Can you get Student Finance for a year abroad?
Worried about the costs of doing a year abroad? There’s plenty of money up for grabs, and here’s how you find it.
Doing a year abroad as part of your degree is an amazing experience, but many students worry that it’ll be too expensive.
The reality, however, is that tuition fees abroad are often considerably cheaper than in the UK and there’s loads of extra financial support out there in the form of grants and loans.
If you fancy exploring a new country, immersing yourself in another culture and gaining some invaluable skills that will impress employers after you graduate, here’s all the finance stuff you need to know to turn your year abroad dreams into a reality.
What’s in this guide?
- What Student Finance can you get on a year abroad?
- Study abroad support for English students
- Study abroad support for Northern Irish students
- Study abroad support for Scottish students
- Study abroad support for Welsh students
- Extra funding for Erasmus+
- Extra funding for the Turing Scheme
- Repaying your study abroad Student Loan
- Other year abroad costs to consider
In a nutshell: if you decide to do a year abroad as part of your degree, you should still be entitled to the same types of funding as you would if you were studying in the UK as normal.
In fact, taking into account travel grants and the additional money offered to those on Erasmus+ or Turing Scheme placements, you may even receive more support than in your years studying at your home university.
In the majority of cases, you won’t pay any tuition fees at your host university abroad. What’s more, you’ll usually pay a reduced amount of tuition fees to your UK university, which will be covered by a Tuition Fee Loan just as normal.
However, if you’re spending less than a full year abroad or you’re on a work placement, the rate you pay may vary.
Where in the UK you’re from, and where your home university is located, will also affect the rate of tuition you pay for your time abroad.
So, read on to discover the guideline amounts and always check with your university or Student Finance body to confirm the details before committing to anything.
Maintenance Loan
While studying abroad, you should still get a Maintenance Loan as you would if you were doing a normal year of study in the UK.
Depending on where in the UK you’re from, you may even be entitled to more than you would be at home. That’s because, despite studying abroad, your Maintenance Loan (and Tuition Fee Loan, for that matter) is still paid by the Student Finance body that you apply to at home.
Again, in addition to where in the UK you’re from, exact entitlements could vary depending on how long you’ll be spending abroad and the type of placement you’ll be doing.
Not to sound too much like a broken record, but as well as reading the information below, we’d urge you to contact your Student Finance body or university to confirm the specifics before deciding whether or not to study abroad.
Travel grant
In addition to a Maintenance Loan and a Tuition Fee Loan, you may also be entitled to a travel grant. As a grant, this money does not have to be repaid, unlike the two loans.
And, despite what the name may imply, travel grants don’t just cover the cost of the transport to and from your study abroad destination. They can also be used to pay for associated costs you’ll incur as a result of studying abroad, which you wouldn’t have encountered had you stayed in the UK.