Funding for International Student?

Hey guys,
This has probably been asked a lot but I was wondering what financial support, I, a New Zealander can get. I have been living in the UK for the past two years and if I meet my offer, I will be studying Econ at UCL.

All the scholarships I've seen are for British students and those from developing countries.

There are also some private providers like Future Finance but their interest rates are quite high.

Just wondering if anyone knows anything I could be elligible for or any better private loan providers, thanks!

Unfortunately, there's nothing from the UK government. Is there anything from New Zealand?

A more realistic idea might be to wait until you've been resident in the UK for three full years. At that point - as long as you didn't just come to the UK for education - you will be assessed as a Home/UK student and will get the full Student Finance package as well as paying Home/UK fees instead of International fees. You may have to reapply to uni if UCL won't allow you to defer that long (ask them) but it would probably be better than the alternative in the longer term.

There's no UK government funding and if UCL don't offer anything, private lenders are your only source. As you say, Future Finance has high interest rates. Plus you have to start repaying whilst you study - basically, they loan you money, add interest and immediately start asking for it back even when you have no income. Would a degree from UCL really give you the kind of benefit which would justify that leveil of debt for that many years?

A more realistic idea might be to wait until you've been resident in the UK for three full years. At that point - as long as you didn't just come to the UK for education - you will be assessed as a Home/UK student and will get the full Student Finance package as well as paying Home/UK fees instead of International fees. You may have to reapply to uni if UCL won't allow you to defer that long (ask them) but it would probably be better than the alternative in the longer term.

Not sure why waiting til the OP had been in the UK for 3 years would help OP. The rule is now 5 years and is for EU students, for international students they must have indefinite leave to remain.

I thought it was 5 for non-EU students too.

Your nationality or residency status
You can apply if all of the following apply:

you’re a UK national or have ‘settled status’ (no restrictions on how long you can stay)
you normally live in England
you’ve been living in the UK for 3 years before starting your course

EU nationals

You can apply as though you were a UK national if you’ve been living in the UK for more than 5 years before the first day of the first academic year of your course.

Academic years start on 1 September, 1 January, 1 April or 1 July. Ask someone who runs your course if you don’t know which one applies.

The qualifying residency requirement for non-EU students remains at 3 years. EU student requirement has increased to 5 years. The IDL requirement is only applied to those who came to the UK as refugees/asylum seekers and I don't think NZ is that bad

https://www.gov.uk/student-finance/who-qualifies

But what would I do until next September?

But what would I do until next September?

But what would I do until next September?

Working is your best bet.

A major wrinkle to your student funding status, is that moving to the UK purely for educational purposes automatically disqualifies you from receiving any Student Finance funding at all. If you work for a while, you can demonstrate that you've come to the UK to engage with the culture, work and make a life for yourself.

We moved to the UK because my dad found a good job here, not really for the purpose of paying home fees. I could go back to NZ to study but since I am here I might as well take advantage of the universities that UK has to offer.
Furthermore, I do plan on (hopefully)working in the UK after I finish my degree.