Overview

In November 2013, the Government announced that it would be reducing its overall budget for the National Scholarships Programme (NSP) from £150 million to £50 million in the 2014/15 academic year. Further details of the NSP changes are available on the HEFCE website.

For the University of Bristol, this means that we have sustained an unexpected reduction of almost £1 million for 2014. This has had a direct impact on the financial support we will be able to offer students who are considering coming to the University of Bristol in 2014. 

As a result we have had to revise our student funding package for entrants in 2014, but we have maintained our commitment to ensuring that no student should be put off from studying at the University of Bristol because of increased tuition fees.

Please note, the revised figures have now been agreed by the Office for Fair Access (OFFA).

Revised figures

If you are a UK undergraduate student starting a course in 2014 and you are eligible for a tuition fee waiver, (which reduces the amount of fees you are required to pay), you can choose to take part of the fee waiver as a cash bursary of £2,000.

This is known as the University of Bristol Bursary, it gives you the option to use the money for living costs rather than tuition fees. The bursary is paid directly into your bank account in three instalments.

You do not need to re-pay the bursary, however you will have a higher tuition fee loan to repay than if you had chosen to apply the full fee waiver against your tuition fees.

Please note: the standard tuition fee rate for all home and EU students in 2014/15 is £9,000. When you request a tuition fee loan you should still request the full £9,000, as the fee waiver will only be applied once you are registered and in attendance at Bristol.

How does choosing the bursary affect my tuition fees?

If you have a residual household income of £15,000 or below and receive a maintenance grant you will have a fee waiver of £4,500 applied to your tuition fees, therefore your remaining tuition fee liability will be £4,500.

• Alternatively you can choose to take a £2,000 cash bursary and a fee waiver of £2,500; after the fee waiver is applied your remaining tuition fee liability will be £6,500.

If you have a residual household income of between £15,001 and £20,000 and receive a maintenance grant you will have a fee waiver of £3,500 applied to your tuition fees, therefore your your remaining tuition fee liability will be £5,500.

If you have a residual household income of between £20,001 and £25,000, and receive a maintenance grant you can choose to take either a £2,000 fee waiver or a £2,000 bursary:

Please note:

• Students from Wales are eligible for a non means-tested tuition fee grant from Student Finance Wales, which reduces their tuition fee liability so they don't have to pay the full £9,000 fees. 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 remainder of their tuition fees.

• EU students who are eligible for a fee waiver are not eligible to convert part of their tuition fee waiver into a bursary.

Eligibility

Tuition fee waiver element

Full-time students

1. UK undergraduate students who started at the University of Bristol in 2014 and who are liable for the Home (UK) fee rate of £9,000.
2. EU undergraduate students who started at the University of Bristol in 2014 and who are liable for the Home (UK) fee rate of £9,000.
3. Where tuition fees charged are pro-rata, fee waiver and bursary support will also be pro-rata accordingly. Therefore unless you are being charged £9,000 (and in receipt of a maintenance grant), you should be aware that your fee waiver and/or bursary will be reduced accordingly. Please contact the Student Funding Office for more detailed advice on how this will effect your funding entitlement if you are on a year abroad, or undertaking any other study where you are not being charged a full £9000 fee.
4. The household income must be £25,000 or less. Note: there are three tiers of fee waiver eligibility depending upon your household income. (Check the value of award below.)
5. UK students must be in receipt of a maintenance grant from the government.
6. UK students who are intercalating into the University of Bristol to study from another institution, and who are being charged full fees of £9000 and in receipt of a government Maintenance Grant, will be entitled to the University of Bristol's standard fee waiver package of support based on their household income. Eligible students will be able to convert £2,000 of any fee waiver entitlement as a bursary.

Part-time students

7. Part-time students may be eligible for a pro-rata tuition fee waiver provided they meet the following eligibility criteria.
   • resident of England or the EU;
   • undertaking their first degree;
   • undertaking a part-time course with a tuition fee liability of £4,500 (i.e. 50% intensity);
   • have a household income of £12,000 or less.

Exceptions

8. Students from Wales are not eligible for the tuition fee waiver and are therefore also ineligible for the bursary conversion element.
9. Students undertaking the PGCE course are not eligible for the tuition fee waiver, and are therefore also ineligible for the bursary conversion element.
10. Students on any year of their course which is NHS funded are not eligible for a bursary.

Bursary element

11. Home (UK) students who are assessed as being eligible for a tuition fee waiver, and who are liable for the Home (UK) fee rate of £9,000, will be given the option to convert £2,000 of their tuition fee into a non-repayable bursary.
12. Where tuition fees charged are pro-rata, fee waiver and bursary support will also be pro-rata accordingly. Therefore unless you are being charged £9,000 (and in receipt of a maintenance grant), you should be aware that your fee waiver and/or bursary will be reduced accordingly.  Please contact the Student Funding Office for more detailed advice on how this will effect your funding entitlement if you are on a year abroad, or undertaking any other study where you are not being charged a full £9000 fee.
13. EU students are not eligible to convert £2,000 of their tuition fee into a non-repayable bursary.
14. Part-time students are not eligible to convert any amount of their fee waiver into a bursary.

Application process

Full-time UK students

15. No student needs to submit an application form for a tuition fee waiver or bursary.
16. Students must apply for means tested support from Student Finance England, and give their consent to share their household income details on their application form for student finance.
17. The University will receive the information relating to a student's household income from the Student Loans Company, and will use this to assess the entitlement to a tuition fee waiver.
18. Eligible students will be notified once a fee waiver has been created and will be asked whether they wish to convert £2000 of the fee waiver into a bursary.

Part-time UK students

19. Students must complete an application form for a tuition fee waiver.

Full-time EU students

20. EU students who wish to be considered for a tuition fee waiver, should follow the three-step process below:

• Step one
  All EU students who wish to apply for a tuition fee loan should start by downloading the EU14N form from Student Finance England. Students are advised to apply for the full tuition fee loan in the first instance. 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 SLC'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.

Part-time EU students

21. EU students who wish to be considered for a tuition fee waiver, should follow the three-step process below:

• Step one
  Any part-time EU student who believes that they meet the eligibility criteria for a fee waiver should contact the Student Funding Office within the University of Bristol.
• Step two
  The University of Bristol will then advise the Student Loans Company's EU Team which part-time EU students should be contacted by the Student Loans Company with a written request for Household Income Data.
• Step three
  The income assessment to be based upon Part-Time Guidance, and following submission of evidence, the Student Loans Company will confirm to the University of Bristol the household income of the EU part-time student, from which we will be able to determine your eligibility for a tuition fee waiver and the level of tuition fee waiver.

Value of award

Full-time students

Full (upper tier) award

The full (upper tier) University of Bristol award is a fee waiver of £4,500 for students whose residual household income is £15,000 or below, and who receive a grant for living costs from Student Finance. Alternatively, eligible students can choose a reduced fee waiver of £2,500 and a living cost bursary of £2,000.

Partial (middle tier) award

The partial (middle tier) University of Bristol award is a fee waiver of £3,500 for students whose residual household income is between £15,001 and £20,000, and who receive a grant for living costs from Student Finance. Alternatively, eligible students can choose a reduced fee waiver of £1,500 and a living cost bursary of £2,000.

Partial (lower tier) award

The partial (lower tier) University of Bristol award is a fee waiver of £2,000 for students whose residual household income is between £20,001 and £25,000, and who receive a grant for living costs from Student Finance. Alternatively, eligible students can choose a living cost bursary of £2,000 and no fee waiver.

22. Please note, students requesting a tuition fee loan should still request the full £9,000 fee loan as the fee waiver will only be applied once a student is registered at Bristol.
23. Where tuition fees charged are pro-rata, fee waiver and bursary support will also be pro-rata accordingly. Therefore unless you are being charged £9,000 (and in receipt of a maintenance grant), you should be aware that your fee waiver and/or bursary will be reduced accordingly. Please contact the Student Funding Office for more detailed advice on how this will effect your funding entitlement if you are on a year abroad, or undertaking any other study where you are not being charged a full £9000 fee.
24. The University will review the value of the full-time awards from time to time.

Part-time students

23. The part-time tuition fee waiver is £1,500.
24. The University will review the value of the part-time awards from time to time.

Notification of award

27. Once their tuition fee waiver has been created, students will receive an e-mail from the Student Funding Office (SFO) confirming their tuition fee waiver entitlement.
28. Eligible full-time students will be given the opportunity to convert £2,000 of their award into a living cost bursary via their StudentInfo screen.
29. Once an eligible full-time student has chosen to convert £2,000 of their entitlement into a bursary they may not change their mind after the first bursary instalment has been paid.
30. Students will be given the option in each year they are eligible for an award as to whether they wish to convert part of their fee waiver entitlement into a bursary.

Payment of award

Tuition fee waiver element

31. The fee waiver element of the award will be offset directly against the student's tuition fees, using the University of Bristol's internal student records and finance systems.

Bursary element

32. Bursary payments will be made directly into a student's bank account using the BACS process.
33. No bursary payment will be made until after December 1st each year.
34. Students are required to provide the University with the correct bank details via the secure My Bristol web site to ensure timely bursary payments.
35. The University reserves the right to use the bursary instalments to offset any debt owed to it by the student.

Changes to your maintenance grant

36. Students are required to inform the SFO if they receive a re-assessment of their maintenance (or special support) grant entitlement, as any change may affect the level of tuition fee waiver and bursary entitlement.
37. If the Student Loans Company advise us that you have lost your entitlement to a maintenance grant or special support grant, your entitlement to a fee waiver and bursary will be put on hold. The Student Funding Office will contact you to ascertain why your grant entitlement has ceased.
38. If the loss of the grant is permanent, you will cease to have an entitlement to a tuition fee waiver from the date of the reassessment. The students tuition fee waiver entitlement will calculated using the pro'rata fee waiver amounts that apply when a student withdraws or suspends from their studies. The Student Loans Company will be advised of the reduced tuition fee waiver previously awarded, and the student will be required to increase their tuition fee loan top cover any tuition fees not now covered by the tuition fee waiver.
39. If the loss of the grant is permanent, you will cease to have an entitlement to a bursary from the date of the reassessment. The University will not normally reclaim any previous bursary payment, however no further payments will be made from the date of re-assessment of the maintenance or special support grant entitlement.

Changes to your household income

40. Students are required to inform the SFO if they receive a re-assessment of their household income, as any change may affect the level of tuition fee waiver and bursary entitlement.

Fee waiver adjustments

41. Students' originally assessed as having a household income of below £15,000, are entitled to the highest level tuition fee waiver.

If the household income is reassessed during the academic year and increases above £15,000 but below £25,000, the student will continue to have a tuition fee waiver entitlement, but their level of tuition fee waiver will be reduced.

The Student Loans Company will be advised of the reduced tuition fee waiver previously awarded, and the student will be required to increase their tuition fee loan top cover any tuition fees not now covered by the tuition fee waiver.

42. Students' originally assessed as having a household income of between £15,001 and £20,000, are entitled to the middle level tuition fee waiver.

If the household income is reassessed during the academic year and increases above £20,001 but below £25,000, the student will continue to have a tuition fee waiver entitlement, but their level of tuition fee waiver will be reduced.

The Student Loans Company will be advised of the reduced tuition fee waiver previously awarded, and the student will be required to increase their tuition fee loan top cover any tuition fees not now covered by the tuition fee waiver.

43. Students' originally assessed as having a household income of less than £25,000, but whose income is reassessed during the academic year and increases above £25,000 will cease to have an entitlement to a tuition fee waiver.

Any tuition fee waiver which has previously been created will be cancelled and the Student Loans Company informed accordingly.

The student will need to increase their tuition fee loan request, if they are financing payment of their tuition fees through a government tuition fee loan.

Bursary adjustments

44. Students who are eligible for a tuition fee waiver and who have opted to convert part of their tuition fee waiver into a bursary will retain their bursary entitlement in the event that the Student Loans Company reassess their income, provided their household income does not increase above £25,000.
45. Students' originally assessed as having a household income of less than £25,000, but whose income is reassessed during the academic year and increases above £25,000 will cease to have bursary entitlement from the date of the reassessment. The University will not normally reclaim any previous bursary payment, however no further payments will be made from the date of re-assessment of the household income.

Suspensions and withdrawals

Fee waiver adjustments

46. For withdrawing or suspending students, the fee waiver will be adjusted according to the withdrawal/suspension date and the amount of fees charged, taking into consideration the maximum loan for tuition fees the student can access.
47. Students can see how their tuition fee waiver will be re-calculated using the tuition fee waiver adjustment spreadsheet.

Bursary adjustments

48. Withdrawing/suspending students will not have to repay any bursary payment; as long as the student is in attendance on the date that bursary payments are made, they will receive their bursary instalment. If a student withdraws before the next bursary payment date, they will not receive further payments but the repayment of any previously paid instalments, will not be sought.
49. Students who have agreement from their faculty to temporarily suspend their studies, and who can provide written confirmation from SFE that they are still entitled to receive their maintenance grant whilst temporarily absent from their programme, will be entitled to continue to receive the bursary element of the University of Bristol award.

Repeating studies

Fee waiver adjustments

50. The fee waiver element of the award will only be payable where tuition fees are being charged for repeat study.
51. Where tuition fees charged are pro-rata, fee waiver and bursary support will also be pro-rata accordingly. Therefore unless you are being charged £9,000 (and in receipt of a maintenance grant), you should be aware that your fee waiver and/or bursary will be reduced accordingly.  Please contact the Student Funding Office for more detailed advice on how this will effect your funding entitlement if you are on a year abroad, or undertaking any other study where you are not being charged a full £9000 fee.

Bursary adjustments

52. Students repeating a year will not automatically be entitled to repeat bursary funding. However, if the student receives the Government maintenance (or special support) grant for their repeat year and their household income is £25,000 or below, then their entitlement to a bursary will continue.
53. Where tuition fees charged are pro-rata, fee waiver and bursary support will also be pro-rata accordingly. Therefore unless you are being charged £9,000 (and in receipt of a maintenance grant), you should be aware that your fee waiver and/or bursary will be reduced accordingly. Please contact the Student Funding Office for more detailed advice on how this will effect your funding entitlement if you are on a year abroad, or undertaking any other study where you are not being charged a full £9,000 fee.

Year abroad or year in industry

Year abroad

54. Students on a year abroad pay a lower rate of tuition fees for this year at 15% of £9,000 (£1,350). Therefore students on a year abroad who continue to receive a maintenance grant will receive a pro-rata tuition fee waiver and the option to take a reduced bursary of £300.

Year in industry

55. Students on a placement year in industry do not receive a maintenance grant and therefore are not eligible for a fee waiver or a bursary during this year.