Tuition fees and the Placement scholarship

What are placement year tuition fees

For the 2023/24 academic year tuition fees will be:

  • £1,250 for home and EU students who began their course after 2017/18
  • £2,500 for International students
Can I get help to pay my placement year tuition fees?

If you are a Home or EU student with pre or full settled status, you can apply to Student Finance England or Student Finance Services for a tuition fee loan to pay your fees in the same way as for the other years of your course.

You may also qualify for a placement scholarship which can be requested as a tuition fee waiver or cash payment. Details of the who qualifies for a placement scholarship can be found online here. Please search under the tab ‘past scholarships’ and the criteria will be listed under the year your course began. You will qualify if you meet any of these criteria:

Please note, if you qualify for more than one of the above you can only receive one scholarship during your placement year.  You will be given the option to use your scholarship as a tuition fee waiver or bank transfer.  Scholarships can only be assessed if your placement is fully uploaded and approved on MAP by November 2023 at which point you will be asked to select a payment method. If you select bank transfer, payment will be made in 2 instalments in terms 2 & 3.

 

Maintenance loans during your placement year

If you're a Home student or an EU student with full settled status, you may be able to receive maintenance loans through Student Finance England for your placement year. 

There are different types of student funding available for Home students, depending on what kind of placement you'll be undertaking. Please book an appointment with a Student Adviser for more detail.

I am taking an unpaid placement

Unpaid placements qualify for a reduced level maintenance loan only (unless they qualify as unpaid service – see Unpaid Service placements)

  • Living at home - £2,940
  • Living in London - £4,524

See below for EU of study abroad funding details

Unpaid placements qualify for a placement scholarship of £1,250

I am taking an unpaid service placement

As a placement student, you are considered to be doing Unpaid Service if you are taking an unpaid placement in one of the following:

  • in a Hospital or Laboratory or with a primary care trust in the UK (or equivalent health authorities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland)
  • unpaid service with a local authority in the UK in work that relates tp thje care and welfare of children and young persons, health or welfare, or with a voluntary organisation providing facilities or carrying out similar activity in the UK.
  • in a prison or aftercare service in the UK
  • unpaid research in an institution (ie: a University) in the UK or overseas

If you're considered to be taking Unpaid Service in your placement year then you can apply to Student Finance England for the same types of student funding for your living costs as you would in the other years of your course.

Placement scholarship are paid to students on unpaid placements. The placement scholarship is £1,250.

I'm taking a paid placement

If you will be taking a paid placement in 2023/24 you can apply to Student Finance England for a reduced Maintenance Loan in addition to your placement salary. This loan is not based on your family’s income and the amounts for 2022/23 are:

  • Living at home -  £2,940
  • Living in London - £4,524

See below for EU or study abroad funding details

You may also qualify for a placement scholarship which can be requested as a tuition fee waiver or cash payment. Details of the who qualifies for a placement scholarship can be found online here.  Please search under the tab ‘past scholarships’ and the criteria will be listed under the year your course began.

Working or studying abroad on your placement year

I am a home student taking a study abroad placement

If you will be studying abroad for your placement year then you can apply to Student Finance England for the same level of funding as in a normal academic year.  This also includes a slightly higher maintenance loan.

If you normally receive a loan based on household income you may also qualify for a travel grant. SFE will send you an application form if you qualify.

All overseas placements are eligible for a placements scholarship of £1,250.   

I am taking a placement within the EU

Now that the UK has left the EU all EU placements will be classed as overseas. However for this year it may still be possible to receive an Erasmus grant. Please contact the Eramus/Turing Team to discuss this at Erasmus_turing@aston.ac.uk

I am a home student going on a work placement abroad - what funding can I get?

If your placement is overseas but outside the EU you can qualify for full SFE support based on household income only if your placement qualifies for the Turing grant. Unfortunately you will not find out if you qualify for Turing until approximately end of June. Therefore you will not be assessed for the full loan until you are able to confirm that you will receive Turing grant. Please contact the Erasmus/Turing team to discuss this at Erasmus_turing@aston.ac.uk.

FAQ Video

International students

I am an international student going on placement, what can I get?

Please note that EU students not ordinarily resident in the UK (who do not have pre settled or full settled status) are now classed as international students.

There is no funding available to International students during placement year.

International students can apply to the Susan Cadbury Fund if you are facing unexpected financial hardship.

Paying tax and National Insurance on your placement salary

Do I have to pay income tax on my placement earnings and what if I pay too much tax?

Everyone pays income tax once they are earning above their tax threshold, even if you are on placement.

The earnings allowance (the amount you have to earn before you start paying tax) for Income Tax for all UK residents is £12,570 in the tax year 6th April 2023 to 5th April 2024. Any amount of money you earn over this will be taxed at a rate of 20%. As well as your placement salary, your earnings include interest from savings and all other employment (including part-time jobs you may have done before or after your placement).

The tax year in the UK always starts on 6th April, which means your placement will actually fall into two different tax years. At the end of the tax year, your placement employer should give you a P60 which will confirm what your earnings were and how much tax you paid.  Once you finish your placement, your employer should give you a P45 which will confirm how much you have earned so far  and how much tax you will have paid.

Although you will often find that you placement employer calculates your tax correctly for the first part of your placement, many students end up paying too much tax during the second part of their placement. You can claim a tax overpayment back from HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs)by completing a form using information you will find on your P60 and P45. You can collect Tax reclaim forms from The Hub and one of our advisers can help you to complete the form if you wish. 

Do I have to pay National Insurance contributions on my placement earnings?

Placement students do pay National Insurance Contributions. The amount you pay will depend on how much money you will earn each week.

You only have to pay National Insurance in the tax year 2023/24 if you earn more than £242 in a week and you will have to pay 12% of any amount which exceeds this.

Funding for emergencies

What if something goes wrong - is there any emergency funding available?

If you face unexpected financial hardship during your placement year, you can apply for assistance.  These are limited funds for students facing hardship and there is no guarantee you will receive an award. You should not plan to rely on these funds as a way to pay for your placement year studies. 

Aston Support Fund - UK students 
If you are a home student and you are facing unexpected financial difficulties during your placement year and meet the other criteria in the Policy then you may apply for short-term assistance from the Aston Support Fund.

Susan Cadbury Fund - EU & International students 
If you are an EU student or International student and you are facing unexpected financial difficulties during your placement year then you may apply for assistance from the Susan Cadbury Fund.