The Student Loans Company administers the following Maintenance Support:
Maintenance loan
The maintenance loan is the main student loan product for living costs for full-time undergraduate students and those on initial teacher training courses. It comprises the non-financially assessed portion, which all students who are eligible for the loan can receive; the financially assessed portion, which depends on household income; and a provision for extra weeks’ study, which is also financially assessed. Maximum entitlement is affected by place of residence, (parental home, away from parental home or away from parental home in London), year of course (final or non-final), and entitlement to other financial support, such as NHS bursaries. Maintenance loans are paid directly to the student in three instalments.
Maintenance Grant
The Maintenance grant helps higher education students, in particular those from poorer backgrounds, with their general living costs whilst they study. 2007/08 entrants who are subject to the new tuition fee regimes (variable tuition fees in England and Northern Ireland and flexible tuition fees in Wales) may be eligible for a maintenance grant of up to £2,765 (England and Wales) or £3,265 (Northern Ireland). Postgraduate teacher trainees receive £1,230 of this irrespective of their income and the rest is income dependent; for other students, all of it is income dependent and £1,230 is substituted for maintenance loan.
Welsh Assembly Learning Grant (HE)
The Welsh Assembly Learning Grant is a brand which covers all the non-repayable financially-assessed maintenance support for further and higher education students domiciled in Wales. In addition to ALG (FE), it comprises products identical to Maintenance Grant and Special Support Grant in England and Northern Ireland for 2006/07 direct entry students and 2007/08 students. Students who entered HE in 2004/05, 2005/06 or following a gap year in 2006/07 may be eligible for a product identical to the Higher Education Grant, but with a £500 top-up if income is less than £5,740.
Special Support Grant
The Special Support Grant is the same as the Maintenance Grant except that no part of it is substituted with maintenance loan. It provides support for general living costs for about 2% of 2007/08 entrants who receive means-tested benefits during term-time.
Higher Education Grant
The Higher Education Grant is a means-tested grant for living costs to help students entering higher education in 2004/05, 2005/06 and those who entered following a gap-year in 2006/07. The maximum amount available in 2006/07 is £1,000.
Higher Education Bursary (NI)
The Higher Education Bursary applies to students from Northern Ireland who commenced study in 2005/06 or earlier, or following a gap-year in 2006/07. It is a means-tested grant for students from low-income backgrounds that largely replaces the student loan. . The maximum amount available in 2007/08 is £2,000.
Part-time Course Grant
This is a financially-assessed grant for course costs (books and materials etc) for part-time students. A course is designated for part-time grants if it lasts at least one year, it leads to an HE qualification, and it requires no longer than twice the time required to study the course full time. The maximum part-time course grant available in England and Northern Ireland in 2007/08 is £250; in Wales the maximum is £1,025.
Welsh Assembly Learning Grant FE
Assembly Learning Grant for Further Education (ALG FE) is a specific product aimed at mature FE students from Wales. It provides a financially-assessed support grant for people studying below Higher Education level and who are not of school age. The amount of ALG (FE) paid depends on household income and whether the student is studying part-time or full-time.