Students from United Kingdom Overseas Territories will be eligible for tuition loans from the 2022/23 school year.
Note: Student Finance is only available for undergraduate and masters courses (from Level 4). It is not available for students doing A levels/ Level 2 or 3 courses at colleges. If you need help financially for students attending colleges, please ask the institution. There are grants that they may get access to.
Students from Montserrat and other British OTs already qualify to receive home fees if they can prove they have been living in the UK for three years or more.
Now, even if you are coming straight from your home nation, you can access these higher education tuition and maintenance loans, and defer repayment until after you graduate.
To be eligible for tuition fee loans in England, they will need to “have settled status on arrival in the UK”, “come to the UK from specified British overseas territories of which Montserrat is one and be starting full-time and part-time undergraduate courses in the academic year 2022 to 2023.
For the 2022 to 2023 academic year, students who are starting a postgraduate master’s degree or doctoral degree will qualify for postgraduate loans. Students who are starting further education courses in 2022 will qualify for advanced learner loans.
At present, full-time students who qualify for UK tuition loans receive up to £9,250 and £11,100 for accelerated degree courses. Based on their household income, they may also qualify for a maintenance loan to cover living expenses. Students who receive tuition and maintenance loans also qualify for a free laptop to support their studies.
This new option means that a student ordinarily resident in Montserrat or another eligible OT up to three years prior to moving to the UK for school will qualify as meeting the residency requirements.
The eligible islands and British OTs are: Anguilla, Bermuda, British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, Montserrat, St. Helena and Dependencies, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, and Turks and Caicos Islands.
NOTE: This is not FREE money. You will be signing a contract agreeing to pay it back at the end of your course. Act accordingly.
Click here to go to UK Student Finance.
Source: https://discovermni.com/2021/11/12/uk-government-makes-a-game-changing-decision-for-ot-students/
Source: Student finance: New full-time students – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)