Student Funding Office

More financial advice

New students

The following information is for 2013/14 UK and EU entrants, providing details of tuition fees and funding FAQs for undergraduate students on their first degree.

In addition, there is information on funding for certain professional courses, as they may attract government funding when undertaken as a second degree.

Tuition fees

UK and EU undergraduate students

What will tuition fees be in 2013?

In 2013 the University of Bristol will charge an annual tuition fee of £9,000 for all UK and EU students on full-time undergraduate programmes, as approved by the Office for Fair Access (OFFA). Tuition fees will be reviewed annually.

Is the University of Bristol offering any tuition fee waivers for UK or EU students starting in 2013?

Yes.

UK students from lower income families will be eligible for a fee waiver (which reduces tuition fee liability) for each year of their programme, depending upon their household income level and being in receipt of maintenance grant from the Government.

In order for the University to ascertain whether students qualify for a tuition fee waiver, students must consent to share their household income details on their Student Finance application.

Tuition fee waiver levels
  • Students whose residual household income is £15,000 or below, and who are in receipt of a maintenance grant will have a reduced tuition fee liability of £3,500.
  • Students whose residual household income is between £15,001 and £20,000, and who are in receipt of a maintenance grant will have a reduced tuition fee liability of £4,500.
  • Students whose residual household income is between £20,001 and £25,000, and who are in receipt of a maintenance grant will have a reduced tuition fee liability of £6,000.
Note for students from Wales
  • Students from Wales are eligible for a non means-tested tuition fee grant up to a maximum of £5,425 from Student Finance Wales, which reduces their tuition fee liability to £3,575. Therefore students from Wales will not be eligible to receive a tuition fee waiver or bursary support from the University of Bristol. Students from Wales can apply for the non means-tested tuition fee loan to cover the remaining £3,575 of their tuition fees.
Notes for students from EU
  • EU students are not eligible to receive a maintenance grant from the Government, but are eligible to apply for a Tuition Fee Loan along the same lines as UK domiciled students.
  • EU students are eligible for the tuition fee waiver package outlined above, provided they have been financially assessed by the Student Loans Company's EU team and meet the household income criteria.
  • Please note, EU students who are eligible for a fee waiver are not eligible to convert part of their tuition fee waiver into a bursary.
Note for students on the PGCE course
  • Students undertaking the PGCE course are not eligible for the tuition fee waiver, and are therefore also ineligible for the bursary conversion element. Alternative packages of financial support are available to PGCE students, for more information please see our PGCE web page.

Is the University of Bristol offering any bursaries for UK students starting in 2013?

Yes. Eligible UK/Home students can opt to convert £2,000 of their tuition fee waiver into a living cost bursary known as the University of Bristol Bursary. Please visit our University Funding section for more information on this.

Please note, EU students are not eligible to convert part of their tuition fee waiver into a bursary.

Will the University advise the SLC of my fee waiver entitlement and what happens next?

Yes. The University of Bristol will send a change of circumstance to the Student Loans Company (SLC) to notify them of your fee waiver entitlement. The amount of tuition fee waiver will be dependent upon your household income and maintenance grant entitlement and whether or not you have converted part of your fee waiver into a bursary.

Once the SLC have processed the change of circumstances, they will issue you with a new Student Funding Entitlement letter.

How do EU students apply for a tuition fee loan and fee waiver?

Step one

All EU students who wish to apply for a tuition fee loan should do so using the application form that will be made available by Student Finance England. Students are advised to apply for the full tuition fee loan in the first instance. Further information on how to apply for the tuition fee loan can be found on the Student Finance EU Team website.

Any EU student who subsequently becomes eligible for a tuition fee waiver will have their fee liability and tuition fee loan adjusted.

Step two

All students who apply for tuition fee support will subsequently be contacted by the Student Loans Company's EU Team to supply household income details.

Please note, only EU students who wish to be means-tested, because they believe they may be eligible for the University of Bristol's tuition fee waiver (ie they believe their household income is £25,000 or less), need to respond to the SLC's request for household income information.

Step three

The University of Bristol will be advised of your household income details, from which we will be able to determine your eligibility for a tuition fee waiver and the level of tuition fee waiver.

Note

The Student Loans Company's EU Team will only assess your household income once during your studies at University. This assessment will take place in the first year you apply for the tuition fee loan.

Thereafter, the University of Bristol will determine your eligibility for tuition fee support for all remaining academic year based on this single income assessment.

In subsequent years of your course, if you believe that your household income has changed from your original assessment and that you may qualify for support from the University of Bristol (not having done so previously), then you can request a re-assessment of your household income via the University, please contact the Student Funding Office in the first instance.

Please note, the EU Team can only re-assess your financial circumstances if there has been more than a 15% reduction since the original assessment.

Alternatively if you believe you can claim 'independent' status from your parents, then you can ask to be reassessed. The University must request the reassessment so please contact the Student Funding Office in the first instance.

What is a residual household income?

Residual income is your household's gross income, minus allowances.

For 2013/14 the allowances will be:

  • £1,130 for each financially dependent child other than the eligible student
  • Pension schemes that qualify for certain specified tax relief

The household income of parents (or partners) is taken into account as well as any taxable income the student has (excluding student earnings). Same sex partners' incomes are also taken into consideration.

These are the allowances used by Student Finance England when calculating your household income. If you would like further information on how your specific household income will be assessed, please call Student Finance England on 0845 300 5090 or download their guidance on how you are assessed and paid (PDF 601 Kb).

Will I have to pay tuition fees whilst I study?

Eligible students will not have to pay up front for their tuition. The cost of tuition will be paid by a loan which students will only start to repay once they have left their programme and are earning over £21,000.

Can I get a tuition fee loan if I study part-time?

In 2013 loans for tuition are available to eligible part-time first-degree students who complete a minimum of 25 per cent of the full time programme load per year.

The web pages for part-time students who begin studies from September 2012 onwards have more details on how and when to apply for the tuition fee loan.

Living expenses

Whether you are a UK or EU or international student, your living expenses will include accommodation (unless you are a local student living rent-free at home), food, entertainment and books. You can get a good idea of the cost of accommodation from our accommodation website. Your other living expenses will depend on your way of life. Most students spend something in the region of £6,700 to £10,000 a year on their living expenses, including accommodation. The figures below (excluding the figure for private rentals) assume a 40 week tenancy and are based on 2012/13 figures.

If you have expensive hobbies or tastes, you will need to factor these into your budget. Here are some of the things you will also need to consider:

  • accommodation, which can range from around £2,500 a year for a room in a self-catered student house to £6,360 for a catered hall, or £3,380 - £4,420 a year for private rentals (private rental contracts are usually for 52 weeks of the year and exclude heating, lighting, electricity and, in some cases, water rates)
  • heating and lighting around £600 if you’re living in private accommodation
  • food, which can cost from around £600 a year if you're in catered halls to around £1,170 a year for students living in private accommodation
  • books and photocopying are likely to cost around £300
  • clothes and toiletries can be a large expense-around £650 a year is not uncommon
  • entertainment and sports will vary depending on your interests, but could easily add up to £1,530 a year

You should also think about travel expenses, particularly if you are planning to study a long distance from home, phone calls, birthday presents and any additional course costs.

Find out the latest details of Student finance available from the Government in 2013/14.

There are regular updates by Student Finance England on their Twitter and Facebook pages and on The Student Room website.

Further details about Government funding opportunities for undergraduates are available.

I have heard about the NSP, what is it?

For the 2013/14 academic year, the University of Bristol has been allocated a National Scholarship Programme (NSP) fund totaling £1,104,000. This means that 368 full-time Bristol students will receive NSP awards, valued at £3,000.

Eligible part-time students will receive an NSP award of £1,500, payable as a tuition fee waiver.

What are the NSP eligibility criteria?

Government criteria

The Government set very-broad-based national eligibility criteria for the programme based on household income, with the announcement that students whose household income is £25,000 or less would be considered for an award.

However, having an income of £25,000 or less does not equate to an entitlement to a scholarship. Universities and colleges decide who to give financial help to from this group.

Specific groups of students are not eligible for the NSP, irrespective of their income levels. These are:

  • NHS-funded students
  • students funded by the Training and Development Agency for Schools
  • students directly continuing from one course to another (for example from foundation degree or HND on to the final year of an honours degree)
  • students transferring in from another institution
  • students undertaking a postgraduate qualification
  • part-time students studying at less than 25 per cent intensity of the full-time equivalent
  • any other students whose fees are paid or part-paid through a sponsorship arrangement.
  • NSP awards will not be available to individuals who are ordinarily resident in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (Students from Scotland and Northern Ireland may still be eligible for a tuition fee waiver/bursary from the University of Bristol, but not paid under the NSP. Students from Wales are not eligible for the NSP and are also not eligible for a tuition fee waiver/bursary from the University of Bristol as highlighted above).

Source: National Scholarship Programme 2012-13: Guidance for institutions (PDF, 80kb)

Please see below for additional University eligibility criteria.

Institutional criteria

The NSP awards will be allocated to those students who meet the University of Bristol’s eligibility criteria outlined below:

Full-time courses

  • Full-time undergraduate students
  • Home UK students
  • EU students (please note: EU students would only be eligible for a tuition fee waiver, and cannot opt to have part of the NSP award paid as a bursary)
  • Undertaking first degree
  • Household income is £5,000 or below. For 2013/14 this has been revised to £12,000 or below.

Part-time courses

  • Part-time undergraduate students
  • Undertaking first degree
  • Liable to pay a tuition fee of £4,500 (50% of the full-time fee)
  • Home UK students
  • EU students
  • Household income is £5,000 or below. For 2013/14 this has been revised to £12,000 or below.

Please note, meeting the criteria detailed above does not guarantee being awarded funding through the NSP, as awards are limited and the number of available awards may be exceeded by the number of potentially eligible students.

Students who meet the eligibility criteria but who are not awarded funding through NSP, will still receive the same level of financial assistance, but this money will be from the University of Bristol, rather than from the Government’s NSP.

How much is the NSP award?

Full-time students

The NSP award is £3,000.

Students who are selected to receive the NSP are entitled to receive fee waiver from the University of Bristol of £5,500. The first £3,000 of the fee waiver would be allocated under the NSP.

Please note, the University of Bristol has recently announced that students can opt to take £2,000 of their fee waiver entitlement as a non-repayable bursary. The balance of their award would be a fee waiver valued at £3,500, of which £3,000 would be allocated under the NSP.

Part-time students

The NSP award is £1,500, payable as a tuition fee waiver.

How many years will the NSP be awarded for?

The NSP will be awarded for one year, but in future years, the University of Bristol will provide match funding, which will enable similar levels of support for eligible students to be maintained, provided they continue to meet the household income criteria and eligibility for a maintenance grant.

How do I apply for an NSP award?

There is no application form that you need to complete.

If you think you may meet the University of Bristol’s eligibility criteria, you need only to ensure that you have applied for means-tested financial support from Student Finance England, and have consented to share your household income details.

This will enable the University of Bristol to confirm that your household income details and other details meet the eligibility criteria for an NSP award.

You will be contacted during the academic year to confirm your financial support from the University of Bristol and whether any proportion of that support has been funded through the NSP.

Does an NSP award mean that I am not eligible for other financial support from the University?

The NSP is one part of the University of Bristol’s financial support provision for entrants. Other bursaries or scholarships you may have been awarded have their own eligibility criteria. Please check the terms and conditions of any other funding you may be entitled to receive.

University of Bristol Bursary

University of Bristol Bursary

The University offers the following programmes which attract NHS funding depending upon the year of study.

Students starting the Veterinary Science course at the University in 2013 as their first degree can find out more about their funding entitlement via the webpage below.

The Veterinary Science course is one of the few courses which can attract government funding as a second degree. Further details about this are also provided on the weblink below:

However, if you have already achieved a postgraduate qualification, without holding an undergraduate qualification first, then you should contact the Student Funding office for advice on how your qualification will affect your entitlement to student financial support from the government.

Students starting the PGCE course at the University in 2013 can find out more about their funding entitlement and bursary support via our PGCE webpage.

Foundation Year in Arts and Humanities

Please click here for information on funding for the new Foundation Year in Arts and Humanities course starting in 2013/2014