Higher Education Fees and Finance

Tuition Fees

Tuition fees represent the cost of your education and vary depending on the university or college you choose and the course you undertake. At UCEN Manchester the largest portion of tuition fees goes towards covering the cost of teaching. This includes paying faculty salaries, providing teaching materials, maintaining classrooms, labs, and other learning spaces.

Another significant portion is allocated to support services, such as study skills support, counselling, career services and library resources. These services are crucial for ensuring students have the necessary support and resources to succeed academically and personally.

As a student, you will be responsible for paying these fees, either upfront or through a tuition fee loan. You can download UCEN Manchester’s Tuition Fees here: HE Tuition Fee Policy

Tuition Fee Loans 

To help with the cost of tuition fees, eligible students can apply for a Tuition Fee Loan from the government. The amount of the loan will cover the full cost of your tuition fees at UCEN Manchester, which means you won't need to pay the fees upfront. Repayments will begin once you start earning above a certain income threshold after completing your studies.  You should apply directly to Student Finance England here:  Student Finance England

Employer Payment of Tuition Fee

If your employer has agreed to pay your Tuition Fees, they will be invoiced for 100% of all fees no later than 30 days following the date of enrolment (immediate payment terms).  Learners must provide a signed letter on headed paper or a purchase order from their employer confirming support is available at enrolment before they are permitted to enrol via this method.

Self-Payment of Tuition Fee:

If you are not eligible for government or employer financial support, you will have to pay in full at the time of enrolment by cash, debit/credit card or cheque. An alternative payment method is available, as detailed in 5.3.1 of the HE Tuition Fees Policy, however, final payments have to be made before the last day of the course or the end of May for academic year courses.

Maintenance Loans 

To support your living expenses while studying, you can apply for a Maintenance Loan. The amount you receive depends on various factors, such as your household income and whether you'll be living at home or away from home during your studies. This loan is designed to assist with accommodation, food, transportation, course costs, and other day-to-day expenses. Maintenance loans, maintenance & support grants 

Childcare Grant 

If you are a full time student and have children under the age of 15 or 17 if they have special educational needs, you may be eligible for a Childcare Grant which you do not need to pay back.  Your child has to be looked after by an Ofsted registered provider.  Student Finance England will only cover 85% of your childcare costs each week, so you will have to pay some yourself.  They will also only pay 85% of your costs up to a certain maximum amount.  For 2024/25, the 85% maximum of what they will pay is:

£188.90 a week for 1 child

£323.85 a week for 2 or more children

Student Finance England will also look at your household income. If it is higher than a certain amount, you may get less Childcare Grant. This would normally be if you have a partner who is working.  Student Finance England will tell you at the start of the year how much they think you are entitled to. Childcare Grant: Overview

Parents Learning Allowance 

The Parents Learning Allowance is available to students with children.  This grant is provided by Student Finance England and does not need to be paid back.  Depending on your circumstances, you will receive between £50 - £1,915 for the 2024/25 academic year. You can make your application for the Parents Learning Allowance when you apply for student finance. Parents' Learning Allowance: Overview

Adult Dependants 

If you’re a full-time student in higher education and an adult depends on you financially, you can apply for an Adult Dependants’ Grant of up to £3,354 for the 2024 to 2025 academic year. The amount you receive depends on: your income, the adult dependant’s income, your personal circumstances, for example if you’re married or have children and what other grants you’re receiving, for example Childcare Grant.  You apply directly when you apply for student finance. Adult Dependants' Grant: Overview

Disabled Students' Allowance (DSA): 

Students with a disability, long-term health condition, mental health condition, or specific learning difficulty may be eligible for additional financial support through the Disabled Students' Allowance. This funding aims to provide extra resources and assistance to ensure that disabled students have an equal opportunity to succeed in their studies. Help if you're a student with a learning difficulty, health problem or disability: Disabled Students' Allowance 

UCEN Manchester Bursary:

As a student with a disability, you may be entitled to an additional £300 to pay toward additional assessment or equipment not covered by your Disabled Student Allowance. Speak to the Future U team on your campus to apply.

UCEN Manchester Bursary 

We understand that there may be times during your studies when you would benefit from additional financial support. The UCEN Manchester Bursary provides up to £1550 depending on individual circumstances.  Eligibility will be assessed by a member of the Future U Student Support Team.  Any monies awarded will not need to be repaid. Speak to the Future U team on campus for support to apply.

In line with the OfS Equality of Risk Register, Risk 10: Cost pressures - Office for Students, UCEN Manchester have identified the following groups who are most likely to be in need of additional financial support from us during the course of their studies:

• Care Experienced 
• Claiming benefits in the last six months
• Have young children and still receiving benefits
• First in family to attend university
• Disabled
• Young Carer
• Identify as LGBT+
• Muslim
• Estranged from parents
• Progressed from UCEN Manchester or The Manchester College Level 3 courses in previous academic year.

Before your assessment for the bursary, you will need to bring with you 2 months of banking statements along with your SFE letter.

Download application form

There is lots of extra information and advice available to help you understand student finance. You can always get in touch with us, or take a look at some of the tools below.

Student Finance Explained - watch this video to find out if you're eligible, how much you can claim and how to apply in this quick guide to student finance.

Student Finance Calculator – find out how much funding you could get.

The Student Room – get impartial advice, helpful tools and quick handy guides on all issues relating to student finance.

Student Finance England – watch these handy films on student finance, and get information on deadlines, useful tips and FAQs from Facebook and Twitter.

Repayment information – learn more about loan repayments, interest and how to repay from overseas.

Fighting UK Poverty - Turn2us – can help students in financial need gain access to welfare benefits, charitable grants, and other financial help – online, by phone and face to face through partner organisations.

You can also book an appointment:

Book an appointment at Openshaw Campus

Book and appointment at City Campus Manchester

Help with Council tax if you are not exempt:
Contact your local council and ask if you might be eligible for council tax benefit.

• Manchester City Council
• Salford City Council
• Oldham Council

For any other local council just search “Council tax help (council name)” 

If you are experiencing financial hardship there is help out there and this information sheet will detail the help that may be available to you. As part of our Confident Futures offer from Future U we want students to be prepared to deal with the issues and difficulties life can throw at us starting now that will benefit and assist you after your time with us.  Here’s our guide of useful resources to help you find help. 
 

Useful contacts

You can get help, financial advice and debt support from the resources below. just click the link or copy and paste into your browser.

Benefit eligibility and money advice  

• Citizens Advice
• Turn2Us

Help with energy bills
Contact your energy provider to see what help they can offer. Most if not all will help if you are in severe financial distress. 
United Utilities (Water) and British Gas (Gas and Electric) have a number of schemes to help: Bounce Back Checklist - British Gas Energy Trust
If you have a broken boiler or other major appliance failure then speak to your energy provider and local authority, they may be able to help. 

Debt Support 
If you have mounting debts and are unable to cope with them, if you have bailiffs knocking at your door then there is help available. 
There are a number of charities who will work with you and negotiate on your behalf with people you owe money to to arrange an affordable re payment plan. You will pay the organisation a single amount of money each month and they will then distribute this to all those you owe money to. This stops your creditors harassing you and can stop bailiff action but you must abide by the plan set up for you. The service is free, 

• StepChange Debt Charity - Free Expert Debt Advice
• Debt Advice Foundation

Struggling to buy food?

• Use Too Good To Go (available in the app stores for Apple and Android)  - this is an app where you can get discounted groceries and hot food. You typically receive around £10 worth of goods for around £3. 
• Consider Food Banks: There are usually no criteria you need to meet to use food banks – they are open to everyone whether you are a student, claiming benefits or working. Using them you will be treated with dignity and respect and will not be judged.  Most operate on a voucher system and you will need to obtain a voucher from a referring organisation.  Citizens Advice in Manchester can do this. Contact them on 0808 278 7800.

Get help or advice as soon as you start to struggle and don’t ignore things. 
There is financial hardship help from UCEN Manchester but this is a limited amount we have and it must be used as a last resort and used to help the students who are in real distress. Moving forward we may ask if you have explored and/or accessed the services detailed on this fact sheet and refer you back to them if you haven’t before considering a hardship claim. 

Laptops and Tech
We appreciate that occasionally things happen and laptops break etc. but we do offer laptops to borrow and you can buy cheap re-furbished and guaranteed laptops from sites such as:

• Laptops Direct
• Student Computers

Uniforms
You will have known at the start of the course (and before) that you may need to buy extra items of equipment and/or clothing so should have budgeted for this. We would ask that you only apply for hardship for uniforms if you are suffering severe financial distress. We will never refuse to provide a hardship claim form and will consider all claims but there is no guarantee of a successful claim. 
Need help with clothes and tips for an interview?
Smartworks Greater Manchester can help with interview tips and clothing for women aged 16 and over who are unemployed or on zero hours contracts.  Please speak to the Future U team

Need to prove your ID?
Students can sign up to the citizen card website to get a free citizen ID which can be used to vote and as a regular ID to get into clubs/events etc. 
All they need to do is create an account and use the code ‘NUS’ at checkout. With voting requiring photo ID this might be very useful if students can get it for free. It’s funded by the NUS which is why it’s free. 

Money and your Mental Health

• Mental health and money advice
• Family Action, Building stronger families 

Student specific resources:  

• Save the student
• Student Space
• The Scholarship Hub