Higher Education Bursary and tuition fee grant

If you’re a full-time student who started your course in or after September 2004 but before September 2006, you may be entitled to a Higher Education Bursary of up to £2,000 a year - and also a grant to help with your tuition fees.

Do you qualify for a Higher Education Bursary and Tuition Fee Grant?

If you started your course in or after September 2004, but before September 2006, you may be able to get financial help through the Higher Education Bursary and tuition fee grant.

These Bursaries are also available to some students who started later than this – for example, you may be able to get them if you started in 2006/2007 after taking a gap year.

You don’t have to pay them back. If you qualify, you’ll remain eligible for this type of financial help throughout your course.

Do you qualify?

The Higher Education Bursary is there to help with accommodation and other living costs. It’s available to full-time higher education students from lower income households.

Tuition fee grant

The tuition fee grant is money paid by the government to your university or college to help cover your tuition fees. It may cover all or part of your tuition fee contribution, depending on your income and the income of your household.

Higher Education Bursary: how much can you get?

The amount you can get will depend on your household income. For 2012/2013 the maximum Higher Education Bursary is £2,000 a year.

Tuition fee grant: how much can you get?

Depending on your income, the tuition fee grant may cover some or all of your tuition fee contribution. The maximum amounts are:

2012/2013: £1,380 a year

If you get the maximum tuition fee grant, you will have no tuition fees to pay. If you don’t get the maximum grant, you can take out a Student Loan for Tuition Fees to cover the shortfall.

The maximum you’ll have to contribute towards your tuition fees represents around a quarter of the actual cost of the average higher education course. The rest of the cost is automatically covered by the government.

How is this help paid?

The tuition fee grant is paid by Student Finance NI straight to your college or university.

The Higher Education Bursary is paid to you by Student Finance NI at the start of each term - usually straight into your bank account.

Effect on other financial help

Any money you get through the Higher Education Bursary or tuition fee grant isn’t counted as income when working out your entitlement to benefits or tax credits.