Student Finance

Student loan interest rates are set to rise for many from September – though the changes are yet to be finalised by the Government. Current students in England and Wales, for example, could see the interest rate they're charged jump from 4.5% to 12%. Many former students with outstanding loans are likely to see rates rise too.

Prospective university and college students who plan to go through a process known as 'clearing' to get onto a course should not wait for their exam results before applying for student finance. The Student Loans Company (SLC) says people should instead apply as soon as possible. Students who've already been offered a place but have yet to apply for funding should also do so now.

Applications for university loans for the 2022/23 academic year are now open for students in England, Northern Ireland and Wales, and will shortly open for those in Scotland. Both new students and those returning to university can apply. But the process can take up to eight weeks, so make sure you submit yours as soon as possible.

The Government has announced sweeping changes to the student loan system in England that will drastically increase the cost of education for those attending university, including lowering the repayment threshold to £25,000 a year and increasing the length of time over which graduates repay their loans by 10 years.

The Government has today announced plans to introduce a higher education loan scheme to help people study, train or retrain at any point during their lives via flexible courses. The loan, dubbed the 'lifelong loan entitlement', will be worth the equivalent of four years of post-18 education. Here's all you need to know. 

Current and former students on Plan 2 loans face much higher repayment costs following sweeping changes made by the Government today (24 February). These students will end up paying roughly £4,500 more over the life of their student loan on the back of further freezes to the repayment threshold.  

University leavers from England and Wales who started university in or after 2012 will pay around £110 a year more than they would've done from April as the Government has announced a plan to freeze the student loan repayment threshold - the earnings level at which loans begin to be repaid. 

Students in England can now sign up to the Student Finance England mailing list and get an email when applications for the 2022/23 academic year open. The invitation to sign up comes with just weeks to go before the UCAS application deadline for undergraduate courses on 26 January 2022.

Full-time students studying for an undergraduate degree at a university in England will be charged no more than £9,250/yr in tuition fees in the 2022/23 academic year, the UK Government has confirmed. It means it's the fifth year in a row that fees have been frozen. 

Student loan interest rates will drop for many from September, the Department for Education has confirmed. Plus, from April 2022, Scottish former students and some others with older loans will also be able to earn more before they have to start repaying.