If you are a resident in England and studying for an undergraduate degree for the first time, government loans are available from
Student Finance to cover your tuition fees and help towards your living costs
How much does my degree cost?
How Much Does My Degree Cost?
Fees for all undergraduate programmes offered by The Northern School of Art are £9,250 per year for students commencing their studies in September 2024.
For students starting in September 2025, fees are currently under review and will be published shortly. We recommend checking back for updates.
If you have any questions regarding fees or funding, please contact our Admissions team at admissions@northernart.ac.uk.
Do I pay fees in full at the beginning of the programme?
You are not expected to pay your fees in full at the beginning of the programme. New full-time students can apply for a Tuition Fee Loan of up to £9,250 to cover the cost of tuition fees; the amount you can get does not depend on your household income.
If you are not eligible for a Tuition Fee Loan, or you have any queries about the payment of fees, you can contact Student Finance,
studentfinance@northernart.ac.uk who can offer advice and guidance. For more information on the alternative types of support that might be available to you, read our
Money Matters guide.
Do I get any help with living costs?
Maintenance loans are available for each year of study to help with living costs such as food, accommodation and travel. These are normally only applicable to UK residents, for more information on eligibility; you can visit the
Student Finance website. There is also information in the
Undergraduate student finance and support section of the UCAS website.
The amount you can borrow depends on where you live and study, and your household income. For more information and to find out what support you could get, please use the
Student Finance Calculator.
Useful links:
MONEY SAVING EXPERT
STUDENT FINANCE ENGLAND
STUDENT LOANS COMPANY
UCAS
Financial Support provided by the School
The Northern School of Art also offers a range of financial support to students from underrepresented groups as defined by the Office for Students. As we believe that financial support for students from low-income backgrounds promotes attendance and student engagement in their studies.
The financial support that the School offers for students commencing their studies in September 2023 includes:
- Maintenance Grant - Students in receipt of the maximum maintenance loan will be eligible for a grant for the duration of their studies, the first year’s payment will be £500, followed by payments at the second and third year of £300. This is to provide additional support to students from low- income backgrounds.
- Tees Valley Progression Award - Young students, under the age of 21 years from the Tees Valley who live in areas with low participation in higher education POLAR4 (Q1) will be eligible for a one-off award of £500 in their first year of study.
- Care Leavers Bursary - Students who are care leavers will be eligible for a bursary of £500 pa for the duration of their programme. This is to provide additional support to students who may lack support structures.
- Mature Students Award - Students aged 21 years or over who have not previously undertaken a higher education programme of study will be eligible for a one-off award of £500 in their first year of study. This is to provide initial support to students re-entering education.
Students will be eligible for a maximum of £1,000 financial support in any academic year. It is intended that the School will release funds to students, subject to satisfactory student attendance of 80% across all registered sessions, and the final term bursary payment is subject to successful progression to the next level of study or successful completion of studies.
Access and Participation Plan
The information regarding tuition fees and financial support detailed above, can be found in the School’s
Access and Participation Plan, which is available on the Office for Students website
Office for Students. The website also provides previous Access Agreements for students who commenced their studies with the School before the academic year 2021-22.
Student Protection Plan
The
Student Protection Plan is a document that is approved by the Office for Students (OfS) that every higher education provider is required to have. It sets out what measures we have in place to protect you, as a student at The Northern School of Art, should a risk to the continuation of your studies arise and details how we would communicate with you.
Other costs
We know that students need studio space and access to the right technical software. So we don’t charge studio fees, and licensed software is available for students to use, including
MS Office and Adobe Creative Cloud Software, along with other specialised software packages.
There are some additional costs you can’t avoid, for example, the purchase of materials for specific modules and projects, along with printing and photocopying costs. These will depend on the choices you make during your studies and what techniques you will explore in different modules.
While it is not possible to tell you exactly how much you will spend, we can give you an idea of the range of costs experienced by students in recent years:
Level 4 - £120 to £670
Level 5 - £110 to £830
Level 6 - £80 to £940
Costs tend to be higher in the second and third years of undergraduate study. Many students successfully secure sponsorship for their final major projects and all students are involved in fundraising for their degree show.
Trips
You will also have the opportunity to undertake educational visits in the UK and overseas; these visits are designed to enhance and enrich your learning experience. Where a visit forms part of a module, then the costs will be subsidised, though students may be expected to contribute a small charge, for example, £10 towards transport. Overseas trips are optional – in recent years the costs have varied between just over £100 for a trip to London and £360 to £400 for a trip to a European capital such as Paris or Rome.
Creative Practice Package
In addition to our grants and bursaries, all students who successfully enrol with us will automatically be entitled to our Creative Practice Package…
The ‘Creative Practice Package’ entitles you to:
• Home licence access to Adobe Creative Suite (including Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, After Effects etc.
• Home licence access to Microsoft Office 365
• All first-year workshop materials are fully included for all induction workshop materials
• Specialist software access, dependent on your programme
• Subsidised international trips and visits throughout your programme
• Free of charge access to industry-standard equipment including cameras and video equipment
• Full-access to resources across programmes; This includes access to IT, iMac suites, Cintiqs, photography equipment, cameras, ceramics studios, textile beds and dye labs, industry-standard sewing facilities, sound booths, animation suites, photography dark rooms, 3D printers, laser cutters, woodwork shops and more!
Creative UK
As a student at The Northern School of Art you can also sign up to become a student member of Creative UK for free.
This connects you to a vibrant UK-wide network, placing you at the heart of the creative industries. You will get access to exclusive content including industry news, insights and opportunities to connect and collaborate. You will be able to attend national and local events and festivals and membership will keep you in the loop with everything you need to know about the creative industries – from jobs opportunities to key pieces of research.
