Student Money Advice

Increase of living costs affecting your studies? Come speak to us.

We offer:

• Private & confidential service
• Advice on student funding
• Access to Learning Fund
• Information on scholarships & bursaries
• Money management advice
• 1-2-1 Drop-in sessions

New resources available

SFE have created new resources aimed at helping students and sponsors resolve common Student Finance England (SFE) queries. These also help students use their online accounts to manage and track their applications without having to call us.

A ‘How To’ guidance page on GOV.UK includes essential messages on topics such as checking the status of an application, providing evidence, changing application details and resetting passwords.

To help illustrate these messages, SFE have created a range of short tutorial films. These form part of the ‘How To’ guidance but are also available to access either through the SFE Campaign Page or as a stand-alone playlist on the SFE YouTube channel. SFE will be publishing more tutorials soon, so please encourage students to keep an eye out on our social media channels.

Sharing these resource can help educate students to ensure they get their student finance right first time.

Student loan interest rates capped

A rise in the rate of RPI meant student loan borrowers faced a potential 12% interest rate in September. The government has capped interest rates at a maximum of 7.3% to protect graduates.

The interest rate on student loans does not affect monthly repayments. These will not increase for students as repayments are linked to income, not interest rates. More information is available on GOV.UK

Students in Clearing

Students should apply now to ensure funding is received as close to term start as possible. Even if you are not certain what course you will be doing, it is best to apply now and update the online application later if needed.

SFE have produced a new guide to help students who are applying during Clearing. This contains useful resources including steps to take to ensure SFE can process applications quickly.

Students who have already applied for funding do not need to take any action unless:

• SFE ask them to provide evidence
• your university, college or course details change

If asked for evidence, please provide as soon as possible. If details change, update them on your online account.

Students should use the SFE online account to keep track of applications and view application status.

Money Saving Tips

Best Student Tips

• Don't shop on an empty stomach
• Eat at home - no eating out
• Buy a water bottle
• Use your leftovers
• Share 'BOGOF' offers

Council Tax Rebate

Following recent publicity in the national news regarding the paying of £150 council tax rebates, please note that students may still be entitled to the rebate even if they aren’t normally liable for paying council tax.

As per the government’s guidance on the eligibility for rebates, “Households are eligible where, on 1 April 2022, they are liable for council tax on a property which is in council tax bands A-D and which they live in as their main home. Where the occupants of a property in bands A - D are exempt from council tax on 1 April 2022, they will also be eligible if the property falls in one of the following classes of exemption: Class N (occupied only by students)".

Most students who will be eligible for the rebate are unlikely to have a direct debit set up with their local council; therefore, the council will contact these students and invite them to make a claim. Claims for the rebate can be processed up until 30 September 2022.

Ref: gov.uk/guidance/council-tax-rebate-factsheet

legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1992/558/article/3/made

SFE and SFW Full-Time Undergraduate Student Finance Applications for Academic Year 2024/25 are Now Open

Academic year 2024/25: SFE and SFW full-time undergraduate student finance applications are now open.

It's time for new and continuing full-time undergraduate students from England and Wales to apply for student finance.

We’re encouraging students to apply now to make sure their funding is in place for the start of their course. We’re also reminding them that if they’ve got exams coming up, if they get their applications in now, they can focus on their studies.

A key message for students who might be putting off applying until they’ve got confirmed offers is:

Don’t wait until you’ve got your UCAS offer. Apply now using your preferred choice and you can change it later if you need to.

SFE

We’ve created some helpful lists to share with students:

Our toolkit lets students know what they need to do so they’ve got everything they need to apply.

The timeline gives students key dates, including deadline dates for student finance applications.

SFW

We’ve updated our Student Finance Wales website to help students find out what they need to know about student finance, including deadline dates for student finance applications.

Key changes

“EU Student”, “UK Student” and “Welsh Student” across all domiciles has been updated.

• “EU Student” is now referred to as “Tuition fee only student”
• “UK Student” and “Welsh Student” are now referred to as “Tuition fee and living cost student”