Calculator Help

Are there restrictions on you living in the UK?

Normally, you must have 'settled status' to be eligible for financial support while you study in England. This means that you can live in the UK permanently without restrictions on how long you may remain.

You are free from any restriction if one or more of the following applies:

you are a British citizen
you have a right of 'permanent residence' in the UK
you have been granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK
you have a right of abode in the UK.

If you do not have settled status, this calculator may not accurately estimate your entitlement to support. You may, however, still qualify for student finance. Contact your Local Authority to find out if you can receive support.

Information on entitlement to support for EU students is available here.

Further information about the right of 'permanent residence' and other immigration issues is available from the Immigration and Nationality Directorate at the Home Office at www.homeoffice.gov.uk

Are you married or in a civil partnership or were you married or in a civil partnership before the start of the academic year 2007/2008?

A civil partnership is a relationship between two people of the same sex who have:

registered as civil partners; and
signed the civil partnership document, along with a civil partnership registrar and two witnesses.

Where will you be attending?

Make your selection based on the address of your campus, rather than your university or college itself if this address is different.

Do you wish to claim non income-assessed support only?

All eligible students are entitled to a basic amount of financial help.

If you apply for student grants and a Student Loan for Maintenance (to cover your living costs), the total amount of financial help you can receive is based on your household income. If you apply for non-income assessed support you will receive the basic amount of student finance.

To be considered for the full amount of income-assessed support you or other relevant members of your household (for example, your parents, a spouse or a partner) must provide information about your household income.

Student Loans for Fees (covering tuition fees) are not subject to any assessment of household income.

Which of the following is your course?

Full time postgraduate Initial Teacher Training (ITT) course
For these courses you must attend full time for either study or teaching practice for an aggregate of at least six weeks in the year. If your periods of full time study, including teaching practice, amount to less than six weeks, you will not be eligible for a Maintenance Grant, but you may be able to receive a Tuition Fee Loan and the non-income assessed portion of the Maintenance Loan. You will still be considered to be attending your course even if arrangements have been made by your university or college for you to take the course without having to attend.

Flexible postgraduate (ITT) course
You can only receive help with living costs if you are attending your course for at least one year. If your course normally lasts for at least one year, but you do not attend for a whole year or more because you are awarded Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) before then, you may be eligible for financial support and should complete this form.

You will need to provide a letter from your university or college confirming the number of weeks you will be on full time study and full time teaching practice. You will still be considered to be attending your course even if arrangements have been made by your university or college for you to take the course without having to attend.

Part time Initial Teacher Training (ITT) course
If you are studying a part time postgraduate course of Initial Teacher Training you will be treated as a full time student for the purpose of financial support. However, your course should not take more than twice as long to complete as an equivalent full time course.

You will be entitled to a percentage of the non-income assessed portion of the Maintenance Grant.

How many weeks will you be studying full time in 2007/2008?

The number of weeks you will be studying full time is decided by your university or college.

How many weeks will you be on full time teaching practice in 2007/2008?

If you are attending a part time course of Initial Teacher Training (ITT), or a flexible postgraduate ITT course, give the number of weeks of full time study or full time teaching practice involved in your course:

include any week when you have activities for all or most of each day and for most days of the week, apart from weekends
add together the number of days where you have activities for all or most of the day - for example, if you spend all or most of one day a week for five weeks on these activities, these days will count as one week
do not include any days when you only attend in the evening or for only one or two hours.

Will you receive an NHS bursary for your course?

To be eligible for an NHS bursary you must be accepted for an NHS-funded place.

Is it a means tested bursary?

With a means-tested bursary, the income of your parents, step-parents, their partner, your husband, your wife, your civil partner or your partner is taken into consideration when calculating the amount of bursary to which you are entitled.

How many children are dependent on you or your spouse or your partner or your civil partner?

Indicate the total number of children, including any children who are dependent on your spouse, partner or civil partner.

Estimate your unearned income for the academic year 1/9/2007 to 31/8/2008

Give a realistic estimate of your unearned income. You will need to confirm this amount when you apply for your loan.

If your actual unearned income is different from your estimated income, your local authority will re-assess your entitlement, which may change the level of your support.

Unearned income does not include:

any earnings from part time employment or work such as holiday work
any payments paid to you by your parents under a covenant
any bounties paid by the armed services to reservists or disablement or invalidity pensions.

Unearned income does include the following:

Benefits
Unearned income includes benefits of any kind - for example, Jobseeker's Allowance, Working Families' Tax Credit or Housing Benefit. This estimate must be the total amount you expect to receive for the academic year up to 31 August 2008.

Maintenance payments
When estimating maintenance payments, include all the maintenance you are receiving, whether it is paid under a court order or through a voluntary arrangement.

Your calculations should include:

any payments made directly to your children, and those paid to you for the benefit of your children.
payments made through the Child Support Agency (CSA).

Interest and dividends
Include all interest (after deductions) from all bank and building society accounts, dividends, investments, TESSAs, PEPs, and ISAs.

Payments towards attending your course
Include all income from scholarships, studentships, exhibitions, bursaries, awards, grants, allowances; and all other payments for attending your course during the academic year.

Payments from employers
Include any payments from an employer releasing you for your study during the academic year starting 1 September 2007 to 31 August 2008.

Include any salary or wages that you will receive from that employer while studying for your course. This includes work completed before the course begins, or for work paid in advance which you will do after your course ends.

If appropriate, estimate the gross income of your spouse/civil partner/partner for the financial year ending 5 April 2007

Gross income is the total income before any deductions (for example, tax and national insurance).

Estimate this amount as accurately as possible, as this may affect the estimated entitlement the Calculator gives for your loan or grant. Include any received or expected bonuses, commission and any income from employment overseas.

What is your mother’s gross income for the financial year ending 5 April 2007?

Gross income is the total income before any deductions (for example, tax and national insurance).

Estimate this amount as accurately as possible, as this may affect the estimated entitlement the calculator gives for your loan or grant. Include any received or expected bonuses, commission and any income from employment overseas.

What is the gross income of the parent you live with, for the financial year ending 5 April 2007?

Gross income is the total income before any deductions (for example, tax and national insurance).

What is your father’s gross income for the financial year ending 5 April 2007?

Gross income is the total income before any deductions (for example, tax and national insurance).

Please provide an estimate of the gross income for the financial year ending April 2007 for any of the following:

a partner of your parent who lives with you both,
a step parent, married to the parent with whom you live,
a civil partner of the parent with whom you live

If your parent lives with a partner or civil partner
If your parent with whom you normally live also lives with a partner of the opposite or same sex, or a civil partner, then the partner's income will also be taken into account in assessing your eligibility to support.

If your parent has remarried
If your parent with whom you normally live has remarried, then your step-parent's income will also be taken into account, whether they live with you or not. Estimate this amount as accurately as possible, as this may affect the estimated entitlement the calculator gives for your loan or grant. Include any received or expected bonuses, commission and any income from employment overseas. Gross income is the total income before any deductions (for example, tax and national insurance).

Does your course lead to a professional qualification?

Courses of study leading to professional qualifications include medical doctor, dentist, veterinary doctor, architect, landscape architect, landscape designer, landscape manager, town planner, or town and country planner.

What type of course have you previously undertaken?

In order to determine how much support you may be entitled to we need to know if you have taken any other college or university courses in the past.

Higher National Certificate (HNC)
This is a qualification offered by universities and many colleges. It is taken over one year if attended full-time or over two years if part-time. Once you have obtained an HNC qualification, you may be able to enter a relevant degree course in the second year, rather than starting from scratch.

Higher National Diploma (HND)
This is a qualification offered by universities and many colleges. It is taken over two years on a full-time basis and can also be taken part-time. Once you have obtained an HND qualification, you may be able to enter a relevant degree course in the second or third year.

A Foundation Degree
This is a qualification designed and developed together with employers and further and higher education. Foundation Degrees combine academic study with workplace learning. It is flexible and accessible and is designed to give you the sort of high-level skills that employers value. The focus is on flexible learning: you can learn part-time or full-time, or through distance learning, learning in the workplace or learning through the internet. On successfully achieving a Foundation Degree, there should be at least one route to a suitable honours degree at a partner university.

A Degree
A degree is a qualification such as a Bachelor of Arts (BA), Bachelor of Science (BSc), or Bachelor of Medicine (MB). It will usually take three or four years to complete if studying full-time, although degrees in medicine or law can take five or six years. Degrees can also be taken part-time or through flexible learning. While you are studying for your degree you will be called an undergraduate.

Other
Anything not covered in the above sections can be added and these will be considered when assessing your application.