Don’t stop – give yourself the best choice

Money Matters

If your family earns below £30,000 a year and you need some extra financial support to stay on at school or college after 16 studying up to Level 3 qualifications the Government will help. Through your college or school they will pay you an Educational Maintenance Allowance of £30 a week directly into your bank account, provided you attend regularly. For more information try visiting:

• www.dfes.gov.uk/financialhelp/ema

There are no fees to pay if you stay on at school or go to a further education college as most full-time courses are free if you are under 19 years old.

Higher education qualifications (like Degrees, Foundation Degrees and BTEC Higher National Diplomas) which you normally start when you are 18 or older, do have course fees. But you don’t have to pay them up front, so you won’t have to find a large amount of money to start on a higher education course.

You can get loans towards your living costs, even if you study part-time for your higher education qualifications. Like the course fees these loans don’t have to be paid back until you have finished your course and are earning more than £15,000.

The Government provides help with living costs to students studying for higher education qualifications and from low income households.

Students can claim a full grant of £2,825 a year to live on if they
come from a household with an income of £25,004 or less a year.
Proportionally smaller grants are likely to be payable to students from households with incomes up to, but not above, £60,005

There is also a Childcare Grant, Parents Learning Allowance and Adult Dependants
Allowance for students with children or adult dependents. These are also income assessed.

All these grants/allowances are free payments to students and do not have to be paid back.

Plus...

Most colleges and universities also have special Access grants or bursaries to help people whose families are on low incomes, and these don’t have to be paid back.

Many students have part-time jobs to help them enjoy a social life outside college. They all look forward to a better choice of job, and higher pay, than if they’d not stayed on and gained higher qualifications.

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