Student finance glossary

Bursary

A non-repayable allowance paid to a student. This usually depends on your household income or on your academic performance.

Continuing students

You'll be classified as a 'continuing student' if you've already studied on your current course and you're progressing onto the next stage or year of that course.

Credit rating

When you apply for a loan, mortgage or other form of credit the lending company makes a decision based on your application form, your previous history with them and your credit rating file.

Your credit rating file is a document that contains all your previous financial activities and repayments (things like your mobile phone bill, utility bill payments, store cards, and so on). It therefore gives an indication of whether it would be appropriate to lend money to you.

Student loans aren't included in the credit rating file. This means a lender won't know if you've had a student loan unless you tell them. The fact you're making student loan repayments won't affect future mortgage/loans/credit in any way.

Dependent students

You'll be classified as a 'dependent student' if you're under the age of 25 on the first day of your course and are financially dependent on one or both of your parents (even if you don't live with them).

Grant

A non-repayable allowance either paid to a student from a lower-income background or paid for a specific purpose such as travel or equipment. The Maintenance Grant usually depends on your household income so is sometimes only available to students from a lower income background. A Travel Grant may be available to all students, though this depends on their household income.

'Home' students

You may be considered as a 'Home' student if your home prior to coming to university is in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. Furthermore, whether studying in England, Wales or elsewhere in the UK you must also have lived in the United Kingdom for at least three years before the start of your course. Student Finance England will look at students' immigration status or nationality and whether certain residence conditions are met to determine if a student is a 'Home' student. Students who are British Citizens who normally live in the EU or EEA are classed as ‘Home’ students in accordance with the UK nation where they're choosing to study. An EU student studying in Wales will be classed as a Welsh student for fee purposes whereas an EU student choosing to study in Scotland will be classed as Scottish for fee purposes.

Income assessed

When support is 'income assessed', the income of a person is used to determine the level of an award. For students, it's the income of the people you normally live with that is taken into account. This is usually the income of your parents if they live together. If your parents are divorced or separated, it is the income of the parent you normally live with plus that of their live-in spouse/partner. Alternatively, the income of your husband, wife, civil partner or live- in partner will be taken into account if this is more appropriate.

International students

'International students' is a term used to describe students who come to study at a British university from outside the EU. In terms of funding for university, students from within the EU or EEA are classed as ‘Home’ students because they pay the same fees.

Non-income assessed funding

All new undergraduate students with Home status are able to get a Maintenance Loan. The total amount of non-income assessed funding available is dependent on whether the student is moving away from home to study and whether they're based in London or elsewhere in the UK.

Parental residual income

This is the total household income before tax but after any private pension contributions or allowances for dependent children.

Postgraduate

A student studying for a degree course at a higher level than an undergraduate course (for example: MA, MSc, MPhil or PhD postgraduate courses) is not normally able to get funding from Student Finance England. An exception is any students studying for a Postgraduate Certificate in Educate (PGCE). They can get full funding from Student Finance England.

Tuition fees

Tuition fees vary depending on your university and choice of course. The fee amount will increase each year in line with inflation and can be up to £9000 for the 2013/14 academic year. Universities charge tuition fees in order to cover the costs associated with teaching students.

Tuition Fee Loan

Full-time 'Home' and 'EU' undergraduate students may apply for a Tuition Fee Loan to cover the cost of tuition fees. Their fees are paid directly to the university on the student's behalf. As a student, you repay the loan in the same way as your Maintenance Loan once you have finished studying and are earning over the repayment threshold: £21,000 per year for students who started on or after 1 September 2012, £16,365 for students who started their course before 1 September 2012.

Undergraduate

A student studying for a bachelor degree, (eg BA or BSc), a HND or a Foundation Degree. In Scotland, the award is normally an MA degree but this is classed as an undergraduate degree.

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