Arranging your Funding
Before you arrive at NTU it’s important that you make sure your funding is in place. Here we explain how to arrange your student finance and how your student finance payments are released.
Funding arrangements for undergraduate students
This information applies to home undergraduate students who have made a funding application to a UK national Student Finance service.
If you are an international student, you can find information about tuition fees and on how and when to pay your fees on our International pages.
If you haven't yet applied for your student finance, do it as soon as possible.
A guide on applying for student finance can be found on the UK Government's service website.
If you submit your application for student finance after the advertised deadline your funds may not be paid to you by the start of term. You should bring enough money with you to cover your expenses until it arrives.
Links to Student Finance England and other national Student Finance services can be found below:
- Student Finance England
- Student Finance Wales
- Student Finance Northern Ireland
- Student Awards Agency for Scotland
When you apply, you’ll get a customer reference number and you will need to choose a password and secret answer. Keep these safe, as you'll need them if you enquire about your funding, and to access services online.
NTU bursaries
If you are eligible for an NTU bursary, we’ll contact you directly. Visit our bursaries and scholarships page for details.
Don’t assume that no news is good news
It normally takes six to eight weeks from when you apply for your application to be assessed. You can track the progress of your application – and see if there’s anything else you need to do – online. If you’ve not heard anything for eight weeks after you submit your application, chase your Student Finance service to make sure that your application is progressing as it should.
Respond to information requests
You may be asked for evidence to support your application. Copies of information requests should be available to view when you log in to your Student Finance account. Respond to requests as quickly as possible to avoid delays in payment. Remember to include your customer reference number on each piece of evidence. You can submit most types of evidence digitally by logging on to your online account and following the instructions provided. Parents and partners can also do this on their online accounts. For evidence that can’t be uploaded, we recommend that you send evidence via the “Signed For” mail service.
Make sure your application details are correct
When you receive your financial notification from your Student Finance service, check that all the details are correct, including:
- the university you will be attending (especially if NTU wasn’t your first choice when you applied for your student finance)
- the course you will be studying
- the full tuition fee for your course (i.e. £9,250 for those starting an undergraduate / foundation degree at NTU in 2023)
- the tuition fee loan to be paid states £9250 (or the amount you applied for).
If anything is incorrect, contact your Student Finance service as soon as possible
Visit the Student Finance Service website to find out what to do if you need to change your student finance application (for example, your bank or contact details). If your latest financial notification from your national student finance service has a different university name on it, please bring it with you, as we can often resolve issues at enrolment – provided you have your student finance paperwork with you.
NTU bursary
If you are eligible, you should receive a letter confirming NTU bursary payments by the end of November. Contact the Student Financial Support service if you think you are eligible but have not heard anything by then.
Once your Student Finance application has been approved, the University will receive confirmation from the Student Loans Company of any tuition fee loan you are eligible to receive and have applied for.
This information should be received electronically from the Student Loans Company and this means you should not have to present your student finance paperwork to the University unless there are problems.
Complete the first stage of enrolment online before you arrive. Your enrolment needs to show as ‘complete’ in order for your loans or grants to be paid.
You will only be fully enrolled if the University has received confirmation of how your fees are being paid. For most students, this will happen when the SLC confirm your tuition fee loan (see step 3). If you intend to pay fees directly to the University, you will need to make a payment arrangement.
Make sure the name you declare when you enrol matches your student finance paperwork exactly. If not, the university will not be able to automatically match the fee loan confirmation from the SLC to your student record, and your enrolment will stay ‘in progress’.
Without confirmation of how your fees are being paid, your enrolment cannot be completed, and your maintenance loan cannot be released.
Once you have completed your online enrolment you will be advised of your enrolment status. If it is showing as “in progress”, but you know your tuition fee loan has been approved by student finance, you should ring +44 (0)115 848 8707 for advice.
Order your NTU Student Card by uploading a passport-style photo to our portal by Thursday 7 September 2023.
You'll be able to collect your student card in person from your NTU/UPP Hall of Residence or your preferred collection point on campus.
After Thursday 7 September 2023, you will no longer need to upload a photo and you will be able to collect your student card in person at NTU.
Activate your card as soon as you receive it – step 6 on our how to enrol page explains why it's so important to activate your card.
When you get your Student Card you must follow the instructions to activate it.
Once your enrolment is complete and you have activated your Student Card, the University will send confirmation of your registration to the Student Loans Company to trigger the release of your maintenance loan. In addition, they will send confirmation of your attendance and this will release the payment of the tuition fee loan to the University.
The University will not confirm to the Student Loans Company that you are registered at NTU until your enrolment is complete and you have activated your Student Card.
If your national Student Finance service has approved your funding application and you complete all the necessary steps outlined above, you should receive your first loan payment within 3 to 5 days of activating your NTU student Card, provided your course has started. This will be paid into the bank account detailed on your Student Finance application, if you need to make changes to these details please contact your Student Finance Service directly.
However, it could be later if you applied late or if there are any other delays, so make sure you bring enough money to last you for a few weeks.
Seek advice early
If you've had confirmation of your student finance funding, but your enrolment status is still showing as “in progress” by the start of September, email the Student Financial Support team or call us on +44 (0)115 848 8707.
Staff will be available during Welcome to help with funding issues. To avoid problems, we advise that you contact us as soon as possible, we suggest you have copies of letters with you and the login details for your student finance account, so that any issues can be quickly resolved.
Find out more about how to resolve some common issues relating to your student finance and enrolment.
Funding arrangements for postgraduate students
Paying your tuition fees
You can pay your fees in one go, or use our online payment system to pay in instalments. You can do this before you arrive.
If you haven't made payment arrangements before your course starts, your enrolment will remain ‘in progress’ until you make a payment arrangement for tuition fees.
Home students
If you are a home student and have applied for a UK postgraduate loan, it will not be released until you have made a payment arrangement for your tuition fees and your enrolment is showing as complete. are fully enrolled. The loan is paid in three termly instalments. If the course lasts two or more years, the loan is spread over its duration.
The postgraduate loan offers a contribution towards these costs, but will not cover everything, so you will need to look at what additional income you may need and how you can raise it. Our advisers can offer financial planning appointments and look with you at your income and costs, month by month for the duration of your studies.
International students
If you are an international student, you can find more information on your tuition fees – plus advice on how to make your payments – on our International pages.
If you have set up an instalment arrangement prior to enrolment and your card details have changed then please email the Finance Office or call us on +44 (0)115 848 6500 to let us know. The Finance team will be available at enrolment to update your card details.
It is essential to plan your finances before you start your postgraduate studies, to make sure you have enough money to cover both your tuition fees and living costs.
Contacting our Student Financial Support team
If you have any issues relating to your student finance application, email our Student Financial Support team or call us on +44 (0)115 848 2494 with your query.
If you’re studying at the Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies, email student services or call +44 (0)115 952 2075 for financial support.
Bring money with you
Even if everything goes to plan, most students do not receive their first payment until the end of the first week at university. You should bring enough funds to cover your expenses until your first payment. Everyone will have different spending habits, but we recommend you bring at least £200 to cover your expenses.
If you have applied for your funding late, you might experience a delay in receiving your funding. If this is the case, you will need to budget more until the first payment. You will need to consider your essential spending such as groceries and transportation as well as any additional activities you would like to attend. The amount you bring is dependent on how long the delay and your spending habits.
Plan a budget
In most cases you will not get another payment until January, so think about managing your money and planning a budget to make sure you have enough to last you all term. Here are a few suggestions:
- Divide your termly income across the number of weeks it needs to last to give yourself a weekly budget.
- Set up a second bank account and transfer yourself a weekly or monthly amount so you are not in danger of overspending.
- Create a budget plan, detailing how much you will spend on each living cost and track your spending as you go.
Money Ready for NTU workshops
The Student Financial Support team are running virtual "Money Ready for NTU" sessions over summer. These 75 minutes sessions are designed to help you prepare financially for university. During these sessions we will cover:
- The basics of student bank accounts
- Student expenses
- Budgeting and money management
- Help available at NTU.
The session is your opportunity to ask questions about everything to do with Student Finance, budgeting and funding you life as a student - sign-up today to join a session online.
You can also sign up to Blackbullion for free, to help you get confident about managing your finances.
Further information can be found on the NTU StudentHub.
Tips on how to make your money go further
Beware of scam emails
The University and Student Finance will never email you to confirm your login or bank details. If you receive an email asking you to confirm your details, don’t respond or follow the links. If you think the security of your account has been compromised, change your password immediately and forward the email to the security team at phishing@slc.co.uk to ensure your details are not at risk.