Higher Education: Full Time Tuition Fee Policy 2024 - 2025

New full time students can apply for a Tuition Fee Loan of up to £9,000 to cover the cost of their tuition fees (£9000 for continuing students). This will be subject to eligibility criteria. 

Full time students may also get financial support for living costs. The support takes the form of a combination of grants and loans (depending on eligibility). Students must be under 60 years old on the first day of the first academic year of their course to access an undergraduate maintenance loan: studentfinancewales.co.uk. Students who are 60 or over can apply for a Tuition Fee Loan and Grants for Living but cannot apply for the maintenance loan. 

Full-time students may be eligible for up to £12,150 a year towards their living costs if they live away from home. Every eligible student will receive a grant of at least £1,000 regardless of household income. Students from homes with lower household income may be eligible for a grant of up to £8,100 which does not have to be paid back. 

Students can also apply for College bursaries (see Appendix 2), the College hardship fund (Appendix 3) and may be eligible for a range of additional support if they have children, dependent adults, a disability or health condition.

All applications for loans and grants will be handled by Student Finance Wales. Detailed information regarding how to claim and what support is available can be found at studentfinancewales.co.uk / Tel: 0300 200 4050 

Full time students ordinarily resident in England should apply for support via Student Finance England as different fee support is available Tel: 0845 300 5090.

It is your responsibility to ensure that you have adequate funding in place before you commence your studies and incur fees. In order to ensure any funding, you claim is paid to you promptly it is essential you advise Student Finance Wales/England that you are attending the correct College. Coleg Sir Gar and Carmarthen School of Art are all part of the University of Wales Trinity Saint David Group. For fee purposes you must quote: University of Wales Trinity Saint David on all your forms when selecting your institution and Coleg Sir Gar when selecting your location of study. 

Full-Time students will be asked to provide proof of funding at enrollment (documents can be uploaded). If you are still in the process of claiming support you will be asked to provide the information required within the following 28 days. If this information is still not provided you will be invoiced in full for your fees to ensure you are aware of your fee liability to the College. If you are intending to pay your own fees, you will be asked to pay one-third of your fees at enrollment and complete a Direct Debit Mandate for the remainder. This Direct Debit can remain in place for the duration of your course.

If you are thinking of leaving your course it is important that you seek advice at the earliest opportunity to ensure you are making your decision knowing all the implications. You must formally notify your tutor and the Registry Department immediately of your decision to withdraw or suspend your studies, confirming your last date of attendance. You should also contact Student Finance Wales as your withdrawal may jeopardise your future entitlement to financial support. 

A two-week grace period from the start of your course will be given when no fees are charged. Following the two-week grace period, the following payment terms will apply in line with the Student Loans terms and conditions, which are:

If at any time you are experiencing problems with fee payment, please speak to your tutor or seek the assistance of the Wellbeing Officer located on your campus. 

Any student completing an academic year of study with any unpaid fees will not be permitted to re-enrol in the next academic year until all fees outstanding are paid in full. Failure to pay any charges made to you by the College for any goods or services provided, will result in County Court action being taken to recover the sum(s) outstanding. Third party Debt Recovery Agencies may also be used in an attempt to collect any outstanding fees, the cost of which will be added to your debt. If any of this action becomes necessary, we may use Personal information provided by you in order to conduct appropriate anti-fraud checks. Personal Information that you provide may be disclosed to a credit reference or fraud prevention agency, which may keep a record of that information.

New Entrants – First Year Students (Not Means Tested) 

These bursaries are available for full time New Entrants – i.e., first year UK domiciled students who enrol to a full time Higher Education course at the College (i.e., Degree, Foundation Degree or HND) and are still attending on 1 February 2025. 

The bursaries are cash limited, therefore the sooner you apply the better the chance you have of getting one. Students will normally only be eligible for up to one college bursary. Care leavers will be eligible for up to 2 (Care Leaver and one other). 

You will receive an e-mail once applications are open and we will send you confirmation of eligibility. No applications will be accepted after 1 November 2024. All bursaries are subject to you meeting the College’s entry requirements, rules and regulations. 

Internal Progression Bursary - £1000 

This is payable in two instalments in March 2025 and June 2025 to students who progressed internally from a level 3 course at Coleg Sir Gar / Coleg Ceredigion. 

Partner Progression Bursary - £300 

This is payable in March 2025 to students who progressed from a recognised partner School in 2024, i.e., a School that the College works with as part of the 14-19 Network or from programmes at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. 

Care Leaver Bursary - £500 

This is payable in March 2025 to a student who has previously been in local authority care. 

Welsh Medium Study Bursary - £500 

This is payable in June 2025 to students who complete at least one module of their first year through the medium of Welsh. 

Child Care Bursary - £500 

This is payable in March 2025 to students who are parents with dependents (under 16 on 1st September 2024 and in full time education) living at the same address as them. 

Successful Completion Bursary - £300 

This is payable in June 2025 to students who complete their first-year assessments (without any referrals) and progress to the second year of their full time Higher Education Course at the College (i.e., Degree, Foundation Degree or HND). 

Transport Bus Pass Bursary - £300 

This will fund a College bus pass to the value of £300 for those students with specific transport difficulties. Transport will only be available on main College routes and no feeder transport vehicles will be provided to get students to main College routes. 

Sport Kit bursary - £150 

Available to HE Sports students only to fund essential kit needs. No need to apply, the kit will be provided at source by your Programme Tutor.

Second and Third Year Students – i.e. Continuing Students (Not Means Tested) 

A limited number of bursaries are available for second and third-year students, who are UK domiciled students enrolled on a full time Higher Education Course at the College (i.e., Degree, Foundation Degree or HND) and are still attending on 1 February 2025. 

You will receive an e-mail once applications are open and we will send you confirmation of eligibility. No applications will be accepted after 1 November 2024. All bursaries are subject to you meeting the College’s rules and regulations. 

These bursaries are cash limited - therefore the sooner you apply the better the chance you have of getting one. Students will only be eligible for up to one college bursary. Care leavers will be eligible for up to 2 (Care Leaver and one other). 

Successful Completion Bursary for second years - £300 

This is payable in June 2025 to students who complete their second-year assessments (without any referrals). Only available to second year students. 

Care Leaver Bursary - £500 

This is payable in March 2025 to a student who has previously been in local authority care. 

Welsh Medium Study Bursary - £500 

This is payable in June 2025 to students who complete at least one module of their second or third year through the medium of Welsh. 

Child Care Bursary - £500

 This is payable in March 2025 to students who are parents with dependents (under 16 on 1st September 2024 and in full time education) living at the same address as them. 

Transport Bus Pass Bursary - £300 

This will fund a College bus pass to the value of £300 for those students with specific transport difficulties. Transport will only be available on main College routes and no feeder transport vehicles will be provided to get students to main College routes. 

HOW TO APPLY 

Please apply online once you have received confirmation that applications are open. Your HE tutor or local campus office can help with this. Or e-mail registry_info@colegsirgar.ac.uk

This is an additional source of financial support for any student who has taken out a Student Loan (if eligible) and is suffering financial hardship. An applicant also has to prove that she/he has exhausted all other funding sources, including their overdraft provision before an application can be considered.

 Financial support is available to any UK student studying at least 50% equivalent to a full-time course. A student can apply for funding at any time during the course and can re-apply if in financial difficulties. Usually, funds are not repayable. Further information contact: 

• a) financialsupport@colegsirgar.ac.uk or 
• b) financialsupport@ceredigion.ac.uk