Thinking of starting your course in 2017/18

Tuition Fee Costs for UK and EU Students

Full time undergraduate Tuition Fees for the 2017/18 academic year here at Bangor University are up to £9,000. Payment of tuition fees can be deferred until after you finish your studies, if you opt to take out a Tuition Fee Loan. Alternatively, you pay your fees whilst you study.

Support towards Tuition Fees

From September 2006, UK and EU full time undergraduate students don't have to pay fees before they start university or while they study. Instead students will be able to apply a Tuition Fee Loan to cover these costs. The Students Loan Company will pay the fees directly to the university on students’ behalf. The loan is repaid by the student when they have left university and earning over £21,000* a year. Interest on the loan is linked to inflation only, so what you repay will be worth what you borrowed.

The Tuition Fee Loan is available regardless of family income.  However, students who have previously studied at Higher Education level should contact their Student Funding body to check their entitlement.

The maximum Tuition Fee Loan you can take out is the fee that the university will charge you.

Students can only take out a Tuition Fee Loan if they have a liability to pay tuition fees. If you decide not to take a Tuition Fee Loan, deciding instead to pay your fees with your grants or maintenance loan in full at the beginning of the academic year, you cannot then go back to Student Finance awarding body and apply for a Tuition Fee Loan if you find yourself struggling financially during the year.  This is because you will not have any liability to pay tuition fees as you have already paid the fees in full at the beginning of the academic year. We strongly advise you, if you choose to take out a loan but you don’t want to take out your full entitlement, to take the Tuition Fee Loan first and ask for a reduced amount of Maintenance Loan, as you are allowed to go back once and request a top up your entitlement during the academic year.

For further information on how you can pay your tuition fees, if you choose to do so, or any other university fees such as accommodation please visit the Finance office

*2011 cohort students

Tuition Fee Grant – Welsh domiciled students

The Welsh Government announced that students from the EU and Wales will not have to pay tuition fees higher than the current level. This means that, students who live in Wales or EU will receive a grant of up to £5,190 from the Welsh Government.  Welsh and EU student can also apply for a Tuition Fee Loan for cover the remaining £3,810.  Students will start repaying this loan only once they graduate or left the course and earning more than £21,000.

Financing your Living Costs
Maintenance Grant / Welsh Government Learning Grant

Grants were introduced for ‘home’ students who started their course from 2006/07. English domiciled student can apply for a Maintenance Grant whilst Welsh domiciled student can apply for Welsh Government Learning Grant.  How much you get will depend on your taxable household income. These grants don’t have to be paid back.

Maintenance Grant – English Students

To qualify for the maximum grant of £3,387 your taxable household income must be below £25,000. Partial grants are then awarded to student whose taxable household income is between £25,000 and £42,600.  Any student with a household income of over higher thresholds will not receive a grant

Welsh Government Learning Grant – Welsh Students

To qualify for the maximum grant of £5,161 your taxable household income must be below £18,370. Partial grants are then awarded to students whose taxable household income is between £18,371 and £50,020.  Any student with a household income of over above thresholds will not receive a grant

Special Support Grant

The Special Support Grant was introduced for students who may be eligible to receive means-tested benefits such as Income Support and Housing Benefit. This will generally be lone parents, members of a couple in which both are full time students and have dependent children and certain students with a disability. The maximum amount of Special Support Grant is the same as the Maintenance Grant or Assembly Learning Grant and is paid instead of the Maintenance/Assembly Grant not in addition to this grant. The amount of Special Support Grant you will receive will be fully disregarded for means tested benefit purposes and will not affect the amount of Maintenance Loan you will receive. If you are a lone parent, a student couple with dependent children or you have certain disabilities please make sure you apply for the Special Support Grant and not the Maintenance/Welsh Government Learning Grant. For more information on who’s eligible for the Special Support Grant contact the Money Adviser.

Maintenance Loan

To help students with living costs such as accommodation, food, clothes, travel and so on, students can apply for a Maintenance Loan. A Maintenance Loan is available each academic year to “home” students on eligible courses aged 60 or under at the start of their course and studying their first undergraduate degree.

The maximum loan available to students at Bangor University during the academic year 2015/2016 will be £5,177 (Welsh) & £5,555 (English) - for students living away from the parental home and £3,673 for Welsh students living in their parental home.

Up 75% of the maximum loan will be available to most students on eligible courses. The remaining will be means-tested and will depend on how much Maintenance Grant / Welsh Government Learning Grant you have been awarded.

The following tables will give you an indication of your entitlements,

English domiciled students

Household
Income

Maintenance
Grant

Maintenance
Loan - Elsewhere

£25,000

£3,387

£3,823

£35,000

£1,494

£4,808

£40,000

£540

£5,230

£45,000

£0

£5,288

£55,000

£0

£4,288

 

Welsh domiciled students

Household
Income

Welsh Government

Learning Grant

Maintenance

Loan
- Elsewhere

£18,370

£5,161

£2,622

£25,000

£3,347

£3,529

£34,000

£1,142

£4,631

£40,000

£734

£4,835

£50,020

£50

£5,177

£50,753

£0

£5,203

 

If you decide not take your full Maintenance Loan entitlement, you will have one further opportunity during the year to top-up your loan to the full amount.

Although the parental/spouse contribution towards your living costs cannot be compulsorily enforced, its monetary value is essential to your budget. If your parent/spouse is unable or unwilling to pay the assessed contribution then you should seriously consider whether you are able to support yourself financially during the course.

Repayment of Loans

Loans are repayable after you have left university at a repayment rate dependent on your income. The interest rate is linked to inflation (Retail Price Index). The Maintenance Loan and Tuition Fee Loan will be combined as one loan.

How and When to apply

You can apply for the Tuition Fee Loan, Maintenance Grant / Welsh Government Learning Grant / Special Support Grant and Maintenance Loan by completing one application form.  The PN1 application form is available on-line or if you live in Wales can be downloaded from the Student Finance Wales website.

We expect the Student Finance application portal and PN1 forms to be available in early 2014.  Further information on when you can apply will appear on the following websites in due course:

You should be applying for your funding as soon as you can and NOT wait until you have received a confirmed place at a University or College. 

Your completed application form will be assessed by your Student Funding awarding body and students notified of their entitlement by letter.  Please note that if you have applied for your funding on line you will have to sign and return a Declaration Form which the Student Loan Company will send to you at the same time as you are notified of your entitlement.  If you do not return this declaration form, the payment of your student funding will be delayed.

Your student funding is usually paid in three instalments using the BACS system and paid directly into your bank account. You will receive one instalment after registration, the second in early January and the final instalment after Easter.

You have to have a National Insurance Number to apply for any of the Loans.   This number appears on your payslips, welfare benefit letters or on your National Insurance Card.

Description: Image of National Insurance card

Previous Study

If you have studied a course of higher education in the past, your entitlement to tuition fee and grant and loans may be affected. Contact the Student Adviser  or Student Funding awarding body for further details.

Contact details for your Student Finance awarding body can be found on the following websites:

Students with children or adult dependants

Childcare Grant

Full-time students with dependent children in registered and approved childcare can apply for a Childcare Grant. You cannot get this grant if you or your spouse or partner receives the childcare element of the Working Tax Credit from HM Revenue and Customs. You can decide which one you want to have if you’re eligible for both. You can apply for this help before or during your course. You can receive a Childcare Grant during your term times and your holidays. Jobcentre Plus and Housing Benefit departments will disregard the amount Childcare Grant awarded when they work out your benefit entitlement.


How much help you get will depend on your circumstances (such as your income and that of your dependants).

The amount of childcare grant payable will be calculated on 85% of the actual childcare cost subject to a maximum grant of:

  • For one child - Up to £148.75 a week

  • For two or more children - Up to £148.75 a week

This grant is usually paid in three instalments by the Student Loan Company, one at the start of each term at the same time as your maintenance loan and other grants. Student Finance Wales / England will ask for confirmation of your actual childcare costs EVERY term. IF YOU DO NOT PROVIDE THIS CONFIRMATION, YOU MAY NOT RECEIVE YOUR NEXT INSTALMENT.

Parents’ Learning Allowance

This helps with course-related costs if you are a full time students with dependent children. Jobcentre Plus and Housing Benefit departments will disregard the amount you have been awarded when they work out your benefit entitlement.

There is up to £1,557 a year available. How much you get depends on your income and that of your dependants (including your husband, wife or partner).

The SLC will usually pay it in three instalments with your loan. This is a non repayable grant.

Adult Dependant Grant

This is available to full-time students with adult dependants. If you have a partner (including a partner of the same sex if you began your course in 2005 or after) or another adult, usually a member of your family, who depends on you financially, you may be eligible.

The grant is up to £2,732 a year. How much you get depends on your income and that of your adult dependants. The SLC will pay this in three instalments with your loan. It is a non repayable grant that does not have to be paid back.