How to apply for a student loan online

Applying for student finance online can often be confusing and stressful, adding to the list of worries associated with leaving school and moving on the higher education. In this age of technology, there is no need for mountains of papers, instead, applying for your student finance can be done quickly and easily with just a few clicks of your mouse. Read this article to know more.

Student finance

The cost of university tuition fees, which is the amount that you are charged each year for your course, will vary from each institution as will the maintenance or living costs that will differ depending on where you live and study. For both tuition and living costs involved in undertaking a higher education course, there are loans and even non-repayable grants available for full-time and part-time students to help with their study.

Applying for funding

To get started with applying for student loans for finance online, visit Directgov.co.uk to register your details, such as name, date of birth and national insurance number and set up a student finance account. The next step is to log into your account and complete the online application form. The form consists of questions regarding nationality, family and household income. Once the form is completed, the next requirement is to send an evidence of identity and household income to the loan company in either hard copy through the post or uploaded to the website. Once these documents have been received by the loan company, you will be sent a loan declaration that must be signed and returned to the given address. The deadline for applying for student finance is usually a few months prior to the university or college course beginning. For the academic year 2011/2012, the deadline for applying for the funding was on May 31st. If there have been no complications in the application and if it was sent within the specified time frame, full-time students should receive their loans and grant shortly before their course begins. The loan or grant will be paid into the student’s bank account, except for the tuition fee loans which are paid directly to the university or college.

Students living in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

Students living in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, studying anywhere in the UK will have their application dealt with by the authorities in their own regions. For those living in Wales, visit Studentfinancewales.co.uk where students can follow the links to apply for a loan online. The process follows the same steps although the deadline date for completing the forms is usually slightly earlier in the year. The website for Northern Ireland is Studentfinanceni.co.uk, and for Scotland is Student-support-saas.gov.uk, where the application process follows the same basic steps.