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Studying at university doesn't come cheap. So what's on offer to help fund your further education?
The Government has made grants and loans available to help meet the cost of tuition fees and living expenses - including rent. How much you get depends on your parents' income, as they're expected to contribute to your upkeep.
Here's how the system works in England and Northern Ireland. See below for Wales and Scotland.
Tuition fees
Every student will have to pay tuition fees and everyone qualifies for a loan to cover the cost. But from the moment you take the loan out, it will gain interest at the rate of inflation. Just about every university will charge the maximum fee of £3,000 per year for their degrees.
Certain universities will charge less. For more information, go to the UCAS website.
Grants
Following evidence that the introduction of tuition fees in 1998 was putting people from low income families off going to university, grants of up to £1,000 were reintroduced in 2004 - it's £2,700 for those starting in September 2006.
If your household income is less than £17,500 you're eligible for the full grant of £2,700. A sliding scale system then applies to households with incomes between £17,501 and £37,425. For more information, check out the UCAS grants site.
Study now, pay later
All students can take out a student maintenance loan to help cover the cost of living. For the 2006/07 academic year, the maximum available will be £4,405 for students living away from home (£6,170 for students in London) and £3,415 for those living at home.
Loans for fees are also available and are paid directly to the university on your behalf. For more information, visit the Students section on the Department for Education site.
Students receiving any grant will qualify for a smaller loan because it's assumed they will be receiving enough cash. Likewise, students with a family income above £50,000 will be eligible for a smaller loan because their parents will be expected to help out.
Encouraging everyone
Universities charging the maximum £3,000 in tuition fees must offer bursaries of at least £300 a year in non-repayable financial support to students on the full maintenance grant.
In addition, individual universities each have a bursary budget that can be dispersed at their discretion to provide additional help.
Universities are also doing more in order to attract the best students. Manchester University is offering the 'Success Scholarship' to applicants to their English language and Chinese degree - £1,000 per year for applicants who gain three As at A level, regardless of household income. Search UCAS to find what bursaries are offered by universities.
Payback time
You won't have to start paying for the excesses of your student days - financially, at least - until you've graduated and are earning over £15,000. The value of your loans will rise with inflation, which theoretically means they won't go up in real terms.
So how much can you expect to pay? Depending on who you ask, the average graduate starting salary is around £20,000; at this level you'll be paying back - direct through the tax system - £8.65 every week.
Wales
Until 2007, all students will pay £1,200 in tuition fees. From 2007, Wales will have the same system as England - but only if you're not Welsh. Welsh students at Welsh universities will pay a means-tested £1,200 per year with the rest coming from the Welsh Assembly.
Their English, Northern Irish and Scottish friends will all have to pay up to £3,000. For more information go to the Student Finance Wales site.
Scotland
All students in the UK have to pay tuition fees: it's just that the Scottish Parliament pays on Scottish students' behalf. Instead, Scottish students pay a one-off 'Graduate Endowment' of around £2,000 beginning in the April following the end of their course.
Students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland pay a fixed-rate fee of £1,700 per year (£2,700 for medical courses). For more information go to the SAAS site.
Overseas students
Universities can charge students from outside the EU what they like but if you're from the EU you'll pay the same as a UK student.
If you're an EU national who's lived in the UK for more than three years, you'll also be eligible for loans under the same terms, though it's not clear at the moment how the Inland Revenue will reclaim the money if you leave the country after graduating.
More information on studying in the UK as an overseas student is available from UKCOSA, The Council for International Education. For more info, visit the UKCOSA site.
Our student account
The Student Additions account was designed by students so you can be sure that the additional features will be right up your street. You'll get everything you'd expect from a student account plus a host of additional benefits. See full details of Student Additions.
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The information given in this article was correct as at March 2006. It does not, however, take account of any changes in regulations or the law since that time.
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