Money for Uni, HNC & HND
This section explains the money available for all full time University Degrees, HNC and HND programmes. HNCs & HNDs take place in Colleges but are funded the same way.
Tuition Fees
These are free if they are studying in Scotland for the first time. They are paid by SAAS, the Student Awards Agency For Scotland.
To have them paid, they must apply to SAAS from April onwards, once they’ve been accepted on a course, no matter whether their place depends on exam results or not. They can do this online http://www.saas.gov.uk.
They will provide you with proof of payment for your university or college. You apply to SAAS before each year of study.
Help with living costs
You also apply to SAAS for these at the same time as help with fees. SAAS will look at how much you earn and your family circumstances. Based on that, SAAS will offer one or two types of help:
1. Student Loan
- Everybody is entitled
- Amount of loan depends on family income
- Paid back based on ability to pay – don’t earn, don’t pay.
- Best possible loan to have. See ‘Student Debt’ for more.
2. Bursaries
- Money they don’t pay back
- Extra help for low income families
- Reduces the amount of loan they need to take
As well as this, SAAS can give them help with transport costs, childcare and disability. SAAS will expect that in most cases, you will also pay money towards your child’s study.To find out how much that would be, and see what support they ’re likely to get, go to the really handy Student Support Calculator.
Other extra funding
If your child studies outside of Scotland and has fees to pay, they can get extra funding from SAAS. You should also look to see if they are eligible for any scholarships or bursaries:
Hot Courses Scholarship Search
www.scholarship-search.org.uk
Educational Grant Search
http://family-action-trustsearch.org.uk/main.aspx
SAAS can search for you!
http://www.student-support-saas.gov.uk/_forms/ree1.pdf
Specific institutions will have grants/trusts. Link to finance pages of institutions:
http://www.student-support-saas.gov.uk/map_text_only.htm