= Student Awards Agency for Scotland ANNEX A - Student support 2013-2014
Content
1 Level of Support 2 Student Loan 3 Bursaries
4 Living Cost Grants 5 Study Abroad 6 Household Income
7 Allied Health Profession Students 8 Medical and Dental Students 9 Previous Study
10 Estrangement 11 Part-Time Study 12 Nursing
13 Postgraduate Study 14 Tuition Fees
1 LEVEL OF SUPPORT
• The maximum funding package will be increased to £7,250. This will be available to students whose household income is below £17,000.
Young Students (Dependent Students)
Independent Students
Household income
Bursary Loan Total Bursary Loan Total
0 - £16,999 £1,750 £5,500 £7,250 £750 £6,500 £7,250
£17,000 to
£23,999
£1,000 £5,500 £6.500 £0 £6,500 £6,500
£24,000 to
£33,999
£500 £5,500 £6,000 £0 £6,000 £6,000
£34,000 and above
£0 £4,500 £4,500 £0 £4,500 £4,500
2 STUDENT LOAN
• The maximum non income-assessed loan will be increased to £4,500. This will be available to eligible students with household incomes of £34,000 and above.
• No reduced student loan for final year students.
• There will only be one rate of student loan (the rate will be the same wherever the student is living).
• No additional weeks of student loan for courses in excess of 30 weeks per academic year. The loan rates will be the same whatever the length of the course.
3 BURSARIES
• Reduced rate of Young Students’ Bursary (YSB) and Independent Students’
Bursary (ISB).
• YSB and ISB no longer calculated on a pound for pound basis. Set amounts will apply depending on the level of household income.
• The Students’ Outside Scotland Bursary (for Scottish domiciled students studying elsewhere in the UK) will be replaced by YSB and ISB.
4 LIVING COST GRANTS
• There are no changes to the arrangements for living cost grants.
5 STUDY ABROAD
• There will be no separate loan rates for students who study abroad.
• Eligible compulsory abroad students will continue to be entitled to apply for reimbursement of travel costs and medical insurance.
6 HOUSEHOLD INCOME
• No parental or student contribution will be set against income. Instead, a set level of funding will be available to students depending on which household income bracket they fall into. The household income figure will be the total of any benefactor income (parent, step-parent, spouse, partner, etc) plus
student income.
• The current student income weekly disregard of £20.52 will be removed.
• No changes to the types of income we include in any assessment.
Example 1 – Student A is a young student whose parents have a joint income of
£16,500. Student A has no personal income, giving a total household income of
£16,500. Student A is eligible for a bursary of £1,750 and a loan of £5,500.
Example 2 – Student B is an independent single student with children who has a personal income of £4,200 from Working Tax Credits. Student B is eligible for a bursary of £750 and a loan of £6,500. Student B is also eligible to apply for Lone Parents’ Grant.
Example 3 – Student C is an independent married student whose spouse has an income of £22,000. Student C has a personal income of £6,500 from a pension, giving a total household income of £28,500. Student C is eligible for a loan of
£6,000.
7 ALLIED HEALTH PROFESSION (AHP) STUDENTS
• There will no longer be a separate funding package for AHP students. These students will move onto the same funding package as other students.
• The current cross border arrangements for AHP students will remain in place for 2013-2014 but is under review for 2014-2015 and beyond.
• AHP students will continue to be eligible to claim placement expenses.
• Degree holders will continue to be eligible to apply for two years of full support should they undertake a second degree in an AHP subject.
8 MEDICAL AND DENTAL STUDENTS
• There will no longer be a separate funding package for first or second degree medical and dental students from their fifth year of study. These students will move onto the same funding package as other students.
• Degree holders, if eligible, will continue to apply for full support from their fifth year of study, should they undertake a second degree in Medicine or
Dentistry.
9 PREVIOUS STUDY
• A ‘plus one’ rule will be introduced. This will allow students to gain ONE extra year’s funding to the minimum required to complete their programme of study.
Students can use the ‘plus one’ year to cover scenarios that include:
o Academic repeats o Medical repeats
o Compassionate repeats o Approved changes of course o Intercalated years.
• In the case of medical/compassionate repeat year requests, we will no longer require supporting evidence as students can use their ‘plus one’ year.
• For changes of course, students can use the ‘plus one’ rule if they have to study for a second time at the same level, or are progressing, and DO NOT already have a qualification.
• The ‘false start’ rule will no longer apply. Students can use their ‘plus one’
year instead.
• Students can only receive up to 2 years of fully funded HN support. (HNC to year 2 HND or year 1 and year 2 of an HND). Students can use their ‘plus one’ year if they were required to complete both years of an HND after completing an HNC.
• The rule allowing HND holders to apply for full support from year 2 of a degree will remain.
• Students not eligible for full support, are still eligible to apply for student loans and any applicable living-cost grants.
10 ESTRANGEMENT
• Cases of permanent estrangement will only be considered where the
estrangement is for at least 12 months prior to the relevant date (1 August for autumn start courses).
11 PART-TIME STUDY
• The income eligibility threshold for part-time study will increase from £22,000 to £25,000.
• The range of eligible SCQF course credits will be extended to between 30 and 119.
• Instead of a flat £500 part-time fee grant (PTFG), the level of fees payable will be pro-rata based on the number of credits studied. If this amount is more than the maximum fee the student is being charged, then we will only pay the lesser amount.
• Students must be registered as ‘part-time’ to be eligible to claim PTFG.
Example 4 – Student A is undertaking 30 credits of an eligible degree course in an academic year. Student is being charged £750. The level of PTFG we can pay is
£455 (25% of the £1820 full-time tuition fee).
Example 5 – Student B is undertaking 90 credits of an eligible HNC course in an academic year. Student is being charged £963. The level of PTFG we can pay is
£963 (75% of the £1285 full-time tuition fee).
12 NURSING
• There are no planned changes to the funding available for nursing and midwifery students in 2013-14.
13 POSTGRADUATE
• There are no planned changes to the funding available for postgraduate students in 2013-14.
14 TUITION FEES
• There are no planned changes to tuition fees in 2013-14.
