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Higher Education Course Fee Information and Guidance
Undergraduate Loans
The government provides student loans for undergraduate students to cover course fees and to help cover costs of living whilst in education. These are called tuition fee loans and maintenance loans and are held with the Student Loans Company (SLC). Please be aware that the information provided below is accurate at time of writing, but is subject to change.
Tuition fee loans are paid directly to University Centre Kingston Maurward so you don’t need to worry about making payments to us. Maintenance loans are paid directly to you.
All of our Higher Education courses are eligible for these loans – your eligibility is based upon the following;
- If you are a UK national, Irish citizen or have ‘settled status’ and have lived in the UK for the past three years (exemptions may apply, please contact the team on 01305 215034 for more information)
- If you have not previously completed a Higher Education course (not including HNDs and HNCs as you can continue to receive student loans to top-up to a full degree)
- If you are aged 60 or over; you are still eligible for a maintenance loan but it will be a reduced amount
Maintenance Loans
The amount you are entitled to for a maintenance loan relies on multiple factors, for example;
- Where you will be living, in our outside of London, with or without your parents
- If you are considered an ‘independent learner’ i.e, you are not financially dependent on anyone
- Your household income
You will never know exactly how much maintenance loan you are eligible for until you apply, but the table below is a rough guide for how much you could be entitled to if you are living outside of London.
| Household income | Loan amount if living with your parents | Loan amount if living without your parents |
| Up to £25,000 | £8,610 (maximum) | £10,227 (maximum) |
| Up to £45,000 | £5,716 | £7,304 |
| £45,000 and over | £3,790 (minimum) | £4,767 (minimum) |
Anyone who is eligible for a tuition fee loan is also eligible for the minimum maintenance loan depending on their living arrangements. If you are aged 60 or over the maximum maintenance loan you can receive is £4,327.
If you wish to be assessed for a higher amount you will need to provide information on your income and list the people you may be ‘financially dependent’ on. This could be your parents, spouses, etc. The student loans company will contact these people directly to access their income information.
If you are 25 or over and have children, some of your income is discounted from the household income, to allow for these extra costs.
Applying for Student Loans
All of our Higher Education courses are set up on the Student Loans portal, so once you have made an account and have begun to apply, the portal will take you through step-by-step what you need to do.
Once you have submitted your application you will receive a letter with the outcome. If your application has been accepted, it will also tell you how much maintenance loan you are entitled to, if you have applied for one. Keep this letter, it will contain important information that you may need to refer to in the future.
When you first enrol on your course at Kingston Maurward, we will confirm your attendance with the Student Loans Company. This will trigger the maintenance payment to be made to you. This will be done via bank transfer so please ensure your banking details are correct on your student loans portal.
To apply for an undergraduate loan, please click here.
| Annual Income | Deductible Income | Monthly Repayments |
| £25,000 or less | £0 | £0 |
| £30,000 | £5,000 | £37.50 |
| £40,000 | £15,000 | £112.50 |
Repaying your Student Loan
Your loan will begin to accrue interest from the day the first payment is made to Kingston Maurward or yourself. The loan that you have will be a ‘Plan 5’ loan. This means the interest is currently being charged for these plans at 7.8%.
Student finance has various ‘plans’ for repayment. At the moment, all future undergraduate loans are on ‘Plan 5’. This means, you will only pay back 9% of any annual income over £25,000 from the following April after the completion of the course. The annual income amount changes every tax year (the details here are accurate at time of writing).
The repayments for the loan are taken directly from HMRC so it will be deducted in your payslips if you are employed. If you are self-employed, this will be calculated and billed through your Self-Assessment Tax Return.
If the total balance has not been repaid in the 40 years from the April after you completed your course, the loan is written off.
Instalment Plans
If you are ineligible for, or do not wish, to take out a student loan to cover your Higher Education course fees, you can spread the cost of the course with one of our instalment plans. This will split the cost of the course into three equal payments to be made in August, December, and April (termly).