Eligibility for Grants/Loans
Support under the Student Awards Regulations is only available to students meeting the required criteria in terms of residency, academic qualifications and age. Also, the course you intend to study must be an approved course. You need to satisfy the requirements in each of these areas to qualify for any support from ourselves.
Please read the below information carefully.
Residency
You must be ordinarily resident in the Isle of Man for a period of not less than 4 years immediately before the beginning of the first year of the course and continue to be resident for the duration of the course.
A student resident for less than 4 years immediately prior to the start of the course may also qualify by having a total of 10 years residency throughout their life, providing at least 2 of those years fall immediately prior to the start of the course. No account will be taken of temporary or occasional absences and discretion can be applied if you have taken a 'gap year' immediately after the completion of your 'A' levels or undergraduate degree.
A person is ordinarily resident in the Island if he or she voluntarily, and for settled purposes, lives in the Island for an appreciable period (a minor who lives with his or her parent is considered to be living voluntarily where the parent lives).
Academic requirements
Even if you have been unconditionally accepted by the university that you wish to attend, you also need to meet the Department's academic requirements in order to qualify for support.
| Course | Minimum qualifications required | |
|---|---|---|
| HND or comparable course | One GCE A-level (A2) pass at grade A-C (at least 32 UCAS points) or equivalent qualifications | |
| University first degree or comparable course | 80 UCAS points from qualifications equivalent to GCE A-level (A2) or AS-level, or an International Baccalaureate Diploma. Please note that the Department of Education, Sport and Culture Student Awards will only count the Tariff points of an AS qualification if you have not completed an A level in the same subject. | |
| Postgraduate courses | PhD | Upper second-class honours degree or Masters degree |
| MA/MSc/PG Diploma/GDL/PGCE | Upper second-class honours degree | |
The Department may waive the academic requirements in the case of a first degree or HND course at the University College Isle of Man where the Principal provides a written recommendation in support of your application.
Age
The type and level of support available is dependent upon your age, as detailed below, but you must be under the age of 60 at the beginning of the first year of your course to qualify for support.
| Range | Support Available |
|---|---|
| Under 18 | If you are under 18 years of age at the beginning of your course, support may be available to study off-Island, providing a similar course is not available on the Isle of Man. Note, however, that the Student Awards Regulations do not provide support for students under the age of 18 for further education courses at the University College Isle of Man, although qualifying students may be exempt from paying course fees. Refer to the UCM website for further details. |
| 18 and over | Tuition fees and means tested maintenance grant |
Courses eligible for support
The following full-time courses are supported:
- HND, Foundation Degree or Diploma of Higher Education
- First degree course, such as BA, BSc or BEd
- MA, MSc, Postgraduate Law Course, Postgraduate Diploma, PGCE or PhD
Support may also be provided for certain full-time courses at UCM including 'A' levels, GCSEs and vocational qualifications.
Assistance towards tuition fees only may be provided in respect of the following part-time courses:
- part-time degree course at UCM
- a degree course or a module thereof provided by the Open University or similar accredited provider
Note that, other than in exceptional circumstances, you will not qualify for support if you have previously started a course at an equivalent or higher Regulated Qualifications Framework ('RQF') level and, similarly, support will not normally be provided for repeating the same year of study.
Courses below RQF level 4 outside of the Isle of Man do not qualify for support if a similar course is available on Island. Courses are classed as similar if they are a close match in terms of content and lead to an award of equivalent level.
If you are in any doubt as to whether the course you wish to study will be supported, please contact the Student Awards Team for assistance by email at studentgrants@doe.gov.im
