Training Fees

Foundation Degree in Professional Golf - PGA Training Programme Fee Information

The UK Government has confirmed that tuition fees for September 2021 entry will remain capped at £6,935 for part-time courses. The PGA and the University of Birmingham have ensured that fees have been kept as low as possible, whilst maintaining the highest level of academic, practical, teaching and learning materials on the programme.

1. How much are the fees going to be?

• The tuition fee for the PGA Training Programme is currently £4,250* per academic year for UK entrants and £5,500* for international students (or British Nationals working outside the UK for
  the past 3 years).

*Fees are subject to inflationary increase in subsequent years in line with UK government policy.

2. How can I pay for my tuition fees?

• If you are studying for your first higher education course you do not have to pay for your tuition fees upfront. If you are English, Welsh or Northern Irish you can apply for a government loan via the relevant Student Loans Company (SLC)**.
• The loan will be paid directly to the University.
• The loan willaccrue interest until it is repaid in full.
• The loan is subjected to the repayment terms given below.
• **Please note: as the FdSc in Professional Golf is classed by Student Finance England as a parttime distance learning programme, you must also be resident in England for the duration of the course to qualify for tuition-fee support.
• Student Finance Northern Ireland also provides a tuition fee grant for new and returning students. Student Finance Wales also provides a tuition fee grant for returning students only. Tuition fee grants are based on household income and do not have to be repaid.
• To apply, log on to the UK government’s Student Finance for part-time students webpage: https://www.gov.uk/student-finance/parttime-students.

3. Are tuition fee loans from the government means tested?

• The loans available for your tuition fees from the SLC are not dependent upon your household income. You can borrow the full cost of the tuition fee will be paid directly to the University.

4. Can I apply for a living-expenses (maintenance) loan in addition to the tuition fees?

• Currently, part-time students applying for funding from Student Finance Wales or Student Finance Northern Ireland may be eligible for a course grant, depending on household income.  Grants to do not have to be repaid.
• If you are applying for funding from Student Finance England, and your course starts on or after 1 August 2018, you can apply for a part-time Maintenance Loan as a distance learning student but only if you cannot attend your course in person because of a disability.
• How much you get is based on your income (and your partner’s income if applicable). As a PGA Assistant you must demonstrate that you are employed where a Training Pro is permanently attached or employed, earning at least minimum wage and being supervised by the GB & Ireland PGA Member (Training Pro), so you will be earning an income while studying.

5. How is the government loan repaid?

• Part-time students start making repayments in the April after graduation or when they leave the course, whichever comes first, but only once they earn more than £25,000 a year. If their income falls below £25,000 a year, repayments stop.
• Unlike a normal bank loan, where you have to arrange a monthly payment, with student loans if you are employed and pay tax through PAYE, your repayments will be deducted automatically each month from your salary by your employer, in the same way that tax is deducted. If you are paying tax by using self-assessment (i.e. completing a tax return as a self-employed individual), other arrangements are in place.

6. How much will I have to pay back once I start to earn £25,000?

• Your employer will automatically take repayments from your salary if your income, before tax, is over the UK threshold. For Student Finance England and Student Finance Wales loans the current thresholds for repayment are £25,000 a year, £2,083 a month or £480 a week. You pay 9% of your income over the threshold. For example, if you are paid monthly and earn £2,250 before tax you will repay 9% of the difference between what you earn and what the threshold is. Your payslips will show how much has been deducted. The following table gives some examples of what your repayments might be:

If you have not paid off your loan after 30 years, all the outstanding balance will be written off.
For Student Finance Northern Ireland loans, please visit the Student Finance NI website: https://www.studentfinanceni.co.uk/ for details of how your repayments will work.

7. Is interest charged on the loan?

• Yes. You are charged interest from the day your first payment is made until your loan is repaid in full or cancelled. The interest rate applied to your loan is updated once a year in September, meaning that it may increase or decrease.

• Interest is added to what you owe and does not have to be paid back in addition to the 9% identified above. However, it may require the loan to be paid off over a longer period of time, which will mean that you end up paying more overall.

8. What if I do not get a job or I never earn £25,000?

•  Regardless of what you have borrowed and repaid; the loan is written off after 30 years. For example, if you borrow £12,000 and after 30 years have repaid £10,000, the remaining balance of
  £2,000 is written off (this example does not include the interest that would have been added to your debt but that would also be written off).
• If at any time you lose your job, become ill and are unable to work, or just decide to take a career break, and your income falls below £25,000, the repayments simply stop. Once you are earning above £25,000 again, the repayments recommence.

9. Access to funding for Welsh students:

• If you normally live in Wales, the maximum tuition-fee support available for this course for 2020/21 is £4250.
• Please visit the Student Finance Wales website: https://www.studentfinancewales.co.uk/ for more information.

10. Access to funding for Northern Irish students:

• If you normally live in Northern Ireland, the maximum tuition-fee support available for this course for 2020/21 is £4,250. Please visit the Student Finance NI website: Student Finance Northern Ireland (studentfinanceni.co.uk) for more information.

11. Ordinary residence in England

• Loans are based on residency, not nationality. Therefore if you’ve been living in the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for 3 years before starting your course but now live in England, you may qualify for a student loan from Student Finance England: https://www.gov.uk/student-finance.
• Overseas applicants and those applicants who have already completed a higher education course (i.e., BA/BSc) will not be eligible to apply for a government student loan or grant. You will have to pay via one of the following alternative options, listed in section 13 below.

12. Other payment methods

The University of Birmingham provides a range of alternative payment options to suit everyone. An indication of how you intend to pay your tuition fees must be made as part of your application to the University. These other options are as follows: 

Full payment  (upfront):

• Online using a debit or credit card
• Cheque or bankers draft
• Direct bank transfer

Instalment plan: 

• Online using a debit or credit card
• Direct debit payment for each term

Further information can be found on the University of Birmingham’s Student Fees webpage: https://intranet.birmingham.ac.uk/finance/student-fees/UK-students/index.aspx

13. Will having a student loan for 30 years affect my ability to obtain another loan or mortgage in the future?

• Unlike other loans, student loans will not appear on your credit file, so lenders will not know it exists unless they ask. If they do ask then you will be required to tell them. The Council for Mortgage Lenders states “a student loan is very unlikely to impact materially on an individual’s ability to get a mortgage, but the amount of mortgage available may depend on the net income.”
• Once you are earning a sufficient salary to be making repayments on the student loan, then you will obviously have slightly less net income than if you did not have the loan. It is also important to note that the loan does not pass onto your beneficiaries should you die before you are able to clear the debt or should the 30 year limit elapse. Instead, the loan will be written off in full.

14. Do I have to take out a Tuition Fee loan?

• No, however, if you, your parents or your employer decide to pay your tuition fees upfront  without taking out a student loan, you will have to pay via one of the alternative options outlined in section 13.
• Taking on debt is an important and complex decision, so you may wish to take independent financial advice first.