BMC - Belfast Metropolitan College

Courses

About Us

Student Support

International Students

Disability Services

Business Services

Further Education

Higher Education

Hardship Fund

Care to Learn

EU Students

Additional Support

Students with Disabilities

Useful Contacts

Tuition Fees

Higher Education Full time

HIGHER EDUCATION Loans and Grant

Full-Time Student

Full-time students applying for a first degree or HND or equivalent should apply for a financial help through Student Finance NI who will carry out the financial assessment. This will decide how much funding is available to you.

You may be eligible to receive the following:

Tuition Fee Loan

From 2010 universities and colleges in the UK will charge for tuition fees of up to £3,290 a year. The Belfast Metropolitan College has set their tuition fees at £2,150 per year for HNDs and Foundation Degrees. The BSc Social Work Degree is £3290.

No matter where you decide to study in the UK, you will not have to pay these fees before or whilst you are studying.

All eligible Northern Ireland students studying full time can get a loan of up to £3,290 a year to meet their course costs. The loan is paid directly to the College on your behalf. This loan does not have to be repaid until you are earning more than £15,000 a year.

If you choose not to take a tuition fee loan you will have to pay for your tuition at the time of enrolment.

Maintenance Grant

This grant is available to students who start their course in September 2010 or later. The amount you get depends on your income and that of your household. This grant does not have to be paid back.

The table below gives a guide to the help you can expect.

Household Income	How Much?
£19,203 or less	Full £3,475 grant
£19,204 — £41,065	Partial grant
Over £41,065	No grant

Student Loan for Maintenance

This is to help with living costs such as food, accommodation, clothes, travel and so on. Eligible students aged under 60 at the start of their course can expect to receive the following amounts depending on their circumstances:

Maximum Student Loans for Maintenance in 2010/2011

Full year rates

Students living away form their parents’ home and studying in London	Up to £6,780
Students living away from their parents’ home and studying elsewhere	Up to £4,840<
Students living at their parents’ home	Up to £3,750

For information on final year students click http://www.studentfinanceni.co.uk

The amounts of these awards vary depending on the level of your household income and if you are an old system student or a new system student.

Click Here to calculate your entitlement

There are other elements of funding from Student Finance NI available to you depending on your circumstances, such as Students with Adult dependants and/or children. Click here to view our Additional Support section

For further information on all support available from Student Finance NI please check out their website: http://www.studentfinanceni.co.uk or contact your local Education library board. See our Useful Contacts section

Higher Education Bursaries for Full-Time Higher Education Students for 2010/2011

The Belfast Metropolitan College is offering a bursary of £329 per year to students on our Full-Time Higher Education programmes. This is a means tested award with additional criteria for attendance and coursework submission.

To be eligible for this;

enrolled on a Belfast Metropolitan College full-time HE programme and paying the variable tuition fee
UK residents
from households where the residual household income, as assessed by their Local Education Authority (Education and Library Board in Northern Ireland), is below £55,000.

Please note: to be in a position to meet criteria 3 above, students must:

have applied to their ELB for support and be eligible to be financially assessed. (Students must then be means tested if eligible to be financially assessed)
have not opted out of consenting to share their financial information with a third party. Please see page 22 for student declaration and page 28 for sponsor/s declaration in the PN1 application form for student finance 2010/2011
have informed the ELB if the Belfast Metropolitan College course they are now enrolled on is not the course they stated on their ELB support application.
There are other factors that may affect your eligibility for the HE Bursary. Please contact the BMC Student Finance Office on 028 9026 5172 for further information.

Criteria for Payment
A student will demonstrate:

attendance at timetabled classes of not less than 80%
be in good academic standing and made satisfactory academic progress as decided by your course team.

If you have opted out of giving consent to share your financial information, you can change this by contacting Studentfinanceni on 0845 600 0662.

The HE Bursary will only paid for the current academic year you are studying in and cannot be paid retrospectively for past years. For further information on the bursaries or other help which may be available to you contact the Support Fund Office 028 9026 5172

For further information on the bursaries or other help which may be available to you contact the Support Fund Office 028 9026 5172

For Finance Enquiries

Contact Eileen Rice on 028 9026 5172

or

Gerard Martin on 028 9026 5183