The Loughborough University Bursary for students on undergraduate degree studies and the Postgraduate Certificate in Education at Loughborough University

1. The Loughborough University Bursary (hereafter LUB), provides non- repayable, means-tested awards to eligible students to help with living and course
2. The term “relevant programme” refers to any undergraduate degree programme (including Foundation Studies) offered by Loughborough University, or the Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE). It does not include Art and Design Foundation Studies, which is a Further Education programme.
3. The LUB consists of cash bursaries and tuition fee waivers. Both areas of support are subject to means testing procedures carried out by Student Finance England (hereafter SFE) or its equivalent in Scotland or Northern Support for PGCE students will take the form of Travel or Travel and Living Cost bursaries.
4. The Academic Year is as defined in University Regulation
5. The University reserves the right to amend the Loughborough University Bursary in the event of a change in the regulated undergraduate tuition fee for UK/EU students.

1. Eligibility for Consideration

1. These terms and conditions relate to students who first registered on an eligible programme for the academic year 2017/18.
2. The student must be registered on a relevant programme during the 2025/26 Academic Year.
3. The student must be permanently resident in the United Kingdom (excluding Wales, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands) and be eligible for a UK Government student maintenance/living costs loan
   or
   be permanently resident in the EU (excluding the UK)
4. Students from Wales are not eligible for the LUB due to the enhanced support available to those students from Student Finance Wales.
5. The student must have applied for means tested student support from Student Finance England (SFE) or its equivalent bodies for the 2025/26 academic year.
6. The student must be classified in SFE terms as a ‘2012 cohort’ or ‘2016 cohort.’
7. With the exception of PGCE students, any student who already possesses a first degree will not be eligible for consideration.
8. To be eligible for consideration for a fee waiver, students must not be in receipt of an official sponsorship.
9. PGCE students who are in receipt of a training bursary may be eligible for financial support via the LUB, but the value of the training bursary will be added to their household income and the total value used for the purposes of assessment.
10. Undergraduate students undertaking reassessment will be considered for the LUB as long as they are studying a minimum of 30 credits with attendance during the 2025/26 academic year.
11. Undergraduate students stretching their degree will be considered for the LUB as long as they are studying a minimum of 30 credits with attendance during the 2025/26 academic year.
12. Students from within the European Union (EU), excluding the UK, will only be eligible for the tuition fee element of any award. They will not be eligible for the cash bursary element.

2. Eligibility for the Loughborough University Bursary (LUB)

1. The student must have a household income after means testing within the qualifying range (see section 6 and Annex 1) in their 2025/26 application to SFE or equivalent bodies. For the purposes of PGCE assessments, training bursaries will be added to the household income and the total value used to determine eligibility.
   and
2. The student must make their Household Income accessible to the University before the last day of the summer term of the 2025/26 academic year. Household Income made available after this date will be disregarded.
3. Students on Part I in 2025/26 will be assessed for eligibility on their 2024/25 household income.
4. The student’s eligibility will be assessed each year they are registered on an eligible programme.

3. Eligibility for enhanced awards of the Loughborough University Bursary for mature students.

1. For the purposes of the LUB, mature students are defined those who were aged 21 or over on the 1st September 2017 excepting those excluded by the provision set out in 3.2 below.
2. A direct entrant into the second or later year of a relevant programme on the basis of previous undergraduate studies at another institution and who was not aged 21 or over at the commencement of those previous studies, will not normally be eligible to be considered for the LUB as a mature student.

4. Care Leavers’ Bursary

1. For the purposes of the Care Leavers’ Bursary, a Care Leaver is defined as a young person (who does not meet the definition of a Mature student as outlined in Section 3 above) who has been in care of the local authority and/or Health & Social Care Trust for at least 13 weeks since the age of 14. Care Leavers who have subsequently been adopted, or are the subject of a Special Guardianship Order, will not automatically be eligible for this enhanced financial award.
2. The Care Leavers’ Bursary is not means-tested.
3. Students in receipt of the Care Leavers’ Bursary will not also be awarded the Loughborough University Bursary.
4. Care Leavers should contact Student Advice and Support Services by completing the form online https://www.lboro.ac.uk/services/sass/finance/carers by the last day of the summer term of the 2025/26 academic year to be considered for the Care Leavers’ Bursary.

5. Determination of Household Income

1. Means-testing procedures will be carried out by Student Finance England (or its equivalent in Scotland or Northern Ireland) in accordance with Government regulations.
2. Household income, as calculated by the means-testing procedure, will form part of the assessment for eligibility to the LUB and will be communicated to the University by Student Loans Company (SLC) if the student and his/her sponsor(s) have consented to the sharing of this information.
3. It is the student’s responsibility to challenge any assessment of their household income directly with the relevant student funding body if they believe it to be inaccurate.
4. If a student’s household income changes in the 2025/26 academic year, the student will be re-assessed on the changed household income, which may decrease or increase eligibility for the LUB. The responsibility for requesting this re-assessment of household income by the relevant student funding body lies with the student.
5. If for any reason a student’s household income is reassessed by the relevant student funding body (e.g. Student Finance England), the responsibility lies with the student to investigate this reassessment with SFE directly.

6. Value of Awards

1. The values of the LUB awards for the current academic year are set out in Annex 1.
2. Undergraduate students who are studying less than a full time credit load (120 credits) in the 2025/26 academic year will be eligible to receive the pro rata value of the LUB award, based on the credit weighting of modules registered with attendance, across the whole academic year.

7. Assessment and Notification Procedure

1. All students registered on an eligible programme who are eligible for the LUB will automatically be considered for the LUB.
2. Where a student is eligible for an award, notification will be made after the assessment has been completed. (see Section 6 above).
3. The University will make an initial assessment of eligibility in October of each academic year and then undertake reviews at the start of each month until the end of the summer term.
4. If a student’s Household Income is amended during the 2025/26 academic year, the student’s eligibility for LUB will be reviewed. Any change in the value of the award will usually be backdated. If the review results in a reduction in the value of the award, the University will not usually seek to recover any overpayment that has been made.
5. If any LUB award is made based on inaccurate information by the student, the University reserves the right to recover the award made.

8. Method of Payment

1. Tuition fee waivers will be deducted in full at the start of the academic year and will appear on the student’s University account statement as a credit towards the full annual tuition fee. In the event of a student taking a leave of absence or withdrawing from the University, the fee waiver will be applied on a pro rata basis and the net tuition fee liability charged in accordance with Regulation XVI.
2. Bursaries will be paid in instalments directly into the bank account which the student has nominated to the University through Student Self-Service and will normally be paid in three instalments as detailed in Annex 2.
3. Payments will be made in three instalments regardless of how many terms a student is in attendance.
4. The University is not responsible when payments are delayed because the bank account details have not been supplied by the student or if these details are incorrect.
5. Any instalments which cannot be paid by the last date of the academic year, because the student has not provided accurate bank account details to the University, will be cancelled with no eligibility for the instalment(s) to be paid at a later date.
6. If the required household income information is not available from SLC by the date required to trigger a scheduled payment, the payment will be made subsequently and backdated appropriately.

9. Cancellation or Suspension of a LUB Award

Withdrawal

1. A LUB award holder whose effective withdrawal date falls within the first four weeks of his/her programme will not qualify for any payment under the LUB in that year.
2. A LUB award holder who withdraws permanently after the first four weeks of his/her programme, will have his/her award cancelled with effect from the date of withdrawal.
3. A LUB award holder who is excluded from the University for disciplinary or other reasons, whether temporarily or permanently, will have his/her award suspended with immediate effect. If such a student resumes their studies at a later date, they will remain eligible for an LUB award on the same basis as other students.

Leave of Absence

4. A LUB holder who takes approved leave of absence during the course of an academic year will have his/her award suspended for the duration of the leave period.
5. A LUB holder who, having taken leave of absence, returns to the University in the subsequent academic year, will have his/her bursary entitlement renewed, provided that he/she meets the eligibility conditions currently in force.
6. The terms of 9.4 above will also apply in cases where leave of absence has been approved retrospectively.
7. If attendance in the subsequent year is for only part of that year, LUB payments will be pro-rated accordingly on a credit basis.

LUB T&C 

2025

Annex 1: Awards

9. Loughborough University Bursary

If your Annual Residual Income is £18,000 or under then you could receive:

• Pre-degree Foundation Studies (Part F) – excluding Art and Design:
  • £3,000 bursary
  • £3,000 tuition fee waiver
• Degree Year 1 (Part A)
  • £2,000 bursary
• Degree Year 2 (Part B)
  • £2,000 bursary
• Placement Year (Part I)
  • £1,000 tuition fee waiver
• Degree Year 3 (Part C)
  • £2,000 bursary
• Integrated Masters (if applicable) (Part D)
  • £2,000 bursary
  • £5,000 tuition fee waiver

If your Annual Residual Income is £18,001 to £22,000 then you could receive:

• Pre-degree Foundation Studies (Part F) – excluding Art and Design
  • £2,000 bursary
• Degree Year 1 (Part A)
  • £2,000 bursary
• Degree Year 2 (Part B)
  • £2,000 bursary
• Placement Year (Part I)
  • N/A
• Degree Year 3 (Part C)
  • £2,000 bursary
• Integrated Masters (if applicable) (Part D)
  • £2,000 bursary
  • £4,000 tuition fee waiver

If your Annual Residual Income is £22,001 to £25,000 then you could receive:

• Pre-degree Foundation Studies (Part F) – excluding Art and Design:
  • £1,000 bursary
• Degree Year 1 (Part A)
  • £1,000 bursary
• Degree Year 2 (Part B)
  • £1,000 bursary
• Placement Year (Part I)
  • N/A
• Degree Year 3 (Part C)
  • £1,000 bursary
• Integrated Masters (if applicable) (Part D)
  • £1,000 bursary
  • £3,000 tuition fee waiver

Additional Financial Assistance for Care Leavers

Pre-degree Foundation Studies (Part F)– excluding Art and Design

• • As above plus up to £1,500 additional bursary and £3,000 tuition fee waiver
• Degree Year 1 (Part A)
  • As above plus up to £1,500 additional bursary and £3,000 tuition fee waiver
• Degree Year 2 (Part B)
  • As above plus up to £1,500 additional bursary and £3,000 tuition fee waiver
• Placement Year (Part I) 
  • As above
• Degree Year 3 (Part C)
  • As above plus up to £1,500 additional bursary and £3,000 fee waiver
• Integrated Masters (if applicable) (Part D)
  • As above plus up to £1,500 additional bursary and £3,000 fee waiver

11. Mature Undergraduate Students (those over 21 years of age on entry)

If your Annual Residual Income is £18,000 or under then you could receive:

• Pre-degree Foundation Studies (Part F) – excluding Art and Design:
  • £3,000 bursary
  • £3,000 tuition fee waiver
• Degree Year 1 (Part A)
  • £3,000 bursary
  • £1,000 tuition fee waiver
• Degree Year 2 (Part B)
  • £3,000 bursary
  • £1,000 tuition fee waiver
• Placement Year (Part I)
  • £1,000 tuition fee waiver
• Degree Year 3 (Part C)
  • £3,000 bursary
  • £1,000 tuition fee waiver
• Integrated Masters (if applicable) (Part D)
  • £4,000bursary
  • £5,000 tuition fee waiver

If your Annual Residual Income is £18,001 to £22,000 then you could receive:

• Pre-degree Foundation Studies (Part F) – excluding Art and Design (Part FE):
  • £3,000 bursary
  • £1,000 tuition fee waiver
• Degree Year 1 (Part A)
  • £3,000 bursary
  • £1,000 tuition fee waiver
• Degree Year 2 (Part B)
  • £3,000 bursary
  • £1,000 tuition fee waiver 
• Placement Year (Part I)
  • N/A
• Degree Year 3 (Part C)
  • £3,000 bursary
  • £1,000 tuition fee waiver 
• Integrated Masters (if applicable) (Part D)
  • £4,000bursary
  • £4000 tuition fee waiver

If your Annual Residual Income is £22,001 to £25,000 then you could receive:

• Pre-degree Foundation Studies (Part F) – excluding Art and Design (Part FE):
  • £2,000 bursary
• Degree Year 1 (Part A)
  • £2,000 bursary
• Degree Year 2 (Part B)
  • £2,000 bursary
• Placement Year (Part I)
  • N/A
• Degree Year 3 (Part C)
  • £2,000 bursary
• Integrated Masters (if applicable) (Part D)
  • £2,000 bursary
  • £3,000 tuition fee waiver

12. PGCE Travel Bursary

• Annual Residual Household Income (including training bursary) is £18,000 and under
  • £3,000 travel and living costs bursary
• Annual Residual Household Income (including training bursary) is £18,001 to £30,000
  • £500 travel bursary

Annex 2: Payment Dates

Bursary payments are made in three instalments:

• Payment 1 (33%): 11 November 2025
• Payment 2 (33%): 10 February 2026
• Payment 3 (34%): 5 May 2026