Money: undergraduate students

Tuition fees

You are responsible for paying a tuition fee for your study at St George’s.

For UK students on HEFCE-funded programmes, there is a comprehensive programme of grants and loans available from the Student Loans Company www.slc.co.uk (SLC), Local Authorities and St George’s itself.

UK students on NHS-funded programmes also have access to a range of bursaries and loans.

Embarking on an undergraduate degree course involves careful financial planning. Your course could be anything between three and six years duration and you will need to take into account a variety of factors when planning to cover your study and living costs. The following information is based on current fee levels, which are liable to change without notice. The information is provided as guidance, and does not form part of any contract.

Tuition fees
The tuition fee includes registration, tuition, examination and graduation charges and is payable in respect of each year of the degree programme. 2007/08 undergraduate tuition fees.

Certain other fees are payable on re-entry to examinations by students not enrolled.

Who pays the tuition fees?
All international and all postgraduate students are personally liable for their fees. Home and EU undergraduate students may be eligible for assistance with fees. 

If you are applying for: either of the MBBS courses, Foundation for Medicine, BSc Biomedical Science or BSc Biomedical Informatics programmes, you should apply to your Local Authority (LA) for assessment for an award.

MBBS5 (Five year school leaver/mature stream) (Home/EU) students Your fees for year five (and six if you decide to undertake an Intercalated BSc) may be paid by the Department of Health (DH) as part of a DH bursary. This course is not open to graduates.

Four-year MBBS4 stream (Home students/EU) Similar DH assistance is provided — you may have your fees paid for the second, third and fourth years of your course.

Intercalated BSc (Home/EU students) You should also apply to your LA for a Student Loans Company award for the Intercalated BSc year.

NHS programmes under the new regime The NHS will continue to provide means-tested bursaries and pay tuition fees. This applies if you are embarking on BSc programmes in Physiotherapy and Radiography (Diagnostic and Therapeutic), and also Nursing and Midwifery (which are taught at Kingston University).

Healthcare Practice Diploma If you are on this course you may be funded by your employer.

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Grants, loans, bursaries (UK, HEFCE-funded programmes)

These arrangements apply to UK students on the MBBS4 and MBBS5 programmes, the BSc degrees in Biomedical Science, Biomedical Informatics, the Intercalated BSc degree, some Foundation Degree programmes and the Foundation for Medicine Programme.

Maintenance Grants [Note 1]
A non-repayable State Maintenance Grant of up to £2,765 for 2007/08 per year is available. This grant is means-tested: if your household income is less than £17,910 per year, you are likely to be eligible for a full grant. If your household income is between £19,911 and £38,330 per year, you are likely to be eligible for a lower level of grant. Grants will be paid in three instalments, at the beginning of each term. If you get the Maintenance Grant, up to £1,230 of it is paid instead of the student loan for maintenance and you cannot also receive the special support grant.

Tuition fee loans
The Student Loans Company may cover the exact cost of your tuition fees — this will be paid directly to the University. This loan is not means tested.

Loans for living costs (maintenance)
The Student Loans Company may also lend you money to cover the costs of living whilst at university. Any eligible student can have a loan for 75% of the maximum available. The additional 25% is means-tested, using the same mechanism for grants.

The maximum student loan for maintenance in 2007/2008 is as follows:

Source: www.aimhigher.ac.uk	Living at home	Living away from home (in London)
Maximum student loan for maintenance	£3,495	£6,315
75% not income assessed	£2,620	£4,735
25% income assessed	£875	£1,580

Please note that you must apply to your LA for a loan and for help with tuition fees before you start the course.

Applications to LAs should be made as soon as possible after January to guarantee the payment of the first loan instalment by the beginning of the first term.

Student Loan [Note 1]
The amount of student loan you can take out depends on your family income and whether or not you receive the Grant. If you receive the Grant it replaces part of the student loan. You must be aged 60 or below to be able to take out the student loan. Students from families with an income below £37,425 will qualify for the maximum student loan. If your family's income is above this then the amount of loan is reduced.

Medical students who have already studied at higher education level will be able to apply for a maintenance loan.

There are three different rates of student loan. St George’s is a London rate university. If you are going to live with your parents whilst studying you qualify for the lower parental home rate of loan.
The loans are usually paid in three instalments, one at the start of each term.

St George’s Bursaries
St George’s, University of London, also offers bursaries to help eligible students who may be in financial difficulties. If you receive a grant as described above, you’ll be eligible for a bursary from St George’s. The amount you’ll be eligible for is shown in the table below.

The Student Loans Company (SLC) is administering the bursary process on behalf of St George’s, so the information you provide to the SLC will also be used to work out whether you will get a St George’s bursary. You do not have to repay a St George’s bursary.

Amount of state grant you receive	St George’s bursary, per year
Maximum grant	£1,230
Between 3/4 and the maximum grant	£820
Between 1/2 and 3/4 of the maximum grant	£515
Between 1/4 and 1/2 of the maximum grant	£255
Between £0 and 1/4 of the maximum grant	£155

NHS Bursaries — see above

Repaying loans
For the loans you may take out — tuition fee loans and loans for living costs — repayment starts after you start earning. The amount you repay depends upon your income. Loans have an interest rate which is linked to inflation: this means that what you repay will be the same, in spending terms, as what you borrowed.

If you are out of work, or are earning less than £15,000 per year, you do not have to repay until your circumstances have changed. Any loans that are not repaid after 25 years will be written off. There will also be a 5 year 'loan holiday'.

Repayment example If you earn £20,000 per year, each year you will pay £450 off your total loan. This works out as £37.50 a month, or £8.65 a week. Different repayment arrangements apply if you are self-employed or work overseas.

Applying for grants and loans
Details will be available from your Local Authority. You can also get good advice from the AimHigher website — www.aimhigher.ac.uk — which provides details on many aspects of studying at university in the UK.

Note for Graduates
Tuition fee loans and living cost loans may not be available for some or all of your study if you have already completed a first degree in the UK. You should check your eligibility with the Student Loans Company.

Prizes
St George’s offers numerous prizes for students undertaking the MBBS degree programme. Most are awarded throughout the course, normally on examination performance. There are also a number of Prize examinations held during the year, for which all MBBS students are eligible to enter.

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Living costs

Depending on the lifestyle you lead, living in London for the year including Christmas and Easter holidays will cost you at least £7,500 to which you should add £1,500 for each dependant.

One of the advantages of being in London is that you have plenty of opportunities to supplement your income by working during holidays. Casual work is available in the many bars, cafés and shops, and if you have keyboard skills, there are a wide variety of temporary jobs you could apply for. However, you should note that if you are undertaking the MBBS, your holiday entitlement reduces significantly during the final three years of the course.

Saving money

Check the best ticket prices so you don't pay too much. Use Oystercards wherever possible to save on buses, tube and trams. Oystercard: Oystercard is the electronic card which you charge up with money to pay for travel on the tube, buses, DLR and trams in London. You can store your Travelcard/Bus Pass or cash on a pay as you go basis. Using your Oystercard is always cheaper than buying paper tickets. See Transport for London website www.tfl.gov.uk or Registry for information about Oystercard and student travel in London. NUS Extra card www.nusonline.co.uk/cards Extra gives you access to tonnes of great discounts, both online and in-store, right across the UK and — now featuring the ISIC card — beyond! Discounts include: fashion, travel, competitions, entertainment, computer, phone and technology, sport, health and leisure, ethical shopping and more. Software As a student you can buy software at special educational rates (though the software you need for your course will be on St George’s computers for you). See www.studentoptions.com plus we also have links with Pugh Computers to obtain Microsoft software www.pugh.co.uk

Sample budget

Check our sample budget to see how much you might spend.

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