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What's on offer?
The financial support you get will depend on different factors such as:
- what course you want to study;
- your income and family circumstances;
- how old you are;
- where you want to study; and
- whether you want to study full time, part time or by distance learning.
Some funding comes as a grant, some as a loan and some in the form of free course fees. Most is income-assessed and there is different support depending on the type of course you want to do.
Higher Education is courses of study which are at Higher National Certificate level or above (that is Scottish Credit and Qualification Framework level 7 or above). They can be taken at college or at university and include:
- an undergraduate honours degree;
- an undergraduate ordinary degree; or
- a Higher National Certificate ( HNC) or Higher National Diploma ( HND).
Support for Higher Education is mainly loan-based, with a number of means-tested grants for specific groups of students.
Further Education courses are those which are not taught in a school and are below Higher National Certificate ( HNC) level. They cover levels 1-6 on the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework ( SCQF) and include:
- academic courses up to Higher level;
- courses that do not lead to formal qualifications, such as independent living skills courses;
- basic skills courses, such as literacy and numeracy; and
- work-related courses, such as Scottish Vocational Qualifications ( SVQs).
Support for Further Education is through means-tested discretionary grants, and these are not guaranteed to all eligible applicants.
See our Quick Guide for a breakdown of what's available.
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