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Student Life Building
TUITION FEES AND LOANS
You will be charged a tuition fee for each year of your course
Tuition fees for 2023/24 have been confirmed as £9,250 per year. This fee is subject to an annual inflationary increase. There is no need to pay your tuition fees up front as eligible students can apply for a tuition fee loan for each year of their course. This loan is not means tested which means your household income will not affect your eligibility. Your tuition fee loan will cover all of your tuition fee costs and will be paid direct to LJMU. See page 50 for information on loan repayments.
NORTHERN IRELAND APPLICANTS
If your permanent home is in Northern Ireland and you want to study at LJMU (or another English university) you will be eligible to apply for: n Tuition fee loan which will cover the full cost of your tuition fees n Maintenance loan up to £6,776* a year n Maintenance grant up to £3,475 a year If you take out a student loan, your repayments will begin after you have left LJMU and start earning more than £19,390.
See studentfinanceni.co.uk for more information.
EU APPLICANTS
From the 2021/22 academic year, EU, EEA and Swiss nationals and their family members will no longer be eligible for home fee status or student finance. If you would like to discuss you individual circumstances then get in touch with the Student Money Advice Team at LJMU.
For more information see www.gov.uk/studentfinance
These figures are correct at the time of publishing. For the latest information visit: ljmu.ac.uk/discover/feesand-funding
moneyadvice@ljmu.ac.uk 0151 231 3153/3154
All figures in this booklet relate to the 2022/23 academic year unless otherwise stated as figures for 2023/24 were unavailable at the time of printing. The amount of funding you will receive for your living costs varies depending on where in the UK you normally live, your household income and if you are living in your parental home or elsewhere while studying. Please only use this information as a guide, more detailed information is available here: studentfinanceni.co.uk
COURSES STARTING IN JANUARY
If your course starts in January 2024 you can also apply for your funding from around March 2023 onwards (or as soon as you know what course you are going to study.) Though you will be starting the course in 2024, this is still classed as the 2023/24 year of study by student finance. Please be sure to pick the January start option of your course from the drop down menu when you apply.
STUDENT LOANS FOR LIVING COSTS (MAINTENANCE LOAN)
In addition to a tuition fee loan, you can also apply for money to help towards your living costs. The amount you will be eligible to receive depends on a number of factors such as your household income and where you live during term time. As you will see in the table below, you may be entitled to both the Maintenance Loan in addition to the non-repayable Maintenance Grant.
n In 2022/23 the maximum amount you will be eligible to receive while studying at LJMU is £6,428. You may also qualify for the £500 per year LJMU bursary if your household income is £25,000 per year, or less. n Unlike the tuition fee loan which is paid direct to LJMU, this money will be paid into your bank account. It’s paid in three installments and it’s up to you how it is spent – and also how you budget!
You will pay for your accommodation on dates that coincide with your student maintenance payments, making it easier for you to plan your budget TIP: Once you have paid your rent, work out how many weeks until your next loan and grant payment and then you will know approximately how much per week you have to live off.
HOW HOUSEHOLD INCOME AFFECTS STUDENT FUNDING IN 2022/23 ACADEMIC YEAR
Funding for living costs is paid to you following an assessment of your household income, this process is called income assessment (or means testing) and if you are under 25 this is normally based on the income of your parents.
THIS TABLE SHOWS ESTIMATES OF MAXIMUM FUNDING AVAILABLE FOR A STUDENT STARTING UNIVERSITY IN SEPTEMBER 2022. *From September 2023 we are expecting to see a 40% increase to the maintenance loan as reported in the national press, however this rise is subject to parliamentary approval. If approved, the maximum means tested maintenance loan figure in the table below will rise to £6,676 per year, and will be paid in addition to the maintenance grant. Visit studentfinanceni.co.uk for updates.
Assessed household income Maintenance Grant Maintenance Loan
£19,203 or less £3,475 £2,953
£25,000 £2,201 £3,289
£30,000
£35,000 £1,215 £3,625
£689 £4,151
£41,065 £53,085 £50 £4,790 £3,630 Totals
£6,428
£6,299
£4,840
£4,840
£4,840 £3,630
APPLYING FOR YOUR STUDENT FUNDING
Apply online studentfinanceni.co.uk from March 2023 if you are starting a course in September 2023
LOAN REPAYMENTS OPENING A STUDENT BANK ACCOUNT
Annual salary Monthly repayment @ £19,390* threshold
Any loans you take out to cover your tuition fees or living costs will be added together into a single loan account. This means that when you start paying back your student loans, you will only make one affordable monthly payment. Your repayment amount is always based on a percentage of your salary, not how much you have borrowed. If your income is over £19,390* your employer will start taking repayments from your salary just like tax and national insurance, and after 25 years any money still owed is written off. The table opposite will give you an idea of what your repayments might look like once you have left university and you’re earning over £19,390.*
£19,000 £0
£21,000 £12.07
£24,000 £34.57
£27,000 £57.07
£30,000 £79.57
n If your income falls below
the repayment threshold (e.g. if you go travelling) your loan repayments will automatically stop
n After 25 years anything you
owe on your student loans is written off
Shop around for the best bank account for you and, if this is a bank near home, make sure you know how to access the account remotely. It is a good idea to set up online banking so you are in control of your money while you are at university. Make sure you do this before you move away to start your course. Most students say that the interest free overdraft is the most useful thing about their student bank account. There may be times in the year you need this. You can pay it back over the summer if you are working and then use it again in years two and three if you need to. You will normally need to download your acceptance letter from UCAS after confirmation in order to open a student account with the bank.
SCAN AND
HAVE YOU STUDIED BEFORE
If you have not studied at university before, student funding is generally available for the length of your course, plus an additional year (if required). Additional funding may be available for students that have had to leave a course due to health problems or for other personal reasons. It is really important that you seek advice if you have studied previously. We can clarify exactly how your prior study will impact on your future entitlement and advise you on what steps to take to maximise any funding available.
LJMU BURSARY
LJMU bursaries are automatically paid to eligible students every year of your course – you do not need to apply. The annual LJMU bursary is currently £500. LJMU bursaries are additional, free money that you don’t have to pay back. How you spend it is up to you. To qualify you must meet the residence requirements for student funding (grants and loans) and have a household income of £25,000/year or less. You must also be paying the annual maximum university tuition fee which is £9,250 for 2023/24.
STUDENT SUPPORT FUND
Sometimes despite your best efforts you can find yourself in financial difficulty. This could be due to a delay in funding or unforeseen circumstances. LJMU’s Student Support Fund is available to students who find themselves in such a position.
Speak to us in confidence:
moneyadvice@ljmu.ac.uk | 0151 231 3153/3154
NI STUDENTS CAN APPLY FOR THE NON-REPAYABLE £5,000 PER YEAR NHS LEARNING SUPPORT FUND
At LJMU this relates to applicants for Nursing (Adult, Child, Mental Health), Midwifery and Paramedic Science programmes. This financial support is in addition to your funding from Student Finance NI.
n A training grant of £5,000 per year: this grant is not means tested and all eligible students will receive this grant n Parental support of £2,000 per year: this grant is not means tested. However, to be eligible to apply you have at least one dependent child under 15 years, or under 17 years if registered with special educational needs n A specialist subject payment of £1,000 per year: this is for students studying on courses where the government have shortages. At LJMU this is currently mental health nursing n Travel and dual accommodation: this is to help with additional costs of traveling to and remaining in placement n Exceptional hardship fund: this is for students who find themselves in exceptional hardship Payments will be made to eligible students over the year with the first payment being made in November (for autumn start courses).
