Where to apply
It was the case that wherever you wanted to study, whether it was Aston or Aberystwyth or Aberdeen, your funding was dealt with by the authorities in the place where you already lived.
But that's ancient history, old news...well at least it is for some (more on that later). If you're starting a course in 2009/10 there's no more faffing for funds with your local authorities, the application is now taken care of by Student Finance England. It can be done online or by completing a paper form, whichever dunks your biscuit really. Check with www.studentfinancedirect.co.uk for more info.
Of course it would be far too simple to hope for one great big, shiny, happy, universal system. Local Authorities, or Local Education Authorities -
or LEAs - were the guys responsible for handling the whole finance
shebang for undergraduate degrees and you will have to deal with them if you're not in England. In Scotland, it’s a body called the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS – www.saas.gov.uk). People from Wales can track down their LEA at www.studentfinancewales.co.uk. And in Northern Ireland, it’s the Education and Library Boards (listings at www.studentfinanceni.co.uk).
To make things easier (and, let’s face it, it could do with it), we’ll just call them all LEAs, okay?
So if you are dealing with an LEA (or things very much like them), they'll do an Income Assessment for each student to tot up who gets what and then they pay it out.
The relevant authority for you is the one that’s in charge of education for the area where you normally live before you start your course. If you’re in doubt about who to call, try asking your school, college, local library or local council. And don’t forget to do it or else you could end up paying for it all yourself.
Last updated on: 12 August 2009