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Finance for full-time ITT courses

Student Loans

If you’re doing a full-time ITT course, you can apply for Student Loans on the same terms as other full-time higher education students.

Student Loan for Tuition Fees

You’ll be able to get a Student Loan for Tuition Fees to cover your fees in full (up to £3,225 in 2009/2010).

Student Loan for Maintenance

You’ll also be able to take out a Student Loan for Maintenance to help with your accommodation and other living costs.

If you are doing a full-time ITT course, you could get:

• up to £4,950 for 2009/10, if it’s the first year of your course and you live away from home - more if you study in London
• up to £4,745 for 2009/10, if it’s not the first year of your course and you live away from home - more if you study in London

Maintenance Grant or Special Support Grant

You may be able to get a Maintenance Grant or Special Support Grant of up to £2,906 in 2009/2010.

If you’re doing a full-time postgraduate course, a proportion of this is guaranteed. Whatever your household income, you’ll get:

• at least £1,106 for 2009/2010, if it’s the first year of your course
• at least £1,292 for 2009/2010, if it’s not the first year of your course

Bursaries

You may also qualify for a bursary from your university or college.

Finance for part-time ITT courses

You may be entitled to the Student Loans and grants aimed at full-time students if you’re doing a part-time ITT course (including a flexible postgraduate ITT course) - as long as it doesn’t take more than twice as long to complete than the equivalent full-time course.

Help with tuition fees

Generally there’s no maximum tuition fee for part-time, non-ITT courses, but the rules are different for certain ITT courses.

If you are doing a part-time ITT course where the time you spend studying full-time adds up to a total of less than 10 weeks within the academic year, you will be able to get a Student Loan for Tuition fees to cover your fees in full. This means up to £1,610 in 2009/2010.

Help with living costs

You’ll also be able to take out a Student Loan for Maintenance to help with accommodation and other living costs. The maximum you can get through the Student Loan for Maintenance - and whether you can get a grant - depends on how many weeks of the academic year you spend on full-time study and full-time teaching practice.

Exactly how much help you’re entitled to depends on an income assessment - and on some other factors, including where you study.

If you attend your course full-time for six to ten weeks

If you spend six weeks or more on full-time study and full-time teaching practice during the academic year - but fewer than ten - you could get a Student Loan for Maintenance of:

• up to £4,950 for 2009/2010, if it’s the first year of your course and you live away from home - more if you study in London
• up to £4,745 for 2009/2010, if it’s not the first year of your course and you live away from home - more if you study in London
  

You could also get a half-rate Maintenance Grant or Special Support Grant of up to £1,453 in 2009/10. If you’re doing a postgraduate course, a proportion of the grant is guaranteed - whatever your household income. You’ll get:

• at least £553 for 2009/2010, if it’s the first year of your course
• at least £646 for 2009/2010, if it’s not the first year of your course

If you attend your course full-time for fewer than six weeks

If you spend fewer than six weeks on full-time study and full-time teaching practice, you could get a reduced-rate Student Loan for Maintenance: up to £2,324 for 2009/2010 if you live away from home - more if you study in London.

You won’t qualify for a Maintenance Grant or Special Support Grant.

More about Student Loans, grants and bursaries

You can find out more about Student Loans, grants and bursaries by following the links below.

• Student Loans

• Maintenance Grant: help with living costs

• Bursaries, scholarships and awards

Getting extra help

You may qualify for extra financial support if you have a disability or specific learning difficulty.

If you’re on a low income and run into financial difficulty, additional help may be available through your university or college’s Access to Learning Fund.

You may also be able to get the Childcare Grant, Parents’ Learning Allowance and/or the Adult Dependants’ Grant. These three grants and allowances aren’t usually available for part-time courses, but as a part-time ITT student you may qualify - as long as you spend at least six weeks on full-time study and full-time teaching practice within the academic year.

• Financial help for disabled students (disabled people section)

• Access to Learning Fund: extra help if you need it

• Childcare Grant and other help for students with children

• Adult Dependants' Grant

Applying for 2008/2009?

This page contains information about the 2009/2010 academic year.

If you’re applying for 2008/2009, see ‘Finance for full-time students starting in 2008/2009’.

• Finance for full-time students starting in 2008/2009

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