STUDENT LOANS

Outside a university Nick is sitting on some steps

NICK
OK. So. There are two kinds of loan on offer from the government; the first is the tuition fee loan - and basically that’s open to everyone, regardless of your household income. Universities can ask you to pay up to around three grand a year towards the cost of running your course, with the rest being paid by the government.

The second one is called the maintenance loan - to help with all your living costs like food, rent and bills and stuff like that. You can still apply for that if you decide to stay at home and not study away from home. It ’s available whether you study at home or away. Depending on your household income and where you decide to go, you can apply for up to four and a half grand a year - if you decide to study in the fair city of London you’ll get a little bit more.

You don’t have to pay this back until you start earning £15000 and have finished your course. On an average graduate starting salary of eighteen grand, you ’d pay back £5.19 a week - or nine percent of your earnings over 15 grand.