Clearing funding and finance essentials

If you are thinking about applying to Brighton through Clearing or you have already accepted an offer, and you are eligible to apply for student finance through Student Finance England, Wales, Northern Ireland or Student Awards Agency Scotland, you do have some things to cross off your ‘to do’ list before you can finally get out there and enjoy the summer rain.

Here are the answers to our frequently asked funding related Clearing questions:

Is it too late to apply for Student Funding?

No, but you must act quickly. Standard assessments take approximately 6 weeks to process but can take longer, especially if you are an independent student under the age of 25 or you have children and/or you live with a partner.

Term starts on Monday 25th September for most undergraduate courses so the clock is ticking. If you are planning to pay your tuition fees yourself (or through a sponsor or 3rd party) please look at the formal payment options available to you.

How to apply for Student Funding

If you are a UK student, the safest, quickest and easiest way to apply is online through the main Student Finance portal – make sure you apply to the correct country you normally live in, not the country you’ll be studying in. Here you can also find links to Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

If you are studying Nursing, Midwifery or another Allied Health Profession including Paramedic Science, you can claim additional funding from the NHS. When you apply for your Student Finance loans, you will be asked whether you are eligible for an NHS bursary  SAY NO!  The Training Grant is not a bursary.

Students from EU with pre-settled status (PSS)

You will be eligible for a Tuition Fee Loan only. You must download an application form EU23N because you cannot apply online.

If you are living and working in the UK as a Migrant Worker you may be eligible for the same funding as a UK student/student with settled status.  Student Finance will generally request a Contract of Employment and/or confirmation from your employer’s HR department that the contract accurately represents the hours and terms on which you work, your P60 if applicable and your last 3 months payslips. You must regularly provide these to Student Finance once you start the course as you have to be consistently and continually working in order to maintain this status.

Any problems, please don’t hesitate to email us in the Student Advice team here at Brighton or give us a ring on 01273 642888 as we can help you with this.

Students from EU with settled status (SS)

You will be eligible to apply for a Tuition Fee Loan and a Maintenance Loan. You will be able to apply online through the main Student Finance portal. Make sure you apply for the correct academic year and to the correct country you normally live in, not the country you’ll be studying in. Here you can find links to Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

However, please note that being eligible to apply for these funds does not automatically mean you will be entitled to the maximum amounts available.

Students who have already applied for funding but need to change course/Uni details

If you are a UK student and you have already applied for funding for a different Uni, you need to tell Student Finance. You can change your application very easily through your Student Finance online account before the start of the course. To do this you need your email address or customer reference number, password and secret answer. You can reset your password easily if you have forgotten it – it is always worthwhile changing your password to something safe, but memorable.

Once you log in, choose the ‘change your application’ option and change your course and Uni details. The UCAS code for Brighton is B72.

If you are an EU student with pre-settled status PSS and you need to change your application, you must  complete an EUCO1 form which you have to request from Student Finance EU team direct. The correct telephone number to call is 0141 243 3570

How long does it take to process any changes?

Changes can take at least 6 weeks to process, but keep checking your online account every 2 weeks to make sure the change of university or any other changes has been registered.

You can follow the progress on your Student Finance online account. Your account will be regularly updated so we advise you to always look here first, check your outstanding actions and read any correspondence from them (emails, online letters, texts) before phoning their call centre.

What else might you be eligible for?

Once you have been assessed for student finance there may be additional things you are entitled to depending on your personal and/or financial circumstances. Have a look at our University of Brighton Bursaries information. For those students with dependants there can be extra help from Student Finance which comes in the form of ‘supplementary grants’. Anything not called a loan does not need to be repaid.

If you are in receipt of Universal Credit and/or PIP, please contact us in the Student Advice Service as there may be changes to your benefit entitlement once you become a student.

If you have a long term illness or disability and you could be considered to have a limited capability for work, we strongly advise you to apply for this urgently as you need this finalised before the start of your course in order to retain the maximum benefits available to you.

Training Grant for Nurses and Healthcare Professionals

The Training Grant for nursing and healthcare students is a £5K non-repayable grant, plus an additional £1k for subjects such as Podiatry, Mental Health Nursing and Radiography. There are further grants available if you are a parent. To apply for these, you must first have applied for and been accepted as eligible for the Tuition Fee loan and Maintenance loan from Student Finance. Once you have your acceptance to these confirmed, you can apply for the extra grant through the NHS Learning Support Fund.  You can also use this route to claim back some extra travel costs associated with your healthcare placements while you are a student.

What about Student Bank accounts?

Many banks will let you open a student bank account before you actually start university, which is great as this can help you if you need to find some money to pay for accommodation or other upfront costs before you get here. We signpost students to Money Saving Expert and Save the Student for the most up to date impartial information about student bank accounts as we don’t endorse one product for all.

When is the Maintenance Loan paid?

Once your application has been approved, your National Insurance number verified and you have completed enrolment, we tell Student Finance that you are here. This happens after your course has started and can take 3-4 working days from the first day of term, so you do need to wait a few days to get the first payment of Maintenance Loan paid into your chosen bank account.

Please note that if you are switching your application to the University of Brighton and don’t change the name of the Uni for your Student Finance application, then your student funding could be significantly delayed – so make sure you change this information as soon as possible.

Thereafter, further instalments are paid at the start of term 2 and 3 but you can check in the payments area of your Student Finance account.

The Tuition Fee Loan is paid directly to the university. This is also paid in 3 instalments, but later in the academic term. You can check these dates in the payments area of your Student Finance account.

What happens if funding is delayed?

Things usually run smoothly if you apply in good time and supply all of your supporting evidence, but it is always best to be prepared for a slight delay once you get to Uni. You don’t want to miss out on fun activities and getting involved at the start of term. Keep checking your online student finance account for any instructions – these will be listed on your home page or within the correspondence folder.

Ideally you should you should come with enough funds to pay for one month’s expenses, do do save up any earnings you are currently receiving and see if you can open a student bank account before you start.

If you have got any questions about your funding entitlement or the application and assessment process, please contact us in the Student Advice team and remember there is no such thing as a stupid question, so do ask us as we are here to help you in every way we can

To look at our general information for new students, we have a dedicated university Clearing section for new starters

See you in September!

Student Advice Service