Open university degree funding

WinnieW

Hi everyone.
My son has recently decided that he doesn't want to go to university after all. Instead he wants to do a degree with the open university, living at home and working part-time to help support himself.
Would he still be eligible for a student loan to cover the tuition fees? And does he apply for student finance in the same way that he did when he was considering going away to uni?
Are there any pitfalls in this plan that I ought to be aware of?
I hope someone out there has some answers for me!

Thanks for reading,
Confused Mother

Indie_Kid

He'll be entitled to a student loan to cover fees and he applies in the same way he'd apply if he was going to a brick uni.

There's no maintenance loan for living costs.

jadorevintage

WinnieW wrote: »

Hi everyone.
My son has recently decided that he doesn't want to go to university after all. Instead he wants to do a degree with the open university, living at home and working part-time to help support himself.
Would he still be eligible for a student loan to cover the tuition fees? And does he apply for student finance in the same way that he did when he was considering going away to uni?
Are there any pitfalls in this plan that I ought to be aware of?
I hope someone out there has some answers for me!

Thanks for reading,
Confused Mother

"Student loan

Student loans (also known as Tuition Fee Loans) are the most popular way to pay for study – over 60% of our new students in England are paying this way.

The Government pays your fees, which you pay back later in affordable monthly instalments, and only when you’re earning over the income threshold, currently £21,000.

Nothing to pay upfront.
For undergraduate qualifications that are at a higher level than any you already hold.
Available for part-time study, even if you have a job.
You won’t be asked to start repaying your loan until the April four years after the start of your qualification or the April after you leave, whichever comes first, but April 2016 is the earliest your repayments could begin.
Repayments are linked to your income to ensure they’re affordable – for example, if you earn £25,000 you’ll pay just £30 a month."

- http://www.open.ac.uk/courses/fees-and-funding

More info and an application link here: https://www.gov.uk/student-finance

I think (could be wrong) that your son may also be entitled to financial support from the OU - when I was eligible a couple of years ago it was a non-repayable course grant (up to £255 a year iirc) and then another grant depending on your earnings. I think it was available to people earning less than £30k per year. Not sure what the current offerings are. An eligibility checker is here: http://css2.open.ac.uk/fafcalculator/eligibility.aspx

Indie_Kid

There's no course grant now. It's just the tuition fee loan from student finance / government.