Financial support for undergraduate UK students: 2019-20

You don't pay for tuition up front. The government will provide a loan to cover your full tuition charges. You or your parents don't have to contribute anything now – you start to pay them back yourself once you graduate and are earning at least £25,000 a year.

Eligible part-time students also have access to loans for tuition fees. They won't have to pay upfront as long as it's their first degree.

To apply for a tuition fee loan please contact Student Finance England.

Repaying your loan

With effect from 1 April 2019, repayments will be 9% of any income above £25,725, so the amount you repay each month will depend on your earnings. Examples of monthly repayments for loans covering tuition and living costs:

Annual Salary	Monthly Repayments
£25,725	£0
£26,000	£2
£30,000	£32
£35,000	£70
£40,000	£107

Repayments will be deducted automatically from your pay packet. All outstanding repayments will be written off after 30 years.

This scheme is open to full-time on-campus undergraduate degree students on £9,250 undergraduate courses whose commencing year of study is 2019-20.

If your household income is below £35,000 then a bursary can help towards your living costs. Our bursaries scheme is available to qualifying students for each year of their studies and does not need to be paid back. It is available to all eligible UK students.

How much will the bursary be?

The Brookes Bursary is determined using the same household income calculation that is used by the Student Loans Company to work out the amount of financial support you receive from them. The amount of the Brookes Bursary will vary according to the year in which you join your course at the University.

Household income	Bursary (Year 1)	Bursary (Years 2 & 3)
Under £10,000	£1,500	£2,000
£10,000 - £24,999	£1,000	£1,500
£25,000 - £34,999	£500	£1,000

The bursary will be paid in three instalments during the academic year as follows:

• 25% on 1 November 2019
• 25% on 14 February 2020
• 50% on 9 April 2020

You must be in full time attendance at the University on the payment date to be eligible for each bursary instalment.

Applying

You don't need to apply - we will know if you are eligible from your household income figure provided to the Student Loans Company. All eligible students who have not opted out of the "consent to share" part of their SLC student support application will automatically be assessed for a bursary.

Please note you must be means tested by the end of the academic year (31 August 2020) to be entitled to claim your bursary for the current academic year. Students who consent to share their information, or who are means tested after the end of an academic year are no longer eligible to receive the previous year's bursary.

Healthcare students* who start their course after 1st September 2017 are eligible to apply for the NHS Learning Support Fund, which provides extra funding for healthcare students in respect of:

• Child Dependants Allowance
• Travel and Dual Accommodation expenses
• Exceptional Support Fund

* Note that this fund is not open to Paramedic Science students

If you are a full-time student who has spent a period of time in local authority care and are considering undergraduate study at Oxford Brookes, there is a lot of additional support that the University can offer you.

Oxford Brookes are proud to have been awarded the Quality Mark for Care Leavers by Buttle UK, which recognises the support we offer to care leavers applying to study here.

This Bursary is open to students who are under 25 years of age at the time they commence full-time undergraduate study at Oxford Brookes.

If you have been in care since the age of fourteen, are eligible for support from the Student Loans Company or NHS Business Services Authority and your household income is less than £40,000 per annum - you may be eligible for the Transition from Care Bursary of £2,000 a year.

Payment dates in 2019-20

This bursary is paid out in two equal installments, as follows:

• 50% on 31 October 2019
• 50% on 31 January 2020

Guaranteed accommodation

All care leavers are entitled to guaranteed accommodation in our halls of residence, Cheney Student Village for 50 weeks as long as the following criteria are met:

• Oxford Brookes must be selected as your firm choice on your UCAS form
• All university course entry requirements are met and you have received an unconditional offer.

To find out more about halls of residence and other accommodation available please visit our accommodation pages.

Student support

There is an excellent support system available to students that have been in care, for example Upgrade which is an advice service regarding any problems you may be having with your studies. More information on support can be found at:

• Teaching and learning
• Personal wellbeing
• Careers support
• Brookes Union Advice Service

How to apply

When filling in your UCAS application form, you will need to indicate that you are a care leaver. From there, we can take the steps to help you with the support you need. If you have already applied and not declared that you are a care leave please contact Diane Harrison on +44 (0) 1865 484652 to establish your eligibility for a bursary and guaranteed accommodation.

New for 2019-20 starters

If you are irreconcilably estranged from both your parents, you are a UK student who is under 25 and you are considering full-time undergraduate study at Oxford Brookes, there is a lot of additional support that the University can offer you.

The Stand Alone definition states that: an estranged student is someone that has not had verbal or written contact with both of their biological, adoptive parents or their only living parent for a significant period of time and this will not change. A significant period of time is usually considered twelve months or longer prior to the start of their course, but this can also depend on their circumstances.

Eligibility

To be eligible, you must:

• be enrolled on a full-time undergraduate or foundation degree and registered as a student at Oxford Brookes University
• start your course here in the 2019/20 academic year or later
• be aged 25 years or under at the start of the course
• be entitled to support from Student Finance England (both tuition fee loan and maintenance loan)
• be formally estranged from your parents and recognised as being independent by Student Finance England or be irreconcilably estranged from both parents. This should be verified by an objective third party, which for the purposes of these regulations, refers to any relevant person acting in a professional capacity, providing evidence for which they are professionally accountable (e.g. teacher from school/college or GP). This person should normally have known about their situation for a substantial amount of time, and can verify that they do not have contact with their biological, adoptive or only living parents.

Bursary details

1. The Bursary is worth £2,000 per academic year of study.
2. You cannot be considered for an award if you have not responded to our requests for and provided appropriate proof of your estrangement.
3. Awards cannot be claimed retrospectively for previous academic years.
4. Awards will be paid for each year you are entitled to full student support funding from SFE
5. The University reserves the right to terminate an award and demand repayment of funds already paid in the case of disciplinary action against an award-holder.
6. The University reserves the right to withdraw a Bursary from anyone who is found to have misled the University about any aspect of their eligibility and to seek repayment of any monies already paid by appropriate means.

7. This bursary is paid out in two equal installments during 2019-20, as follows:

   • 50% on 31 October 2019
   • 50% on 31 January 2020

Guaranteed accommodation

All estranged students are entitled to guaranteed accommodation in our halls of residence for 52 weeks as long as the following criteria are met:

• Oxford Brookes must be selected as your firm choice on your UCAS form
• All university course entry requirements are met and you have received an unconditional offer.

To find out more about halls of residence and other accommodation available, please visit our accommodation pages.

Student support

There is an excellent support system available to students who are estranged from their parents, and we have a dedicated contact in our Student Welfare Team who can offer support and advice during your time at Brookes. More information on support can be found at:

• Teaching and learning
• Personal wellbeing
• Careers support
• Brookes Union Advice Service

How to apply

Students are requested to complete an application for the Estranged Student Bursary and evidence must be in the form of an original letter by an independent person such as a teacher from school/college, GP or social worker. This person should normally have known about your situation for a substantial amount of time, and can verify that you do not have contact with your biological, adoptive or only living parents.

Please email studentwelfare@brookes.ac.uk to request an application form or support with applying for estranged student status.

The Oxford Brookes University’s Faculty of Health & Life Sciences is offering 3 Bursary Nursing Awards to help assist trainee student nurses with living expenses. Each Award will be up to £30,000 per student over a maximum period of 3 years.

The Bursary is open to mature, Home/EU students who are in financial need and without other funding, and would find it difficult financially to undertake the 3 year Pre-Registration course for the University’s BSc (Hons) or MSc (Hons) programme in Adult Nursing Degree.

Download the application form

Maintenance loans are available from the government to help with living costs. Please see the Student Finance England website for more details.

Maintenance loan for part-time students

New part time students from the academic year 2018-19 will be able to apply for a means tested part time maintenance loan from Student Finance England. You can apply to SFE for a maintenance Loan towards your living and course costs. This loan is means tested, so the amount you receive is partially based on your household income and whether you choose to live in your own home or in your parental home.

As a part-time student the amount of maintenance Loan available to you will also be based on your intensity of study which is worked out from how many modules you take. As a part time student you can study between 2 to 5 modules per academic year. The table below shows how much you may be entitled to.

Household Income	2 modules	3 modules	4 modules	5 modules
£10,000 - £24,999	£2,175	£2,897	£4,350	£4,350
£25,000 - £29,999	£2,019	£2,689	£4,038	£4,038
£30,000 - £34,999	£1,863	£2,482	£3,726	£3,726
£35,000 - £42,875	£1,617	£2,154	£3,235	£3,235
£42,876 - £49,999	£1,395	£1,858	£2,790	£2,790
£50,000 - £54,999	£1,239	£1,650	£2,478	£2,478
£55,000 - £62,190	£1,015	£1,352	£2,030	£2,030
£62,191 and over	£1,014	£1,350	£2,027	£2,027

When you apply to SFE for your maintenance loan and fees, you will be asked how many modules you are intending to study (between 2 and 5). You will also be asked how many modules you would study if your course was full time. There are 8 modules for full time study. This information is important to SFE, so they can calculate your intensity of study for your maintenance loan.

Part Time Tuition Fees

A non means test tuition fee loan is also available from Student Finance England. Oxford Brookes will charge £750 per single module credit in 2018-19.

Applying

Applications for part-time Tuition Fee and Maintenance Loans are made online on the Student Finance England website.

The University has a long and successful history of supporting students who find themselves in unexpected hardship during their studies. Please visit our Financial Aid page for details of support available.

A free BrookesKey bus pass will be offered to full-time undergraduate students that are:

• on a course with a fee of £9,250 or more

or

• living in an Oxford Brookes hall of residence.

The free BrookesKey pass is also available to international students (new and continuing) who are on courses with fees of £9,250 or more.

There is an £8 administration fee for the production of a BrookesKey.

The cost of a mandatory field trip is included in your course fee

Optional field trip costs are not included and a separate fee will apply. Please contact the relevant Faculty for more information about these charges.

The Oxford Brookes University Community Scholarship rewards those students who have been an excellent role model within their school, college or community and/or have overcome personal or social difficulties.

Payment dates in 2019-20

This scholarship is paid out in two equal installments during 2019-20, as follows:

• 50% on 31 October 2019
• 50% on 31 January 2020

Please see the Community Scholarships page for more details.

Santander scholarships offer 27 grants of £1,250 and are available to current students in their first year of study. The scholarship is designed to support students to actively participate in their studies and the wider opportunities available while at the University. 

Eligibility

To be eligible you must meet all the following criteria: 

• be studying in the first year of a full-time 3 or 4-year undergraduate degree or integrated foundation year

• be a Home fee paying student, paying the maximum fee of £9,250

• have made an online application to Student Finance England (SFE) and be eligible for an offer of funding (the offer does not need to be accepted but you must have consented to share your information with Oxford Brookes when applying to SFE and you must provide SFE with your bank account details)

• be in receipt of an Oxford Brookes bursary.

You must also meet at least one of the following criteria:

• be a mature student

• have previously lived in local authority care

• have a disability or specific learning difficulty

• be of black or minority ethnic origin

• have a permanent home address (not term-time) in a postcode area with low HE progression

• have a permanent home address (not term-time) in an area of higher socio-economic disadvantage.

Applicants who have already studied at another university are not eligible to apply.

How to apply

You must apply for the scholarship directly via the Santander Becas portal by 23 February 2020. Only applications made via the Santander Becas portal will be accepted.

Successful applicants will be notified via their Brookes email account and will receive the scholarship in Semester 2. 

If you have any questions, please email query@brookes.ac.uk.