Full-time fees, finance & money matters

The following information relates to students who are to study at Wakefield College on a full-time Foundation Degree, Higher National Diploma (HND) or FULL TIME PGCE/CertED.

Loan for Tuition Fees
Wakefield College have capped the fees to £1,800 for the 2010/11 academic year despite some universities charging over £3,290 a year. You can apply for a loan to pay your tuition fees. The Student Loan Company will pay the fees to the College on your behalf. You apply for each year of your course. You do not have to repay the loan until after you have completed your course. If you do not apply for a tuition fee loan you will be required to pay the fees directly to College. You will pay one third at enrolment and the balance in up to six monthly installments.

Loan for Maintenance
A Student Loan is a low interest loan, 25% of which is means-tested. This means that household income is taken into consideration. You can apply for a Student Loan for each year of your course. Loan repayments are not made until you complete or leave your course.

Repaying a Student Loan
Both the tuition fee and maintenance loan does not have to be repaid until after you have completed your course and are earning over £15,000 a year. The monthly payment is a percentage of your income on earnings over £15,000. For example, if you are earning £20,000 a year, your monthly repayment could be approximately £37.00 or 2.3% of your income (depending on what the interest rates are at the time). After 25 years, any part of the Student Loan which remains unpaid will be written off.

Maintenance Grant
This grant is available to support students from low-income families. If household income is £25,000 or less you are entitled to the full grant of £2,906. Students from households with incomes up to £50,020 are eligible for some grant. Those in receipt of the grant have part of the Student Loan offset against the grant so will not have as much Student Loan to repay. The Maintenance Grant does not have to be repaid.

Special Support Grant
You may be eligible if you receive means-tested benefits such as Income Support. This will generally be lone parents, parents where both are students, and students with disabilities. If you receive a Special Support Grant you are not eligible for a Maintenance Grant. The Special Support Grant is not counted as income by Housing Benefit and Jobcentre Plus. You do not have to repay the grant.

Childcare Grant
This is an allowance paid if you have dependant children in registered and approved childcare. How much you get depends on your household income. You may receive up to 85% or up to £148.75 per week for one child (£255 a week for two or more children). This is not counted as income by Housing Benefit or Jobcentre Plus. You do not have to repay this grant.

Parents Learning Allowance
To help with course related costs for students with children. How much you get depends on household income. The maximum is £1,508 a year. This is not counted as income by Housing Benefit and Jobcentre Plus and you do not have to repay this allowance.

Child Tax Credit
Students with dependant children are eligible to claim. If you are receiving the maximum amount of Child Tax Credit (and no Working Tax Credit) you are entitled to free school meals for your children.

Adult Dependants’ Grant
Full-time students who have an adult to support may be eligible. The maximum amount you can claim is £2,642 a year and how much you can claim depends on your income and that of your adult dependants. You do not have to repay this help.

Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA)
To help with extra costs you have as a result of undertaking your course and as a direct result of your disability or specific learning disability. How much you get does NOT depend on income. You do not have to repay this help.

• A specialist equipment allowance of up to £5,161 for the whole course.
• A non-medical helper’s allowance of up to £20,520 each year.
• A general disabled students’ allowance of up to £1,724 each year.
• Extra travel costs you have to pay to attend a College as a result of your disability

How to apply

Application Forms
If you are already a student, the form (PN1) can be downloaded or completed on line on www.direct.gov.uk/studentfinance. Students can also visit this site to get an estimate of their possible entitlement. The application form is to determine eligibility and to assess household income. Complete this form promptly. You will require household income details such as P60’s up to April 2009 or week 52 pay slip and your birth certificate or passport (for passport only the number is required). If you supply a birth certificate it must be accompanied by a birth/adoption certificate declaration form which can be downloaded from www.direct.gov.uk/studentfinance. Do not wait to return the form until you have a confirmed place on the course. Any delays may mean you do not receive your Maintenance Loan, Grant and any allowances at the beginning of the academic year. If you complete the form on line you will be required to send your birth certificate and any income details separately. In this case please send a copy of the front page of your application form with your birth certificate and the declaration form so you can be identified. There is a deadline of 9 months from the start of the course after which applications may not be considered.

Financial Notification Form and Payment Schedule Letter
Both of these will provide information on the amount of tuition fee loan and any grant and maintenance loan you have applied for.

When you enrol you record your Student Support Number (SSN) onto your enrolment form and give your Notification or Schedule letter to the enrolment staff. If you are unable to provide this at enrolment because of a delay in assessment, you must present the Schedule or Support Notification letter to Financial Support at Wakefield Campus as soon as you receive it, in order to receive your loan payments. Once the SSN has been recorded your Student Loan will go into your bank account through BACS within ten days of you commencing the course. Without these details your enrolment cannot be confirmed and you will not receive any funding.

You will be issued with an invoice at the start of your course and you will be liable for fees unless you provide evidence of your tuition fee loan. This evidence is normally a schedule letter.

Installments
Normally, the Student Loan payments are split into three payments, term’s 1, 2 and 3. Sometimes, however, you may receive two or even three payments together if your application is late or excessively delayed.

Change of circumstances/withdrawal
If you change your circumstances after your original application, you must complete the CO1 form which can be downloaded from www.direct.gov.uk/studentfinance or contact Student Finance England on 08456 077 577. This can include a change of address, different bank details, transfer to a different course or Institution or if you withdraw or suspend your studies.

By enrolling you have reserved a place on the course and as such fees are payable even if you withdraw from your course. If you withdraw in Term 1 you will be liable to pay 40% towards your fees, if you withdraw in Term 2 you will be liable to pay 70% towards our fees and if you withdraw during Term 3 you will have 100% of the fees to pay.

Access to learning funds
This fund may be available to students who are struggling financially to complete their course. You may apply once you have received the first full installment of any Student Loan, grant and allowances. In some cases you may receive a loan from the Access to Learning Fund to be repaid once you have received the first installment of Student Loan. Application forms and more information are available from Financial Support. If you are on a franchised course you apply to the host University for the Access to Learning Fund.

Transport costs
A student metro pass is available to full-time students from bus or train stations. You need to produce your registration card and you may require a letter from College. For public transport information ring Metroline on 0113 2457676.

Student Bank Account
Check the level of the overdraft facility and charges if you exceed the agreed overdraft limit. This may be very important when your Student Loan installment is delayed or you are over budget.

For more information contact Financial Support at Wakefield campus, telephone 01924 789517 or 789283, email student.finance@wakefield.ac.uk or the Student Intranet under Student Services.