Student finance can be complicated but
universities can help, and they employ staff to
guide you and your family through it, to ensure
that student loans are accessed correctly and
on time.
Although student loans and grants through the
Student Loan Company are the main source
of funding for most students, there are other
funding sources like bursaries and scholarships
which are important for you to know about as
well.
Bursaries and scholarships are two terms you
may have seen when researching universities.
Although the two can sometimes be confused,
bursaries tend to relate to a student’s status
and a scholarship tends to relate to academic
achievement.
Scholarships are usually grants paid to students
who do very well academically or in other areas.
This could be a grant paid if you receive three
A grades at A Level for example, or if you are a
talented musician or sportsperson.
Bursaries tend to be about financial need.
They can be used to help if you are financially
disadvantaged and they encourage applications
from groups that might be less likely to attend
university. Examples of bursary recipients might
be students from lower income households,
students who have been in the care system or
the children of armed forces veterans.
The difficulty with both bursaries and
scholarships is that they are individual to a
university. If you are trying to choose between
a few institutions, it is important that you
research the scholarships and bursaries
available from each of them, to make sure you
have the full picture.
Most students will want to prioritise the course
and the university when making decisions, but
bursaries and scholarships can sometimes
make the difference between two similar offers
and, if not, they can certainly be a very welcome
extra to help make life a little easier when you
start your course.
When you are dealing with anything financial, be it loans, banking or bursaries, it is important to be aware of scams. If you are unsure about an email or a text, don’t click on links within them, or offer any personal details if you do. If in doubt, contact a university through the official channels and check what you’ve been sent is genuine.
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