Full-time Undergraduate FeesFull-time Undergraduate Bursaries & Scholarships
The following information relates to the 2012/13 academic year only.
Student financial support is available from a number of sources.
From the University
Northumbria Bursaries
The University has a generous bursary package which is available to you if you come from a household in one of the lower income bands. Eligibility to receive a Northumbria Bursary will be determined when each student applies for one or more elements of the government's Student Finance Package (Tuition Fee Loan, Maintenance Loan and Maintenance Grant) and will be means-tested annually.
The bursary package for 2012/13 is outlined in the table below.
| Family Income Band | Fee Waiver | Bursary | Total |
| < £16k/year | £3,000 | £1,000 | £4,000 |
| £16 - 25k/year | £2,000 | £1,000 | £3,000 |
| £25 - 40k/year | - | £1,000 | £1,000 |
* Please note, if you are on a course which receives funding from the NHS you will not be eligible to receive a Northumbria Bursary.
The National Scholarship Programme (NSP)
Northumbria has been awarded 217 such scholarships which will be paid as part of our Northumbria Bursary package to students from the lowest income band of <£16,000 per year.
Northumbria Scholarships - £1,000 per year
The University will award you a scholarship of £1,000 per year if you enter a full time undergraduate course with a minimum of 340 UCAS points from 3 x A2 (A Level) qualifications or their equivalent. The full list of accepted equivalent qualifications is detailed below.
|
Best three A-levels (including VCE advanced) or best three Scottish Advanced Highers. Accepted combinations of grades are: A Double Award A-level counts as two single awards at the grade awarded. |
A*, A*, A* |
| A BTEC National Diploma or Extended Diploma with a grade of: | Distinction*, Distinction*, Distinction* Distinction*, Distinction*, Distinction Distinction*, Distinction, Distinction Distinction, Distinction, Distinction |
| CACHE Level 3 Diploma in Child Care and Education | Grade A |
| OCR National Extended Diploma | Grade D1 |
| NPTC Level 3 Land Based Extended Diploma | Distinction |
| Progression Diploma | A* |
| Best five Scottish Highers. Accepted combinations of grades are: | A, A, A, A, A A, A, A, A, B A, A, A, B, B A, A, A, A, C A, B, B, B, B A, A, B, B, C A, A, B, B, B A, A, A, A, D A, A, A, B, C A, A, A, C, C A, A, A, B, D |
| International Baccalaureate Diploma | 35 points or more |
Students who have studied qualifications not included in the above list will not be eligible to receive the academic scholarship.
To qualify, in addition to achieving a minimum of 340 UCAS tariff points from the above qualifications, you must:
- be ordinarily resident in the UK and be 'home' for the purposes of fees or be a resident of the Channel Islands/Isle of Man
- make an application to the University via the UCAS main scheme (this excludes UCAS Extra and the UCAS Adjustment process) by the UCAS deadline of 30 June 2012 and be made an offer of a place;
- take Northumbria as your firm choice;and
- be applying for your first higher education qualification (students who have already achieved a Foundation Degree/Diploma of Higher Education/BTEC HND or other qualification at higher education level will not be eligible for the scholarship.
- register with Student Finance England (SFE), Student Finance Wales (SFW), Student Finance Northern Ireland (SFNI) and Students Award Agency for Scotland (SAAS) as they administer the payment of the academic scholarship on behalf of the university. The payment will be made direct to your bank account.
(Registering with one of the above does not commit you to incur any loan or other commitment unless you wish to do so.)
The Northumbria Scholarship will be awarded annually provided your academic performance is maintained at a 70% average mark in each year, but will not be awarded during any placement year you may undertake. Students who achieve the required mark in one year but who's performance falls below 70% in one or more subsequent years will not be allowed to rejoin the scheme and therefore not be entitled to the scholarship if their academic performance subsequently improves. In addition, students who owe the University tuition fees or any other debt will also be withdrawn from the scheme.
Team Northumbria Sport Scholarships
Every year Team Northumbria awards generous Sport Scholarships to talented athletes studying any degree at Northumbria University. For more information go to www.nusportcentral.co.uk/team-northumbria/scholarships
Government Funded Support
The Student Finance Package has three elements.
i) Student Tuition Fee Loan
If you pay the full tuition fee of £8,500 you are eligible for a loan from the government to cover the cost of your studies. This is paid directly to the University.
ii) Student Maintenance Loan
Help is also available for your living costs. It's called the student maintenance loan. In 2012/13 the maximum amount you can apply for is:
Students living at home - £4,375
Students living away from home - £5,500
However, your household's income will affect how much money you can borrow. This is called means testing. You can borrow 65 per cent of the loans above without being means-tested.
iii) Student Maintenance Grant
This is a grant, which means you don't have to pay it back. However, your household income will affect how much money you are entitled to.
If your household income is less than £25,000 a year your grant will be £3,250. If your household income is between £25,000 and £42,600 you will be granted an amount up to £3,250.
If you receive the full £3,250 grant, this may affect the amount of money you can borrow from the student maintenance loan scheme (see above) but it is likely your grant and loan entitlement will always be higher than maintenance loan on its own.
Some Points to Remember
- You won't pay upfront. Repayment starts when a graduate begins to earn £21k/year or more and at the earliest in the April following graduation.
- If you earn less than £21k per year you will not repay anything. Any outstanding debt is not transferable to partners or dependents.
- After 30 years any unpaid debt is cleared.
- Repayments commencing in 2012 will be £540/year lower than under the current system. The table below shows how.
| Annual Earnings | Current System | New System | Annual 'saving' (Old v New) |
||
| Annual repayment | Monthly repayment | Annual repayment | Monthly repayment | ||
| £15,000 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 |
| £16,000 | £90 | £7.50 | £0 | £0 | £90 |
| £21,000 | £540 | £45.00 | £0 | £0 | £540 |
| £22,000 | £630 | £52.50 | £90 | £7.50 | £540 |
| £30,000 | £1,350 | £112.50 | £810 | £67.50 | £540 |
| £40,000 | £2,250 | £187.50 | £1,710 | £142.50 | £540 |
| £50,000 | £3,150 | £262.50 | £2,610 | £217.50 | £540 |
- Monthly payments are the same - whatever the debt. This is because they are calculated at 9% of income over £21,000.
- Student debts do not go on credit files - and mortgages will not necessarily be harder to obtain.
For more information on student financial support please go to
http://yourfuture.direct.gov.uk or www.moneysavingexpert.com
