It’s always a good option to do a bit of number crunching when you’re considering going to University… to save you a headache though we thought we’d give you a hand and hopefully put your minds at ease.

In September 2012 the fees Universities in England are allowed to charge nearly trebled from £3375 to £9000. There’s no need to panic though! It’s not a case of pay up or you can’t go. Student Finance England can provide UK and EU students with a loan of up to a maximum of £50000, combining tuition fees and maintenance, over a 3 year course. Sounds scary, but in reality the price tag bears little resemblance to the real cost.

Once you leave University, providing you are earning above £21,000 p.a. you will start repaying the loan the following April. 9% of your pre tax earnings will be deducted from your pay packet through payroll before it even hits your pocket. So if your salary is £22000, you’ll repay £90 a year, that’s just £7.50 a month… hardly worth worrying about right?! Better yet if your job never pays over £21,000, you won’t ever repay the loan. No matter what your pay scale though, after 30 years the debt gets wiped!

When you apply to Student Finance England for your loan, you will be automatically assessed for a non-repayable award. The amount you receive depends on your income, or that of the household you live in. For students whose family earn £25,000 or below, the maximum grant of £3,250 per year is awarded. A partial grant is available for those students with a household income between £25,000 and £42,600.

BU is also on hand to provide eligible students with extra non-repayable financial support during their time here. It’s definitely worth knuckling down with you’re A-level/BTEC studies, you could be entitled to an Academic Achievement Scholarship … we certainly wouldn’t turn down a free cash handout!

On top of this our BU Maintenance and Care Leavers Bursaries include funding allocation from the Governments National Scholarship Programme, as well as an additional proportion of support given direct from the University.

We’re committed to widening access and offering financial support to our students. We are proud to be matching the Government’s funding and will be investing £750,000 in 2012/13 rising annually to £3 million by 2017/18!

Do take the time to explore the different funding options available to you… remember every little helps!