Arranging your Funding

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 (20 May for Student Finance England) 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 2022)
• 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.

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 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.

Once you have enrolled, you will be directed to upload a passport-style photo which the University will use to produce your NTU Student Card.
If you have a UK address and you do this before 8 September, your Student Card will be posted to the address you have specified.

You should expect to receive your card within 7 to 10 working days, along with instructions on how to activate it. If you have not received your card after 14 days, get in touch with Card Services.

If you do not have a UK address, or you do this after 8 September, your Student Card will be produced when you arrive on campus.

When you get your Student Card you must follow the instructions to activate it.

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.