The majority of UK full-time undergraduate students are funded by the ‘Student Finance’ system which provides assistance with paying tuition fees and a Maintenance Loan for living costs; alongside grants for students with dependants - outlined below – and extra support for Disabled Students.

Scottish students are funded through SAAS.

New undergraduates in 2021 will need to apply to their national Student Finance office. There are separate offices depending on whether you live in England, Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland. Details are available at www.gov.uk/student-finance where you can also apply online or download the application form 'PN1'. You should apply early – around March 2021 is the earliest for August/Sept starters– in order to be sure that you receive your funding at the start of the academic year.

In order to be generally eligible for Student Finance funding you need to:

• have ‘settled status’ in the UK*; and
• have been ‘ordinarily resident’ in the UK for 3 years before the start of the course*; and
• be ordinarily resident in the UK at the start of the course

*Refugees who have been granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK do not need to fulfil the 3 years residence requirement; asylum seekers who have been granted Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK, or Humanitarian Protection, do need to fulfil the 3 years residence requirement.

European citizens classed as EEA Migrant Workers (or their spouses or children), and EU nationals who have lived in the UK for 5 years before the start of their course, may also be eligible.  UK Government funding for EU students is changing following the UK's departure from the EU. You can find up-to-date information on this at www.gov.uk/student-finance

You may have heard that, for most courses, students who have already studied in full-time higher education may have reduced funding if they choose to study another course. However, the good news is that if you are looking to study a pre-registration healthcare course your previous study will be disregarded (unless your previous study was also a pre-reg healthcare course in the same profession and you obtained the qualification). Seek our guidance if you are unsure about this.

All four of our Nursing pre-reg degree courses and our two AHP courses (Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy) qualify for the above-mentioned regulation that disregards previous study.

* Please note that neither our BSc (Hons) Paramedic Science course nor our BSc (Hons) Healthcare Science (Life Route) qualify for this exemption under this regulation with Student Finance England. For both of these courses, any previous study will be considered by Student Finance England in potentially reducing your funding. Also, if you have a previous degree qualification this will prevent you receiving SFE funding for these two courses at all. Please seek our guidance on this if you think this might affect you.

A year’s tuition fee for most of our Honours degree courses will be £9250 in 2021/22.  Students resident in England can apply to Student Finance England for a Tuition Fee Loan to pay the fees.  This loan is not subject to any age restriction and does not depend on household income. You do not start to repay student loans until you are earning over £27,295 per year.

In order to apply for the highest rates of Maintenance Loan you need to be aged under 60 at the start of the course, although a reduced rate is now available to those over 60. 

For English students, the maximum amount of Maintenance Loan will be available to students whose taxable ‘household income’ is assessed to be less than £25,000 per year. 

For 2021/22, the maximum rates of Maintenance Loan are £9,488 for students not living with their parents whilst studying (known as the 'elsewhere' rate), or £7,987 for students living with their parents whilst studying.  A minimum amount of Loan is paid if your household income is above the thresholds shown below – this is called the 'non-income-assessed' part of the Loan:

Indicative levels of Maintenance Loan at ‘Elsewhere’ rate of Loan:

Income                            Loan           

£25,000                            £9,488        

£30,000                            £8,809        

£35,000                            £8,130        

£40,000                            £7,450        

£45,000                            £6,771        

£50,000                            £6,092        

£55,000                            £5,412        

£60,000                            £4,733        

£62,286+                          £4,422  (minimum)

Indicative levels of Maintenance Loan at ‘Parental Home’ rate of Loan:

Income                            Loan           

£25,000                            £7,987        

£30,000                            £7,315         

£35,000                            £6,642        

£40,000                            £5,969        

£45,000                            £5,296        

£50,000                            £4,623        

£55,000                            £3,950        

£58,220+                          £3,516  (minimum)

Scottish students should visit www.saas.gov.uk for details of their Bursary scheme, as this uses different income scales.

Your parents’ income (including that of your natural parent’s spouse/partner with whom you live) is assessed unless you qualify for ‘Independent Status’. You can be classed as ‘independent’ from parents, and therefore their income is not counted, if you meet one of the following conditions:

• you are 25 or over at the start of the academic year; or
• you have been married before the start of the academic year; or
• you have financially supported yourself for at least 3 years before the start of your course (you will need to show evidence of earnings / welfare benefits); or
• you have no living parents; or
• you are responsible for a child/children; or
• you are ‘irreconcilably estranged’ from your parents.

If you are married, or you are aged 25 or over and living with a partner, then your spouse/partner’s income is taken into account in assessing your entitlement to the Maintenance Loan.

The gross taxable income 2019/20 of your parent(s)/spouse/partner is taken into account, but any payments made into a personal pension fund which is subject to tax relief are deducted, and £1130 will be deducted for any other child who is financially dependent on them.  Any earnings that you, the student, may have from part-time work whilst studying are ignored; only certain taxable ‘unearned’ income you may have will be taken into account.

Students who are classed as being in ‘vulnerable groups’ and who are eligible to claim means-tested welfare benefits while they study (e.g. Income Support, Housing Benefit) will be eligible for a higher rate of Maintenance Loan.  Generally, the main groups of students who will be eligible for this are lone parents, students with certain disabilities, and students who the Department for Work and Pensions have deemed to be incapable of work.  So, a student who fulfils one of these criteria and has a household income of less than £25,000 will receive a maximum Maintenance Loan of either £10,815 (‘Elsewhere’ rate) or £9,423 (‘Parental Home’ rate).

If a student receives this maximum loan, £4,014 will be disregarded when calculating benefits.

If you have a spouse (or co-habiting partner if you are aged 25 or over) who is financially dependent on you, you may be eligible to receive a grant of up to £3,190.

Scottish students, funded by SAAS, can receive a Dependants’ Grant of up to £2,640 for an adult dependant.

If you are a lone parent, married to another student, or have a spouse/partner who is on a low income or unable to work, you could receive a Childcare Grant from SFE to meet up to 85% of your childcare costs.  The maximum grant for one child is £179.62 per week.  The maximum grant for 2 or more children is £307.95 per week.  Your childcare provider must be OFSTED registered or approved.  This grant is payable over the vacations (including summer) as well as during the academic year.

If you are in receipt of assistance towards childcare costs through Working Tax Credit or Universal Credit, you cannot also receive the childcare grant.  You can, however, opt to receive the grant rather than the WTC/UC childcare element.  (WTC assists with 70% of costs, but the Childcare Grant assists with 85% of the costs).  Student Finance England will want to see that you have stopped claiming for childcare costs through WTC/UC before awarding you the Childcare Grant. 

This is a grant for students with children to help with study-related costs.  The maximum is £1,821.

Scottish students, funded by SAAS, can receive a Lone Parent's Grant of up to £1,305.

The Adult Dependants Grant, Childcare Grant and Parents Learning Allowance are specialist grants for lower-income households. The amount you may receive depends on the income of your spouse/partner and/or children - as they need to be financially dependant on you, the student, in order to receive the grants. 

Please contact Student Financial Guidance Team if you require further information on this calculation.

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) provides additional funding for Nursing and AHP students. This includes our degree courses in Adult Nursing Practice, Mental Health Nursing Practice, Children's & Young People's Nursing Practice, and Learning Disability Nursing Practice – as well as our newest courses in Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy. Paramedic Science has also now been added to this NHS funding scheme from Sept 2020 onward.

This extra funding is called the NHS Learning Support Fund, and from September 2020 has been significantly increased to include:

• Training Grant - This is a £5000 grant per year of continued full-time study;
• Parental Support - This is an additional grant of £2,000 per year if you have child dependants;
• Specialist Subject Payment - This is an additional £1000 grant per year if you are studying a subject where there is currently a particular shortage of qualified staff in the NHS. Our Mental Health Nursing and Learning Disability Nursing courses are covered here, and would qualify for this.
• Regional Incentive Payment - This is an additional £1000 grant that will be paid depending on areas where the NHS need to recruit more staff. However, the Government has not yet specified where those specific areas are.
• Travel and Dual Accommodation Support - This is a grant for excess travel expenses (and dual accommodation expenses if needed) incurred by attending practice placements;
• Exceptional Support Fund - This is the NHS student hardship fund, and is discretionary support of up to £3,000 per year for students who find themselves in severe financial hardship during their studies - for example due to an impactful change in circumstances during your course.

All of the above-mentioned NHS Learning Support Fund elements are grants, which means that you do not have to pay them back. You can receive the grants as well as your loans from Student Finance. In fact, as it currently stands, eligibility for Learning Support Fund is attached to a student's eligibility to Tuition Fee Loan and Maintenance Loan from the Student Finance system. NHSBSA asks to see that you are receiving these loans before they will approve your Learning Support Fund grants. If you are not receiving Student Finance, you would not be eligible for the LSF grants.

The NHSBSA website update their website whenever new information is announced – https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/nhs-learning-support-fund . We would advise you to keep up-to-date with that webpage, by signing up for update emails. It also includes a FAQ factsheet full of in-depth information that is known so far. 

The University of Sunderland will offer a number of scholarships in 2021/22.

Check out the University’s website here

This is a University hardship fund to help students who face unexpected costs, higher than expected costs, or face serious financial problems for other reasons.  Applications can be made once you have enrolled for the academic year.  You will need to provide evidence of all of your income and costs for an assessment to be made.  Priority groups of students for assistance from the Fund include students with children, students who are incapable of work, and final year students suffering financial difficulties.

Applications are processed by the University's Student Support Fund Team. You can find more information on the Fund here.

As a student, you can receive free school meals for your children if you receive either:

• Child Tax Credit (provided you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190); or
• Universal Credit - your household income must be less than £14,000 a year (after tax and not including any benefits you get)

Your student finance loan will NOT be taken into account as income for Free School Meals, as it is not taxable income.

You will need to contact the Local Education Authority of your child(ren)’s school and show evidence of your Child Tax Credit or Universal Credit award.

Certain kinds of properties are exempt from Council Tax.  These include student halls of residence and ‘dwellings occupied only by students’ (which includes the house or flat of a student who lives alone). 

If you live with non-students then your property may not be exempt from Council Tax.  If you live with a non-student spouse or partner, and there are no other adults living in your home, you can receive a discount of 25% on the Council Tax bill when you become a student, irrespective of your spouse/partner’s income.  Your spouse/partner may also be able to claim Council Tax Reduction/Support to further reduce the bill.

You will need to obtain a Council Tax Certificate from the University after enrolment to prove your status as a full-time student. Simply print one from your university MySunderland account when you have started your course.

Surveys indicate that around 50% of full-time students have part-time jobs during term-time.  Most students work during the summer vacations.  Any earnings you receive do not affect the amount of student support funding you receive. They may, however, affect any tax credits or means-tested benefits you may be eligible to claim.  Contact the University’s Careers and Employability Service (Sunderland Futures) for advice on finding part-time work.