Fees and finance

On 4 November the Secretary of State for Education announced in Parliament that the government intends to introduce increases in tuition fees for UK students studying in England, and in maintenance loans for English students, for the 2025/26 academic year. These proposed increases are in line with inflation and are in recognition of the financial pressures that increased costs have placed on both universities and students.

For full-time UK Teacher Training students studying in England, the tuition fee will rise to £9,535 per year, an increase of £285.

The increases, which are subject to further parliamentary approval, are proposed to come into effect from 1 August 2025 and will apply to both new and returning students.

It is the University of Exeter's intention to charge tuition fees at the new higher rate (with any subsequent further changes to the cap) for each year of your studies.

You can read more about these changes here.

It is important to note that, for the vast majority of UK students, tuition fees are paid directly to the University by the Student Loans Company and students only begin to repay if they earn over the earnings ‘threshold’. The amount you repay for fee and living cost loans each year depends solely on what you earn, not on what you borrow, and therefore your expected monthly repayments will not increase as a result of this change.

Martin Lewis, the Money Saving Expert, has a helpful explainer here.

Only certain categories of students will be charged the ‘Home’ fee. Generally that is if you’re a UK national or have ‘settled status’ but full information can be found on our student finance pages.

From 2021/22 the eligibility rules for home fee status changed for EU Students. Please refer to the UK Government website to see how this change affects you at www.gov.uk/guidance/studying-in-the-uk-guidance-for-eu-students. Where EU students are not eligible for home fees, they will be required to pay international fees.

EU Students will also no longer be able to access UK Government student loans. This decision has been made by the government as part of the transition process of the UK leaving the EU.

Due to the Common Travel Area arrangement, Irish Nationals living in the UK or Ireland will be eligible for home fee status; further information around eligibility is available at the above gov.uk link.

Please note that the University is unable to undertake fee assessments prior to an application for a place to study being made. If you are unsure which fee category is applicable to you after making an application you may wish to contact us so we can send you a Fee Status Questionnaire to determine your fee status.

Please also note that if you have received an offer and you think your fee status is incorrect you have 28 days, from the date of your offer, to query your status. To query your fee status within the 28 day period please contact us at ad-feestatus@exeter.ac.uk  stating your full name, Exeter Reference number (or UCAS personal ID), programme for which you have been made an offer and providing details of why you think the fee classification is incorrect.

Home students can apply for a Tuition Fee Loan and Maintenance Loan.  Please see Student Finance England for more information about Student Finance for Teacher Training Courses.

EU students please visit the Government website for information on eligibility.

If you have any questions on the maintenance loan/tuition fee loan application process please contact Student Finance England.

A resource you might find useful when considering the tuition fee system is Martin Lewis' Money Saving Expert website (this site is independent of the University of Exeter).

IMPORTANT - When applying through the Student Finance England Application Portal you will be asked to enter details about the course you are applying for.  Please make sure you start this search with ‘Primary’ or ‘Secondary’ depending on your programme and then your age range (primary) or subject (secondary) to ensure you select a PGCE course rather than an undergraduate one in error.

In addition to the tuition support and student loans, the DfE offers further financial incentives and support to offset the costs of PGCE training for some subjects. Teaching is a prime career choice for high-quality graduates. To encourage the best people to enter the profession,  trainees will need at least a 2:2 to be eligible for a training bursary.

Bursaries are available for Home trainees on eligible postgraduate courses in England. Bursary amounts will vary depending on teaching subject and degree class. For further details please see the DfE’s Get into Teaching website.

Bursaries are paid in 10 monthly payments directly into a your bank account by the University from funds provided by the DfE, as long as you have provided your bank account details and have registered.  Payments are usually made on the first Friday of each month, with the first payment date being the first Friday in October.

Further information about teacher training bursaries can be found in section 10 of the University's Finance regulations. 

Chemistry, Maths, Modern Languages and Physics scholarships offered by independent organisations

For details on the scholarships available for these secondary subjects, please see the relevant websites below:

• The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) scholarships
• Mathematics Teacher Training Scholarships
  
• British Council (for languages scholarships)
• The Institute of Physics (IoP) scholarships

The University of Exeter offers a PGCE Exeter Bursary to all UK students studying for a PGCE, whose household income is £30,000 or less. (in 2024/25 the bursary amount was £600, the 2025/26 bursary amount will be confirmed in due course). This is to help support those on low incomes with costs associated with their PGCE training year, including travel to placements. There is no separate application procedure for this bursary. Instead, the University of Exeter makes an assessment using the household income information provided by the student's funding body (e.g. Student Finance England). Students must make sure that they and their sponsor(s) have given consent for details of their application to be shared with the University of Exeter. This consent to share is requested during the application for financial support, but can be given at any time throughout the year by contacting their student funding body.

Students who have not applied for financial support, or who have applied but chosen not to be means tested, are unable to be considered for this bursary until they do.

We offer a University of Exeter Class of 2024 Progression Scholarship which equates to a 20% reduction in the PGCE tuition fee for any University of Exeter Summer 2024 finalist graduating from an undergraduate or postgraduate degree awarded by the University of Exeter and progressing onto one of our 2024-25 Primary/Secondary PGCE programmes. This award will be applied automatically to eligible progressing students enrolling for PGCE study in 2024/25. A separate scholarship application is not required. Please apply through the DfE Apply site in the normal way.

We also offer a University of Exeter Alumni Scholarship which equates to a 20% reduction in the PGCE tuition fee for any University of Exeter alumni meeting the criteria listed who registers onto one of our 2024-25 Primary/Secondary PGCE programmes. The scholarship will be applied automatically to eligible applicants enrolling for PGCE study in 2024/25. A separate scholarship application is not required. Please apply through the DfE Apply site in the normal way.

 

As an international applicant, you’ll need the right to study in the UK. You already have this if, for example, you: 

• are an Irish citizen 
• have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme  
• have indefinite leave to remain in the UK 

If you do not already have the right to study in the UK for the duration of this course, you will need to apply for a Student visa. To do this, you’ll need to be sponsored by your training provider. The University of Exeter is able to provide student visa sponsorship. 

Please note however that for the majority of PGCE teacher training courses, there are no financial support packages such as bursaries or loans available for international students and the international tuition fee for 2024/25 is £23,700. The Global Excellence Scholarships offered by the University of Exeter are not available to international PGCE students.  

In 2024/25 for those training to teach Secondary Physics and Secondary Modern Foreign Languages (French or Spanish) international applicants can in certain circumstances be eligible for UK government bursaries and scholarships although they will still need to pay the £23,700 tuition fee. Please go to the Fees and Financial Support for non-UK trainee teachers webpage on the Get into Teaching website for more details on financial support eligibility for international applicants.  Please note, the International Relocation Payment scheme for MFL and Physics trainee teachers has now been closed by the Department for Education. The scheme remains open for teachers but not trainee teachers.  More information can be found here. 

Trainees in receipt of a UK Government teacher training bursary are expected to teach in England after they gain Qualified Teacher Status.

We strongly recommend that you check your eligibility for financial support and consider whether you have the funds available to fund the course and support yourself before you apply. See here for some useful advice and guidance on the cost of living while being a student.

The University has an International Student Support team who can help – see their Student Visa – Money page for more information. 

We offer financial support in the form of a full tuition fee waiver to students who are verified as being a care leaver and who are starting their PGCE course at the University of Exeter. Students need to meet certain criteria. The fee waiver will only be applied for a PGCE course if the student did not receive a tuition fee waiver at UG level.

Further details regarding support for care leavers be found by visiting our support for care leavers webpage.

The University, in partnership with its alumni community, has created the Success for All Fund to help you if you are experiencing unexpected financial challenges affecting your ability to study.

You may be facing financial hardship; be struggling to pay for IT or a learning disability assessment; or have bills to pay while waiting for your first grant payment to arrive.

All registered undergraduate and postgraduate University of Exeter students are eligible to apply, irrespective of fee-status. Priority will be given to students undertaking their first degree who are from low income households or without family support. The majority of funds are means-tested and you will be asked to provide evidence in support of your application. Please note, funding will not be given to pay your tuition fees.

Further information on the Success for All Fund and other Student Funding Schemes is available on the Student Finance webpages.

We have a PGCE trainee expenses policy which includes information about our Discretionary Support Fund for help with specific travel/accommodation financial difficulties. 
Please read this document carefully to see what it does/doesn't cover.  If you have any questions in advance of starting the programme, please contact Info at St Luke's on info.stlukes@exeter.ac.uk.

We are pleased to offer University of Exeter students graduating in Summer 2025 and progressing direct to our University of Exeter Primary or Secondary PGCE courses, a scholarship towards the cost of their tuition fees.

• Find out more

We are pleased to offer University of Exeter alumni  beginning a University of Exeter Primary or Secondary PGCE course, a scholarship towards the cost of their tuition fees.

Awards are available to all home and international University of Exeter alumni who have:

• Graduated from an undergraduate or postgraduate degree awarded by the University of Exeter
• Completed an inbound Study Abroad semester/year at the University of Exeter
• Completed a credit-bearing University of Exeter International Summer School

Find out more.

Current University of Exeter students completing their programme in 2025 and progressing direct to another standalone University of Exeter degree programme are eligible for an equivalent award - see University of Exeter Class of 2025 Progression Scholarship.

The DfE has just announced the launch of the brand new Veterans’ Career Development Fund. The £700,000 grant fund will enhance provision of qualifications, training and skills development to veterans and their families right across the UK.

Under this programme, the Trust will award grants on behalf of the Office for Veterans’ Affairs, to projects that will enable Veterans and their families to enter stable long-term employment, by delivering qualifications and training.

Applications for up to £70,000 are live until 8th Jan 2024.

Find out more on their website, including eligibility & programme guidance.

If you are a veteran and would like a discussion about this or other opportunities for career development or roles at the University of Exeter or other Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), contact the Armed Forces Covenant Lead, Roo Haywood Smith, for support and a further conversation: f.s.haywood-smith@exeter.ac.uk