Funding Your Studies

Residents of Scotland studying on undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in Scotland can apply to the Students Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) for funding.  Undergraduate students would normally have their tuition fees paid but postgraduate students may apply for a student loan from which they can pay their tuition fees, but this would need to be paid back, just like any other student loan.  SAAS also provides access to student loans at undergraduate level and a range of other support, depending on your age and circumstances. 

Residency is defined as follows by SAAS:

• To meet the general residence conditions, you must have been ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for the three years immediately before the first day of the first academic year of the course (the relevant date). For the majority of students who start their course in the autumn term, the relevant date is 1 August.
• You must also be ordinarily resident in Scotland on the relevant date.
• If you are not a UK national, you must also have ‘settled status’ in the UK (as set out in the Immigration Act 1971) on the relevant date. If you have not been living in the UK, you may still qualify depending on your circumstances.
• We will not treat you as being ordinarily resident in Scotland if your main purpose in coming here has been to receive full-time education and that you would have otherwise been living elsewhere.

You can find out more on the SAAS website.

If you are applying to start, or continue, studying in an academic session, make sure that you submit your application for funding before the end of June prior to the new session, if at all possible, so it will be processed for the beginning of your studies.  If you leave it till later, you might find that there is an unwelcome gap in your finances.