When embarking on their education journey, whether it be as an undergraduate or a postgraduate, some home students would usually take the funding support options provided by SLC (Student Loan Company).
However, some students are not able to take this option for Tuition Fee or Maintenance Loans due to religious constraints, given the interest that is accrued with these loans.
We are offering support to students who require guidance on this area via one-to-one virtual appointments with our Student Finance Team, who can guide you through the process. Please contact us here to book your appointment.
For more information, students could consider the guidance below:
There are financial services and banks established in the UK that are Sharia Compliant for students to consider. Below is the list of the providers:
- Al Rayan Bank
- The National Zakat Foundation (NZF)
- United Bank UK
- Ansar Finance
This funding could be in addition to parental support or other loans which are compliant for your requirements or are otherwise non-interest bearing.
Scholarship for British Muslims
The University of Greenwich partners with The Aziz Foundation, a charity that offers 100% tuition fee masters scholarships to British Muslim students studying at UK universities. For more information click here
Other UK government student finance
Some elements of government student finance are not repayable depending on personal circumstances. These include supplementary grants for dependents or disability-related course costs.
If you are assessed for support by Student Finance Wales, you may qualify for a non-repayable maintenance grant. Students will usually need to apply for student finance to receive this support, although you are not obliged to take any of the loans that they offer (you can apply for a £0 loan).
The benefit of applying with a zero-amount loan is to allow Student Finance to complete a household assessment. The household assessment could make you eligible for some of the scholarship/bursaries available at the University. Please visit your student finance local agency website for more details.
Sharia-compliant financing
The UK government has been working on the possibility of an alternative finance system available alongside traditional student loans that will avoid the payment of interest but results in identical repayments to the conventional system. This funding would be Sharia compliant and overseen by a Sharia advisory committee.
After the public consultation ended in 2014, this resulted in an agreement to offer an alternative finance product. This 'Takaful' product has received preliminary approval from Al Rayan Bank's Sharia supervisory committee. See chapter 4, paragraphs 27-36 of 2015 government green paper 'Fulfilling our potential Teaching Excellence, Social Mobility and Student Choice' [PDF 2,197KB].
Some financial institutions have Sharia-compliant financial services. They guarantee that money held in these accounts is not invested in industries such as gambling, alcohol or weapons manufacture.
More information can be found on the government website here: Alternative student finance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
