Can I apply for support to do my course?
You may be eligible if you are a Scottish domiciled student or an EU student. To qualify you must meet our residence eligibility conditions and studying a course that we support. The residence eligibility conditions are complicated. If you are in any doubt about your residence status, you should contact us for advice.
If you have done a course of higher education before, this previous study may affect the support we can give you.
If I am not eligible to apply to SAAS for support, where can I get support for my course?
If you are not eligible to apply to us for support you should read our 'other sources of funding' section on this site.
What kind of support can I get?
If you are studying an HNC, HND, degree or equivalent course we can pay - tuition fees, a student loan, a bursary as well supplementary grants. See below for more information.
If you are studying one of the following courses the support arrangements are different.
- course which leads to a qualification that gives professional registration in one of the Allied Health Professions;
- nursing or midwifery course
- postgraduate diploma course
If you are studying an HNC, HND, degree or equivalent course you may qualify for the following:
- eligible students are entitled to apply for help with their tuition fees and supplementary grants, whatever their age.
- a student loan for living costs - you must normally be under 50 at the start of your course. If you are aged 50 to 54, and you intend to take up employment when you finish your course, you will also be able to apply for a student loan.
- the Young Students' Bursary - you must be studying a course at a Scottish institution which you started in session 2001-2002 or later. You must also meet the conditions for us to regard you as a 'young' student.
- the Independent Students' Bursary - this is available to mature students who are studying a course at a Scottish Institution from 2010-2011 or later.
- an Additiona Loan -you must be receiving the Young Students' Bursary, the Independent Students' Bursary or the Students' Outside Scotland Bursary to get this.
- the Young Students' Outside Scotland Bursary - you must be studying a course at a UK institution outside Scotland which you started in session 2002-2003 to 2005-2006. You must also meet the conditions for us to regard you as a 'young' student.
- the Students' Outside Scotland Bursary - this is available to young and mature students who are studying a course at a UK institution outside Scotland which started in session 2006-2007 or later.
- a Fee Loan - you must be studying a course at a UK institution outside Scotland which started in session 2006-2007 or later.
Supplementary grants include:
- Travel expenses;
- Dependants' Grant;
- Lone Parents' Grant;
- Additional Childcare Grant for Lone Parents;
- Vacation Grant for Care leavers; and the
- Disabled Students' Allowance.
If you have applied for all the support you are entitled to as shown above but are still finding it difficult to meet all your costs, you should apply to your university or college for help from their discretionary fund and childcare fund.
How much support will I get?
All support (not including the Disabled Students' Allowance, tuition fees in Scotland and a part of the student loan) depends on the level of your income and, if this applies, your parents' or your husband's, wife's, civil partner's or partner's income. This is known as 'income-assessed' support.
The following gives you an idea of the main support that we can pay if you are studying an HNC, HND, degree or equivalent course.
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Tuition fees
Scottish domiciled and EU students, studying at an institution in Scotland, are entitled to free tuition. We will pay your tuition fees in full, depending on your individual circumstances.
If you are studying at a UK institution outside Scotland, you may have to pay up to £3,290 each year towards your own tuition fees. The amount you will pay will vary depending on which college or university you choose to study at. You can apply to us for a student loan to pay part or all of your fees.
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Student loan
The student loan for living costs varies depending on your circumstances. The loan covers 52 weeks from the first day of the academic year of your course. In general, the maximum and minimum loan amounts for courses that last for 30 weeks are:
- £4,107 (Maximum) or £605 (Minimum) if you are living in your parents' home;
- £5,067 (Maximum) or £915 (Minimum) if you are living away from home and studying outside London; or
- £6,152 (Maximum) or £915 (Minimum) if you are living away from home and studying in London .
You will get extra loan payments for each week you have to study on the course over 30 weeks and three days as follows:
- £54 if you are living in your parents' home;
- £83 if you are living away from home and studying outside London ; or
- £106 if you are living away from home and studying in London .
You can apply for any amount of loan, up to the maximum available to you. If you want to apply for the minimum loan your parents or your husband, wife, civil partner or partner, which ever applies, don't need to give us their income details.
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Bursaries
- The Young Students' Bursary (YSB) is available to young students who are studying a course at a Scottish institution which you started in session 2001-2002 or later. The maximum we can pay is £2,640. We will pay you this if your household income is £19,310 or less a year. This will go down to zero for a household income over £34,195 a year. The YSB replaces part of the student loan so it reduces the amount of loan you need to take out. If you are eligible to receive the YSB you may also be eligible to receive the Additional Loan of up to £785. We will pay you this if your household income is £22,789 or less a year.
- The Independent Students' Bursary is available to mature students who are studying a course at a Scottish institution from 2010-2011 or later. The maximum we can pay is £1,000. We will pay you this if your household income is £19,310 or less a year. This will go down to zero for a household income over £34,195 a year. The ISB replaces part of the student loan so it reduces the amount of loan you need to take out. If you are eligible to receive the ISB you may also be eligible to receive the Additional Loan of up to £785. We will pay you this if your household income is £22,789 or less a year.
- The Young Students' Outside Scotland Bursary (YSOSB) is available to young students who are studying a course at a UK institution outside Scotland which you started in session 2002-2003 to 2005-2006. We will pay the highest amount of £785 a year if your household income is £18,300 or less a year, which will go down to zero for a household income over £22,789 a year.
- The Students' Outside Scotland Bursary is available to young and mature students who are studying a course at a UK institution outside Scotland which you started in session 2006-2007 or later. The maximum we can pay is £2,150 if your household income is under £19,310 a year. The bursary will go down to zero for a household income over £34,195. We pay the bursary instead of part of the loan so it reduces the amount of loan you need to take out. If you are a young student you may also qualify for an Additional Loan of up to £785. This is available to you if your household income is £22,789 or less a year.
Supplementary grants
The maximum amounts we can pay for the following supplementary grants are:
- Dependants' grant - £2,640
- Lone Parents' Grant - £1,305
- Additional Childcare grant for Lone Parents' - £1,215
When can I apply?
You can apply from the end of April.
If you are applying for the first time, apply as soon as you have been accepted on to a course.
- If you are continuing on a course you started earlier, you should apply as soon as possible. You do not need to wait for exam results to send us your application.
- If your course starts in the autumn term and you send us a correctly completed application by 30 June 2010, we will guarantee that you will receive the first payment of your award for the start of your first term or semester.
- You may apply at any time up to a month before the end of the academic year. For people who start their course in autumn 2010, the final closing date for receiving applications is 31 March 2011 (there are different closing dates depending on when your course started). If we receive your application after the final closing date, you will receive no support, including tuition fees.
Your application for tuition fees and support with living costs is only valid for one academic session. You must apply for support in every year of your course. You should only make one application each year.
How do I apply for support?
You should applly online for your main student support. You can also tell us about any changes in your details after you have applied for your support. For example a new address or bank details.
You will get online help to fill in your form and to give all the information which we need to process your application. You only need to fill in a whole online form once. In your second or later years you will find all your details already on the form and you will only have to update anything that has changed.
If I try to apply online and can't, who should I contact?
If you are having problems, or you need help with your application, phone our helpline on 0845 111 1711.
How will you pay my support?
We pay all undergraduate (including Higher National) students on a monthly basis. We will still pay postgraduate (except PGDE and PGDipCE ) students and students studying elsewhere in the UK in three instalments at the start of each term.
We will pay the support you are due on the 7th of each month. If the 7th is not a working day, for example Saturday, Sunday or a bank holiday, we will make the payment on the previous working day. We will pay your first instalment on the first day of your course and this will be a double payment.
We will make all payments straight into your bank account if you give us valid bank details. If you don't give us valid bank details we will send your first instalment to your college or university for you to collect there.
The award notice we send you will confirm:
- how many instalments we will pay,
- how much each instalment will be; and
- how and when we will pay you.
You must take your award notice with you when you enrol at your institution to allow your money to be released. This also lets your institution know if we will be paying your fees.
You can get more details about how we pay your support in the payments section of our site.
If you have applied for a student loan, the Student Loans Company will send you a payment schedule. They will also pay your support on a monthly basis. The payment schedule they send you will confirm how much each instalment will be and how and when they will pay it.
How much of my support do I have to pay back?
As long as you are still eligible to keep the support we gave you, you will only have to pay back the student loan and the additional loan when you complete your course.
If you study in Scotland, you do not have to pay back your tuition fees (if we paid them for you), the Bursary and any supplementary grants that you are eligible for. If you study outside Scotland and you take out a loan to pay your fees, you will have to pay this back once you earn over £15,000.
How long does it take to process an application for support?
We aim to process correctly completed applications within 21 days of receiving them.
When will I know how much money I'll get?
We will assess your entitlement and send you an award notice that will tell you how much support you will get from us. If you do not receive your award notice within 28 days of sending your application, please contact us.
We will also send your loan information (if this applies) electronically to the Student Loans Company (SLC). The SLC will set up your loan account. The SLC will send you a loan payment schedule to tell you how and when they will pay your loan instalments. You should get this approximately two weeks after you get your award notice.