Financial support

16-18 Years Old

Further education courses

No course fees, the government fully funds your course.

Higher education courses

Usually, higher education is only for students aged 18 or over once they have completed A-levels or level 3 qualifications (not including Access to HE).

19-23 Years Old

Further education courses

It’s possible that you won’t need to pay any course fees if one of the following circumstances applies:

• You’re unemployed and receiving specific state benefits
• You’re earning less than £18,525 annual gross salary
• You’re studying your first level 1, level 2, or level 3 qualification

Not all courses meet the requirements to be funded by the ESFA, and are sometimes not available for fee-based financial support. If you have any queries about whether you could study your course for free, please contact enquiries@nhc.ac.uk

24+ Years Old

It’s possible that you won’t need to pay any course fees if one of the following circumstances applies:

• You’re unemployed and receiving specific state benefits
• You’re earning less than £18,525 annual gross salary
• You’re studying a level 3 qualification that is on the ‘Level 3 Courses for Jobs’ offer list and you meet the eligibility criteria

Not all courses meet the requirements to be funded by the ESFA and are sometimes not available for fee remission. If you have any queries about whether you could study your course for free, please contact enquiries@nhc.ac.uk

Higher Education Courses

Course fees vary from £4,635 to £6,125, depending on the course you choose to study. For more information, please check your course information page.

The NHS has you covered if you are thinking of studying for a health-related degree, take a look at what financial support is available here.

If you think you may be eligible for help with your enrolment costs, please ensure you bring evidence showing household income as being below £30,000 or evidence of being in receipt of any benefits.

The College is unable to give financial assistance without this evidence.

Eligible students aged 19 and above will be able to apply for an Advanced Learner Loan for eligible courses at levels 3, 4, 5 & 6, starting on or after 1st August 2016.

This is a government-backed loan that you can use to cover all or part of the cost of your tuition fees. There is no credit check and the loan does not depend on your household income. You won’t need to pay back the loan until you are in work and earning over £27,295 per year. Once you earn this amount, you will repay in monthly instalments. More information about repayment is available on the Government’s Student Finance page.

What are the requirements for the Advanced Learning Loan?

You might be eligible if you meet any of the following criteria:

• Aged 19 or above on the first day of your course
• Living in the UK on the first day of your course
• Have lived in the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man for three years in a row before the first day of the first academic year of your course (apart from temporary absences such as holidays)
• Are a UK or Irish citizen or have ‘settled status’ (no restrictions on how long you can stay). Further information on residency eligibility can be found on the UK Government’s website.
• Enrolling on an eligible course at Level 3 and above which includes; Access to HE Diplomas and other Diplomas or Certificates.

How do I apply?

You can apply for this loan once you’ve got a place on your chosen course. After you’ve accepted your place we’ll send you a learning and funding information letter which you need to complete your loan application. You can do this online on the UK government website.

How much can I take out as a loan?

This will depend on the course, the tuition fees charged by the College and the maximum amounts set by the Government. The minimum amount you may borrow is £300.

You can take out a loan for the maximum amount of your tuition fee or you can pay all or part of the tuition fee yourself. There is no loan to cover living or maintenance expenses.

Once you have completed your course, you will be eligible to apply for more Advanced Learning Loans to help you progress in your studies. You can have up to a total of four loans, but only one at any time.

How is the loan paid?

Student Finance England (SFE) will pay your tuition fees to College once the course has started and we have confirmed your attendance on it. Your loan will start to accrue from the course start date.

You will only start to repay the loan after you have completed your course and are earning over £524 per week, £2,274 per month or £27,295 per year. More information about repayment is available on the Government’s Student Loan page.

If you are studying an Access to HE course and continue your studies to undertake a Higher Education course, Student Finance England will ‘write off’ any outstanding Advanced Learner Loan balances you owe for an Access to HE course once you complete the Higher Education course. The higher education course must be eligible for student finance. More information is available on the Government’s undergraduate finance page.

Higher Education

If you are studying on an HE course (i.e. HNC/HND, extended or foundation degrees), you will be able to apply to Student Finance England for a full tuition fee loan and additional funds (if on a full-time course) to help you with living costs while you are studying.

Please chat with us on our open events, or give us a call. You can also visit www.gov.uk/student-finance to apply.

If you are struggling with course-related costs (e.g. childcare, travel, kit, uniform, books, exams or lunch fees), you may be able to apply for help from the Learner Support Fund. The fund is available to assist students from low/no income families, those who are living independently or those who receive a state benefit.

We would advise all students to complete an application as soon as possible to ensure your studies are not impacted.

Here are some key details:

• All applications are means-tested and based on household income. The household income threshold is £35,000.
• Funding is based on your attendance on the course. As a result, funding can be temporarily suspended if you do not attend your scheduled classes.
• Applications take up to 10 working days for assessment to be made.
• Due to limited funding, we cannot guarantee to support all applications. We encourage you to apply for funding as early as possible as a result.
• In order to access the funding, you will need to upload bank statements from the last 3 months, including a full month’s statement with a front page showing the account holder’s full name and address.
• Once you submit your completed application, you will be informed of any award by email to the address provided on your application form.

Please note that the College is unable to process any applications without this evidence. Missing evidence/information will delay outcomes on applications.

If you are 18 or under, you may be eligible to receive a free lunchtime meal at College if you or your family are in receipt of certain benefits. Please note that if you received free school meals at secondary school, this does not automatically mean you will receive free college meals. If you think you might be eligible, visit the Student Services team at your campus to fill in a free college meals application form.

If your application for free college meals is successful, you’ll get £3 a day in your sQuid catering purse to spend on college meals.  To pay, you can simply scan your student ID card.

Please remember that if you don’t spend your full £3, this amount won’t be carried over to the next day.  All students are able to get a sQuid catering account, so your eligibility for free college meals is discreet.

For more information, visit Student Services on your campus or contact 01462 424242.

You could be entitled to a bursary of up to £1,200 per year. Speak to Student Services if any of the following describes you:

You’re aged 16-18 and are:

• a young person in care (including unaccompanied asylum-seeking persons)
• a care leaver
• a young person getting Income Support or the equivalent Universal Credit (UC) in their own name
• a young person claiming both Disability Living Allowance (or the new Personal Independence Payments) and Employment Support Allowance (ESA) (or Universal Credit as a replacement for ESA) in their own name

Speak to Student Services for more information or email moneymatters@nhc.ac.uk.

There are a number of ways to gain support:

• If you are up to the age of 20, you can contact Care to Learn on 0800 121 8989 for an application.
• If you are claiming working tax credit, you can contact 0844 496 6511.
• If you are over the age of 20, contact our Student Services team to discuss further.

Some of the other places you could be able to access grants of bursaries from include:

• www.hertsdirect.org
• www.family-action.org.uk
• Princes Trust Development Award – 0800 842 842
• Hitchin Youth Trust – 01462 422505

Did you know you may be able to do an adult course without paying a penny?

You will need to meet one of the following criteria to qualify:

• If you don’t have English and/or maths at grades 4-9 or A*-C you are entitled to study English and maths for free until you get the grade.
• If you are aged 19-23 and don’t have a Level 2 qualification, you can study a Level 2 qualification for free.
• If you are aged 19-23 and don’t have a Level 3 qualification, you can study a Level 3 qualification for free.
• If you are 24+, studying your first full level 3 qualification and the qualification is on the ‘Level 3 Courses for Jobs’ offer list.
• If you are 24+, studying a Level 3 qualification featured on the ‘Level 3 Courses for Jobs’ offer list, meet the low wage criteria and did not achieve a full Level 3 qualification prior to 1^st April 2021.
• If you are unemployed, looking for work, on state benefits and want to study a qualification at Level 2 or below that will help get you into work, you can do it for free

For more information or to apply, please call us on 01462 424242 or email enquiries@nhc.ac.uk

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