Parents - Tuition Fees

For 2000/2001 the maximum tuition fee contribution expected for students is £1,050, but a brief warning, in subsequent years, the actual figure will probably rise in line with inflation. So your typical cost of paying tuition fees will be over £3,000 for a three-year course. You may however, be able to get support from the government towards the tuition fees, and that depends on the following factors:

• The student's income, and the income of his parents, husband or wife. It is estimated that around a third of students whose parental income is taken into account will not have to pay fees. For example, no contribution is required from students whose parents' residual income is below £17,805.
• Whether the course is full-time or part-time.
• Which course is being taken, since for some teaching and medical courses, no tuition fess will be required.
• Whether or not the student is a publicly-funded university or college.
• Whether the student has previously received Government support for a Higher Education Course.
• Whether the student meets residence requirement.

If you don't meet any of these criteria, it's important that you either help your son or daughter get a student loan that they can repay once they've finished their studies, or put aside some of your own money into a special student tuition account that many banks provide these days.

More details are given in the leaflet Financial Support for Higher Education Students in 2000/2001 available on the Department for Education and Employment's website or by calling free on 0800 731 9133.