post graduate loans administration and policy · •overview of ay16/17 sfe policy and ay17/18...

Post Graduate Loans Administration and Policy

• Overview of AY16/17 SFE policy and AY17/18 policy changes

• Operational changes for AY17/18 SFE policy

• Introduction of Postgraduate Loans for Wales AY17/18

• Introduction of Postgraduate Tuition Fee Loans for Northern Ireland AY17/18

• Cross domicile guidance

Workshop format

SFE AY17/18 Policy changes

16/17 Masters Rules

17/18 Masters Rules

Maximum Loan £10,000

Maximum Loan £TBC


16/17 Masters Rules

17/18 Masters Rules

Students who are imprisoned in the UK are not eligible

for PGL master’s

Prisoners now eligible;

New students

Starts the designated course on or after 1 August

2017

Serving a sentence of imprisonment in the UK

(including in a young offender institution or

psychiatric unit)

Have been authorised by the prison Governor or

Director or other appropriate authority to study

the designated course

Earliest release date is within 4 years of the first day of the first AY of the designated course

Paid the tuition fee charged if less than £10,280 Paid to HEP Paper applications only


16/17 Masters Rules

17/18 Masters Rules

PGL is available for courses provided by UK HE

Providers that are either;

Authority funded (with or without degree awarding powers)

Alternative providers with degree awarding powers

PGL is now available for courses provided by UK HE

Providers that are Alternative Providers without Degree

Awarding Powers (APs without DAPs);

New Students Students transferring to an APs without DAPs

from an eligible 16/17 provider


16/17 Masters Rules

17/18 Masters Rules

Students who start an eligible PT course that lasts three

or four AYs in AY 16/17 are treated for payment purposes

as per students who are undertaking a two year course

Time limit for application is nine months from the first day of the second AY of the course

Maximum loan per AY is up to £5,000 in the first AY of the course

Confirmation of study is not required from the HE Provider in the third or fourth AYs of the course

Change of loan request amount deadline is nine months from the first day of the second AY of the course, where the course lasts two or more years

Course end date is the last day of the second AY where the course lasts two years or more

PT courses studied over three or four AYs will enter repayment status on 6 April following the second academic year of the course

PT courses of three or four AY duration are to be fully

integrated into PGL policy rules

New Students Time limit for application is nine months from the

first day of the FINAL AY of the course Loan is scheduled across all years Confirmation of study IS required from the HE

Provider in all years Change of loan request amount deadline is nine

months from the first day of the FINAL AY of the course

Course end date is the last day of the FINAL AY PT courses studied over three or four AYs will enter

repayment status on 6 April following the FINAL academic year of the course


16/17 Masters Rules

17/18 Masters Rules

PG funding from England and other jurisdictions not

taken into account when assessing PG Masters eligibility

TBC


16/17 Masters Rules

17/18 Masters Rules

Student’s must be in the UK on the first day of the first

AY of the course

Service Personnel serving overseas, and their family

members living with them, can access support if they

are not in the UK on the first day of the first AY of the

course;

New Students Continuing 16/17 Students who’s courses continue

into the 17/18 AY Must be studying distance learning Must be a serving member of the regular armed

forces or their family member Family members are defined as a spouse or civil

partner or a dependent parent

• New questions being added to the start of the application to ensure

• Applicants course did not start prior to Sept 2016

• Students apply using the correct policy (cohort)

• Healthcare or Social Work bursary students are not double funded by PGL Masters and the

healthcare or social work bursary

• Time limits for loan application and change of loan request amount will be 9 months after the start

date of the final AY of the course

Changes to Student Application

Registration confirmation

• As payments of PT PGL for the new 17/18 cohort will now be made in instalments across the total

duration of the course (up to four years) HEPs will be required to confirm registration at the start of

every year of the course

• There will be no registration confirmation for eligible prisoners as PGL will be paid directly to HEP

(manual process to be clarified)

Changes within the Student Information Service

Year 2 Applications

• PGL is an ‘apply once’ product so

• SFE won’t receive applications for subsequent years from the student

• System logic allows a student's subsequent year applications to be automatically created

provided existing application is ‘approved’ or ‘suspended’ workstage

Examples:

1. Year 1 approved application, continues into Year 2 –

• Year 2 application automatically appears in SIS as ‘approved’

2. Year 1 application is suspended and is still suspended at the end of the AY –

• Year 2 application automatically appears in SIS as ‘suspended’

Changes within the Student Information Service Changes within the Student Information Service Changes within the Student Information Service

Change of Circumstances

• If a change is required, it should be applied to the academic year the change came into effect which then

automatically amends any active subsequent years

Examples:

1. Both Year 1 & Year 2 are approved then student transfers/suspends in Year 2 –

• CoC should be raised for Year 2

2. Year 1 & Year 2 are approved , student should have been transferred/suspended in Year 1

• CoC should be raised for Year 1 and this will automatically carry over to Year 2

3. During Year 1 student is withdrawn so this application will not roll-over

• Year 2 application will not be appear in SIS (until a resumption has been applied)

Changes within the Student Information Service

Overview

• Available from AY 2017/18

• Non-means tested

• Taught and research Master’s; any subject

• Maximum £10,280

• Income Contingent Repayment (ICR)

• Repaid concurrently with other student loans

• Contribution to costs; paid to student

SFW Postgraduate Loan

Application

• Paper and online application

• 1 application per course

• Time limits for application and change of loan request amount will be 9 months

after the start date of the final AY of the course

Eligibility

• Residency – as per Welsh undergraduate student support regulations

• EU students are also eligible

• Three years address history required

• Aged under 60 before 1st day of 1st academic year

• Armed Forces Personnel


Ineligible Applications

• Doesn’t meet residency criteria

• Doesn’t meet previous study criteria

• Ineligible course or provider

• Outstanding arrears

• ‘Unfit’ for student support

• Applies too late


Previous Study and Funding

• No PGL available to those with an equivalent or higher level qualification

• Previous study (no qualification gained) is not taken into account

• No repeat PGL funding unless student has a compelling personal reasons (CPR)

• Student may receive another PGL once for CPR; assessed on case by case basis

– reasons include ill health and bereavement

• Funding from other jurisdictions taken into account


Eligible Courses

• Stand alone Master’s courses (taught and research, inc. professional)

Eligible Providers

• Publicly funded HE Providers in UK; and

• Alternative providers with specific designation

Eligible Study modes

• In attendance

• Distance learning

• Full-time courses 1 or 2 years

• Part-time courses 2 – 4 years (50% minimum average)

• Part-time courses up to 3 years with no full-time equivalent


Payments

• One confirmation of study required per AY

• Payments split 33% - 33% - 34%

• Payments to be spread over all AYs of the course (including 3 & 4 year courses)

• Plan 3 repayments


Repayments

• Repayments due from April 2019

• UK threshold £21,000

• Overseas thresholds based on Price Level Indices

• Thresholds frozen until April 2021

• 6% of income deducted over threshold

• Voluntary repayments at any time (without penalty)

• RPI + 3% interest rate while the borrower is:

• in course

• out of course (whether making repayments or not)

• Balance written off:

• 30 years after repayments due

• Borrower dies

• Borrower permanently disabled and cannot work due to disability


• All relevant providers to enter both full and part time Postgraduate course details on CMS from

March 2017

• Full and part time Postgraduate course entry format is the same

• Existing SFE PG courses will be rolled forward to AY 17/18 course list and automatically defaulted to be designated for both English and Welsh domiciled students to prevent the need to replicate course catalogue

• PGL service anticipated to go live Summer 2017

CMS Course Collection

• CMS has been developed to ensure Postgraduate courses can be identified when a student applies

on-line

• The Copy Course functionality has been switched back on in CMS to assist with course data entry

• CMS Export includes Funding Level to enable providers to distinguish between Postgraduate and

Undergraduate courses

• Search facility extended to include Postgraduate & Undergraduate courses



Domicile Designation

• All existing Postgraduate courses in CMS for AY 16/17 will be automatically rolled forward to AY

17/18 with domicile designation defaulted to England & Wales

• No requirement for providers to create Welsh and English versions of the same PG courses

• Providers can de-select either England or Wales before saving the course

• Locations function works exactly the same as undergraduate

Postgraduate

Students available to view from launch

in Summer 2017

Search Filters on View Student

Information and Registration Worklist

screens

- Funding Level

- Qualifications

No Manual Registration for Postgraduate

students

Streamlined Postgraduate CoC

screens and enhanced validation

Extended Student Information File export –field for “Funding Level”

System changes for Postgraduate Students in SIS

• Student visible on Registration Worklist

30 days prior to the Start Date of course

• One registration confirmation required to

release all three payments

• New filters allow you to search

Registration Worklist for Funding Level

& Qualification

• Registration worklist results will also

provide Course Start Date information Course Start Date

Registration

Overview


• Non-income assessed

• Eligible postgraduate courses

• Maximum £5,500 of fee support for the course

• Income Contingent Repayment (ICR)

• Paid to HEP

SFNI Postgraduate TFL

Application

• Paper and online applications available

• Separate application every AY

• Time limit for application: 9 months from 1st day of the AY

• Time limit to increase loan amount: 1 month before end of AY

• Students cannot reduce the loan to less than has already been paid

• Late entrants can apply but are not entitled to any PG TFL payment for terms in

which they were not in attendance / undertaking the course


Eligibility

• Students will not be eligible for PG TFL and funding for an undergraduate HE

course concurrently

• A student can have both undergraduate HE funding and a PG TFL in the same AY

as long as it is not at the same time

• No age limit

• Students in receipt of an NHS bursary can get PG support

• Students may become eligible after an “event”


Residency

• PG TFL residency requirements will be the same as undergraduate products:

• NI domiciled students with ‘settled status’ in the UK

• Ordinarily resident in the UK & Islands for 3 years prior to the 1st AY

• Ordinarily resident in NI immediately prior to the 1st AY

• EU Students

• Ordinarily resident in the EEA/Switzerland for 3 years prior to the 1st AY

• Undertaking the course in NI

• Students who do not meet these requirements may be eligible under another

regulatory category


Ineligible Applications

• Doesn’t meet residency criteria

• Doesn’t meet previous funding criteria

• Ineligible course or provider

• Outstanding arrears

• ‘Unfit’ for student support

• Applies too late

• Prisoner in custody


Previous Study and Funding

• PG TFL is available only once, for one level 7 course

• Previous study is not taken into account;

• Previous study at any level does not affect PG TFL entitlement

• Previous level 7 study can be accredited to a new course

• Previous funding for a level 7 course does affect PG TFL entitlement.

• This applies whether or not the student;

• Accessed the maximum amount of PG TFL for the previous course

• Gained a qualification for the course that they received PG TFL for

• Is now undertaking a different Level 7 qualification from the start of the new

course

• Is now undertaking the extra credits/modules required to convert an existing

PG qualification to another Level 7 qualification


Course Eligibility

• PG TFL will be available for eligible postgraduate courses provided by;

• UK HEPs (NI domiciled students)

• NI HEPs (EU students)

• Courses at authority funded providers (with or without degree awarding powers)

are eligible

• Courses at alternative providers (with or without degree awarding powers) are not

eligible

• Qualifications must be awarded by a UK HEP with at least 50% of study in UK


Course Eligibility

• Eligible courses (Level 7 on the QAA Framework);

• Postgraduate Master’s courses;

• Postgraduate Diplomas;

• Postgraduate Certificates

• PG TFL is not available for;

• Postgraduate Doctoral degrees;

• Master’s degrees that are undertaken as an integral part of a Postgraduate

Doctoral Degree;

• Courses with a postgraduate element that are currently eligible for

undergraduate support.

• Both taught and research masters are eligible

• PG intercalated years can be funded via PG TFL


Course Eligibility

• Part-time and full-time courses are eligible

• For part-time study, the following are not relevant;

• Intensity of study in individual AYs; or

• Full-time equivalent course length

• Courses must last no more than three AYs

• Courses can be completed in less than one full AY

• Distance learning courses are eligible

• Where the course is a distance learning course, the student must be resident in

Northern Ireland on the first day of the first AY of the course.


Fee Support

• One confirmation of study required per AY

• PG TFL is a non-means tested loan

• The maximum PG TFL available is £5,500 per course.

• The maximum amount paid per year is dependant on the course length

• £5,500 for a one year course

• £2,750 for each AY of a two year course, and

• £1,833 for each AY of a three year course (£1,834 in the final year).

• The maximum rates are not affected by weeks study, intensity or level of

qualification


Course length (AYs)

Max PG TFL per AY

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

1 £5,500

2 £2,750 £2,750

3 £1,833 £1,833 £1,834

Fee Support

• The minimum amount is £1

• The maximum amount awarded is the lesser of the yearly cap, the tuition fee and

the loan requested

• No more than the maximum PG TFL per AY will be available, even where the HEP

charges a higher fee in individual AYs

For example


A HEP charges £5,500 in total for a two year course.

• In year 1 they wish to charge the student £3,000.

• In year 2 they wish to charge the student £2,500.

The student will still only be able to access a maximum of £2,750

in each AY

they will be entitled to;

• £2750 in year 1; and

• £2500 in year 2

Payments

• Payments of PG TFL will be made to the HEP in three instalments per AY as per

undergraduate TFL

• The instalments will be split into the following proportions;

• Instalment 1 - 25%



• Payments in the AY are scheduled across three AY quarters, even where the study

period in the AY is shorter

• Payments will not be released until a valid National Insurance Number (NINO) has

been received and verified


Payments

• Where the maximum loan amount is not needed, the payments will be proportioned

based on the loan requested

For example;


Jill undertakes a one year course; the fee charged is £4,000.

She requests a loan of £3,000. Payments are scheduled as

follows:

Instalment 1 £750 (25% of £3,000)

Instalment 2 £750 (25% of £3,000)

Instalment 3 £1,500 (50% of £3,000)

Repayments

• Plan 1 repayment terms will apply to PG TFL

• PG TFL repayments will only be deducted when a student earns over the threshold

amount under existing ICR terms

• The Statutory Repayment Date (SRDD) for PG TFL will be;

• The start of the tax year following the course end date; OR

• The start of the tax year following the withdrawal date, where the student

withdrew

• PG TFL repayments will not be concurrent with and separate to undergraduate

loan repayments


• All relevant providers to enter both full and part time Postgraduate course details on CMS from

April/May

• Due to the different course structure providers that have existing SFE postgraduate courses will

be required to set up NI versions

• PG TFL service anticipated to go live Summer 2017

PGL course launch

CMS has been developed to ensure Postgraduate courses can be identified when a student applies on-

line

• The Copy Course functionality will assist with course data entry

• CMS Export includes Funding Level to enable providers to distinguish between Postgraduate and

Undergraduate courses

• Course Search on-screen facility includes Postgraduate and Undergraduate filters

CMS changes

How to add a Postgraduate course to CMS

•Validation to ensure that PG NI

courses can only be added from

AY17/18

•Introduction of Domicile to Add

Course choice screen

Core course details screen exactly the same for both FT and PT courses

Qualifications:

• Postgraduate Taught Masters

• Postgraduate Research Masters

• Postgraduate Diploma’s

• Postgraduate Certificates

Duration: 1,2 or 3 years (for FT and PT )

Subject Category: To subject classification level

Attribute: Only Distance Learning available


Locations: Any number of relevant locations can be

selected

Designation: The courses will default to Northern Ireland

domiciled students only (this will only be presented to the

user once the course is saved)

Fees: Enter the course fee per year (even if this is higher

than your Provider Fee Cap)


Full Time and Part Time:

• Enter three sets of term dates for both full

time and part time courses

How to add a Postgraduate course to CMS – Term Dates

HEP required to confirm student details and attendance code via the ‘attendance worklist’ or import/export facility on SIS

Attendance Confirmation process

• Three confirmations of attendance are required - first confirmation to be two weeks after student commences study

Full Time

• Only one confirmation of attendance is required – this will release all three payments. This confirmation to be two weeks after student commences study

Part Time

Payment of Postgraduate Tuition Fees will then be made to HEPs in 3 instalments

– 25%, 25%, 50%

– set dates for each AY start

Season

(Academic Year Start) Payment 1 % Payment 2 % Payment 3 %

AUT (Sep - Dec) 3rd Wed Oct 25% 1st Wed Feb 25% 1st Wed May 50%

WIN (Jan - Mar) 1st Wed Feb 25% 1st Wed May 25% 3rd Wed Oct 50%

SPR (Apr - Jun) 1st Wed May 25% 3rd Wed Oct 25% 1st Wed Feb 50%

SUM (Jul - Aug) 3rd Wed July 25% 1st Wed Feb 25% 1st Wed May 50%

Postgraduate Tuition Fee Loan Payments

Level of Funding

Filter by ‘Level of Funding’

to search for PG students

only

Attendance Confirmation

Feedback from NI

Awareness Event

confirmed this as a

requirement

The maximum PG TFL available is £5,500 per course capped

‒ £5,500 for a one year course

‒ £2,750 for each AY of a two year course

‒ £1,833 for each AY of a three year course

££

1833.00

2750.00

1833.00

Overview


• Non-income assessed

• Extended to Master’s courses

• Full Time Students eligible for a maximum £10,000 (UK nationals ordinarily

resident in Scotland)

• £5,500 Tuition Fee Loan paid to HEPs

• £4,500 Living Costs to the student (age restriction)

Scottish PG Loan

Overview

• Part Time Students eligible for a maximum £5,500 (UK nationals ordinarily resident

in Scotland)

• 2 year courses only

• £5,500 Tuition Fee Loan paid to HEPs

• £2,750 per year

• Maximum £5,500 Tuition Fee Loan for EU students in Scotland

• Income Contingent Repayment (ICR) – Plan 1

• All other rules in line with current PG support from SAAS

Scottish PG Loan

Previous PG Funding

• In AY 17/18 England and Wales take into account funding from other jurisdictions

for Master’s courses

• In AY 17/18 Northern Ireland do take into account funding from other jurisdictions

for Master’s courses

Previous UG Funding

• Where a student has moved straight from UG to PG* they must apply to their

original awarding authority

*Without a gap except the appropriate intervening vacation

Cross Border Considerations

HEP Account Managers

Partner Services

[email protected]

0300 100 0642

http://www.heinfo.slc.co.uk

http://www.heinfo.slc.co.uk/

post graduate loans administration and policy · •overview of ay16/17 sfe policy and ay17/18...

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