Scottish students and studying in Scotland
Much like the average Scot's desire to keep all things Scottish a healthy distance from the anglo rif-raf (the national football team and separate league one case in point), there are different student funding arrangements north of the border.
For starters, instead of dealing with an LEA, Scots turn to their Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) www.saas.gov.uk, who are the folk to go to for quandries of all flavours.
Scottish (and EU) students studying in Scotland:
Students do not have to pay tuition fees. They don't even have to pay the recently-scrapped one-off ‘graduate endowment’ of around £2,200 any more. Like an extremely generous Father Christmas, the SAAS simply pays your fees directly to your university.
Scottish students studying elsewhere in the UK:
For knocking a financial gift horse in the chops, Scots venturing south of the border will have to pay the tuition fees charged by the university – up to £3,145 a year in England and Northern Ireland and now Wales too. Students will be able to take out a tuition fees loan to cover the fees until after they graduate. This will, of course, mean racking up far more tuition fee debt than if they’d been a bit more braveheart about matters. Students from low-income backgrounds may be eligible for the Students Outside Scotland Bursary, which replaces up to £2,000 of this maintenance loan, and non-mature students might also get some extra loan.
Students from elsewhere in the UK:
Non-scots won't alas get off scot-free (geddit) fees-wise but they won't have to pay as much: around £1,775 a year (£2,775 for medics) to study in Scotland. Just the same as if they were studying at an English university, students can apply for tuition fee loans.
There are loads of ifs and buts to all this and proving yourself Scottish takes more than having a penchant for deep-fried confectionary. It’s best to check out SAAS’s website www.saas.gov.uk or get hold of the booklet they produce called ‘Student Support in Scotland’.
Be sure to apply to the SAAS for this support, or the university will expect to get some kind of fee off you.
Extra bits and pieces:
When it comes to living expenses, students from Scotland are kept in books and beer through a combination of means-tested loans and bursaries. Not unlike the English system, except the amounts are slightly different and, rather than a maintenance grant, most students on low incomes get what’s called a young students' bursary, currently a maximum of £2,755.
Scottish students can usually also get some kind of help in paying the cost of their travel to university. Beware of the small print though - there are more conditions than a dodgy record contract: no local travel costs, no sneaky easyjet flights, and students who are eligible for this sort of funding will still find themselves forking out for the first £155 of their travel costs.
There are specific bursaries available to Scottish students with children, dependants, disabilities or those who have been in care. Being Scottish is also one of the factors that might qualify you for all sorts of charitable scholarships and bursaries.
Students from different parts of the UK
Last updated on: 13 August 2008