University of St Andrews

Confused about St.Andrews entrant bursary

I've applied for 2013 undergraduate entry and just want to double check something. I'm eligible for the full maintenance grant of £3,354 and a maintenance loan up to a max of £5,500 from student finance England. The standard entrant bursary states "The Bursary tops up existing loans and grants available from the Government on a sliding scale to a total combined value of £7,500 per annum". If I was to apply for the full loan & grant, my total would be £8,854 for the year, surpassing the £7,500 and so I wouldn't get a top up from the bursary scheme. But my question is, if I only applied for the grant and not take out the loan at all, would the entrant bursary top it up to a max of £7,500 or do I HAVE to take out even a partial maintenance loan to receive the bursary?

Thanks!

Reply 1

firebolt

If you get the full maitinence grant then you cant get the full loan, they change it for different incomes so those whose parents earn the most have the most loan and those with the least get the most grant

http://www.sfengland.slc.co.uk/full-time-study/new-students/what%27s-available-in-201314/living-costs.aspx

University of St Andrews

Reply 2

SherbyCroo

Ah, I didn't know that. But I'm not sure if there's a minimum loan I have to take out alongside the grant to get the entrant bursary or if I could theoretically not take out the loan and have the rest topped up to the 7.5k

Reply 3

firebolt

Original post by SherbyCroo

Although eligibility is based on the need to apply to Student Finance England there is no requirement for students to take the full loan in order to receive the Bursary.
http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/admissions/ug/feesandfunding/scholarships/standrewsentrantbursariesengland/
That is from the English page but pretty sure it is the same for the others.

Not sure how much it would be topped up to.

Reply 4

SherbyCroo

The max it would be topped up to is £7,500. But it's not extremely clear on if there's a minimum loan I would need to take out to receive the bursary or... :frown:

Reply 5

firebolt

No what I meant is that if you don't take out the loan then they're not going to top up the 3,354 to 7,500 because well that's unfair. I'm guessing it would be theoretical of what you could have taken out.