To arrange an appointment with a Money Adviser, please email firstpoint or phone 01905 54 2551.
Full-time Undergraduate Financial Support
Tuition Fees 2023/24
For academic year 2023/24 University of Worcester fees are £9,250 a year for new students on full-time undergraduate first degree level courses. There are some exceptions to these fees and you can find them on the Course Fees page of the University's website (see link to the left of this page).
Family Discount
Students with immediate family members who are University of Worcester employees may be eligible for a fee discount of 15%. Contact the Finance Office by emailing: creditcontrol@worc.ac.uk for further details.
Tuition Fee Loan
You can pay your fees by applying for a non means-tested (ie. not based on income) Tuition Fee Loan from the Student Loans Company via Student Finance England. The fees are paid direct to the University on your behalf, so you need not find the money to pay for your course before you enrol or whilst you are studying. The loan only starts to be repaid after you leave university and are earning over £25,000 pa. Tuition Fee Loans are available to eligible Home students. EU students can apply for tuition fee loans if their course started in academic year 2020 to 2021 or before, or they have settled or pre-settled status.
PAYMENTS TO STUDENTS
Maintenance Loans
Maintenance loans are available to eligible Home students to help with living costs such as accommodation, food, clothing, travel etc. For academic year 2023/24 the maximum maintenance loan is £9,978 per annum (or £8,400 per annum for those living at home with their parents) paid in three instalments.
Students with an underlying eligibility for certain means-tested benefits will receive a maximum maintenance loan of £11,374 if living away from home and £9,910 if living at home with parents.
Long Course Loans
New students on courses that exceed 30 weeks and 3 days a year (for example nursing or paramedic courses) may receive an additional amount of Maintenance Loan, dependent upon the income assessment. If they are living at home with parents they will receive up to £71 a week for each extra week and up to £107 if they live away from home.
Only some of the Maintenance Loan depends on income
For students living at home with parents 44% of the loan is a basic entitlement and does not depend upon household income, but the remaining 56% is means tested. For students living away from home 46.6% is a basic entitlement and 53.4% depends upon household income. See "Household Income" paragraph below for more information.
Amounts of Maintenance Loan for students over age 60 depend on household income only and are a lower amount, up to a maximum of £4,221 a year.
Household Income
Some grants and part of the Maintenance Loan depend on household income i.e. they are income assessed. If you are under age 25 on the first day of the relevant academic year, your parents’ income is usually taken into account (less certain pension contributions and an amount for their dependent children).
If you are estranged from parents or classed as an Independent Student then parental income is not used and in the case of estranged students you would not be expected to try and contact parents for income details. The booklet Stand Alone: supporting people that are estranged is a guide for students who are estranged from parents and applying for student finance.
If you are age 25 or over on the first day of the relevant academic year, and live with a partner then their income will be taken into account for student finance purposes.
Student’s own income from paid work is not normally considered; usually only taxable unearned income is used, such as money received from renting out a property.
See www.gov.uk/student-finance for further details.
Household income is usually taken from the financial year before the last full tax year before the start of the academic year. For example if the academic year starts in September 2023 then the income from financial year 2021–2022 will be used.
Example Calculations
| Student Living at Home | Maintenance Loan |
| Household Income £25,000 or less | £8,400 |
| £45,000 | £5,576 |
| £65,000 | £3,698 |
| Student Living Away From Home | Maintenance Loan |
| Household Income £25,000 or less | £9,978 |
| £45,000 | £7,125 |
| £65,000 | £4,651 |
In Year Income Assessment
If household income in the current financial year is likely to be at least 15% lower than the previous one then you can ask Student Finance England to use the current year’s income for the assessment.
Higher Rates of Maintenance Loan
Students with an underlying eligibility for certain means-tested benefits (for example lone parents, students in receipt of disability related benefits) will be eligible for a Maintenance Loan of up to £11,374 (or up to £9,910 if living at home with parents). Up to £4,221 (which is known as the Special Support Element) of this income is disregarded by the Department for Work and Pensions and Local Authorities when calculating income-related benefits.
Final Year Students - Reduced Rate Maintenance Loans
The amount of Maintenance Loan paid to eligible students in their final year of study is less than the amount paid in Years One and Two. In academic year 2023/24 the maximum Maintenance Loan a final year student that started after September 2016, living at home with parents can expect to receive is £7,904 pa and £9,436 pa if they live elsewhere.
Placement Year for Sandwich Courses
Students who started their course after September 2012 undertaking a work placement year as part of their course will only be charged 10% of the full-time tuition fee rate for the year in question. Eligible Home students will be entitled to a reduced rate non means tested Maintenance Loan from Student Finance England of £3,022 per annum if they are living away from home, and £2,267 if living at home.
Applying for Student Finance
Apply to Student Finance England for funding as soon as possible, ideally at least four months before the start of your course. You can apply for funding even before you have been offered a place at university, usually the February before your September start. Applications are made online at www.gov.uk/student-finance and you can phone Student Finance England on 0300 100 0607 if you have any queries.
Tuition Fee Loans, Maintenance Loans and Grants can all be applied for using one on-line application form. It is important to have an income assessed award (i.e. where your parent’s or partner’s income is taken into account) to make sure that you are awarded the maximum amount to which you are entitled.
Financial support from Student Finance England for September starters, with the exception of Tuition Fee Loans which are paid directly to your university, is paid in three instalments in September, January and April.
If you do not apply within nine months of the start of your course you may lose your right to apply for that particular year.
For help and advice on completing your application, see links to left of this page.
Previous Study
It is important to note that previous study at Higher Education level or above (i.e. above Level 3) can affect your entitlement to student financial support, depending on what you plan to study, and you should contact Student Finance England if you think this may apply to you. Previous study can be disregarded if you have evidence that you left for compelling personal reasons such as illness; you can also speak to the University’s Money Advisers if you think this may apply to you.
“Gift” Year
Student Finance England funding for tuition fees is available to eligible students for the length of their course and also for one extra year if needed to complete the course, unless Compelling Personal Reasons apply. The limit does not apply to the Maintenance Loan or Dependants Grants.
Reassessments & Retakes
There is no charge for having a module reassessed although postgraduate students are charged 20% of the fee for having their Independent Study reassessed. If a module needs to be retaken then the student will be charged the cost of the module. Tuition Fee Loans are not available through Student Finance England to pay for retakes within the normal duration of the course. However, students may receive Tuition Fee and Maintenance Funding if they extend the length of their course to include the retake under the “gift” year system (see above).
Student Finance and Paying for Accommodation
It is important to note that the financial support that you receive from Student Finance England will not always be enough to pay for your accommodation and living expenses, especially if you use the accommodation at the top of the price range. See Budgeting & Boosting Your Income on advice on how to avoid financial short-falls.
Sickness Absence
Student Finance can continue to be paid automatically by Student Finance England, for up to 60 days to students on temporary withdrawal due to illness, but for payments to extend after that financial hardship needs to be demonstrated.
Extra Financial Help for Students
See webpages for information on Disabled Students' Allowance, Access to Learning Fund (University Hardship Fund), Scholarships and Educational Trust Funds & Charities.
Withdrawing from University
Students withdrawing from their course before the end of a year may still have a liability to pay tuition fees. An example of percentages due is shown below; for more details contact the University’s Finance Office by emailing them on creditcontrol@worc.ac.uk.
| Undergraduate & Postgraduate Taught | Full-time | Part-time | |
| Withdrawal Date | Home & pre-2021 entry, settled or pre-settled status EU Students | International | |
| Day 1 to Day 14 of course or module (excluding induction week) | 0% | 50% | 0% |
| Day 14 to end of term 1 Part-time - Day 14 to end of module | 25% | 50% | 100% |
| Day 1 of Term 2 to end of Term 2 | 50% | 100% | |
| Day 1 of Term 3 to end of Term 3 | 100% | 100% | |
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