or local centres, for example, should you be undertaking a degree or similar in a creative field or one related to the humanities.

Beyond all else, you can also seek support from your local Citizens’ Advice Bureau – who will always be able to put you in touch with someone who may be able to offer you additional loans or grants.

It isn’t always possible to fund your education outright – and the cost of living is always increasing – meaning that there will always be help available should you need it from a variety of sources.  Do always make sure that you apply in plenty of time for your course, however!