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Top-up fees: Funding for the future?

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The government’s plans for top-up fees in England will come into effect next year with students being charged up to £3,000 per year for degree courses, while Wales is finally struggling towards a decision. We monitor the reaction from universities and students.
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Student Finance
30 Jun 2005 15:41

Small bursaries and big fees for trainee teachers

Universities charging the full variable [sic] tuition fee to trainee teachers in England will be required to give the poorest students bursaries, OFFA announced today.

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From 2006, institutions will be able to charge students up to £3,000 per year. If, as has happened with undergraduate courses, almost every postgraduate course ends up costing the full amount, the government and others are worried that potential teachers will be put off enrolling.

To combat this, the Office for Fair Access has swung into action with a diktat that universities charging the full whack will have to give the poorest students a minimum bursary of, er, £300. Of course, any university wishing to avoid handing out bursaries could charge £2,999 and be required to pay nothing.

As with undergraduate courses, the fees would be added on to teachers' student loans rather than be paid up-front. That would mean new teachers in 2010 having debts of up to £12,000 in fees alone.

Fortunately for would-be-teachers, there is a raft of other complicated financial incentives available:

  • A £6,000 non-taxable bursary is available during initial teacher training – unless you teach certain favoured subjects like English, maths or science, in which case you can get £9,000.

  • If you continue to teach maths or science in certain schools in England after your induction period, you "may" get a taxable £5,000 "golden hello". If you teach English, RE, ICT or one of a few other subjects your golden hello "may" be £2,500.

  • The government will pay the first £1,200 of the variable fee, non-means tested, from a new means-tested £2,700 grant.

  • Most universities will probably charge the full £3,000, but their bursary offerings are unlikely to be limited to the measly £300. Already Roehampton has promised an extra £1,500 per year.

  • Local Education Authorities may also offer incentives to teach in some of their schools, particularly in inner-city comprehensives where there are shortages.

With the complexity of their financial arrangements, it's a good thing new teachers are required to be proficient in maths.

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