Student Loans - IELTS General Reading Sample With Explanation

IELTS Reading section contains three different types of passages and questions. IELTS Reading passages are taken from different sources like science, technology, business, arts, environmental science, and more. This IELTS Reading topic - Student Loans is an IELTS General Training topic. IELTS Reading practice papers are vital preparation materials for candidates. This passage contains one question type:

1. Identifying Information

Student Loans - IELTS General Reading Sample

The government has been funding a loans scheme for students in Higher Education since September 1990.
These loans are available as a ‘top up’ to the standard grant. Although the loan is intended to supplement the grant for living costs, eligibility for a student loan is not restricted to those who receive a maintenance grant. The decision whether or not to take the loan is yours.
Eligibility
You are eligible for a student loan if you are a UK resident and are attending a full-time Higher Education Course, below postgraduate level, or a Postgraduate Certificate in Education course, provided you start your course before your 50th birthday. Full-time courses last at least one academic year and include sandwich courses which combine time at college with time spent in a workplace.
Eligible courses are offered by colleges, universities, the scottish grant aided colleges and other publicly funded institutions providing higher education courses.
In general, eligible courses include first-degree courses or their equivalents and any other courses for which your Local Authority will pay your tuition fees.
Your financial circumstances
Students who want loans are not ‘means tested’ or ‘credit vetted’ – all those eligible will obtain a loan. This means that:
The amount of your maintenance grant or tuition fees does not matter.
Other income, if any, is not taken into account.
Any previous student loans are not taken into account
The income of your parents, spouse, partner or other relatives is not taken into account.
Your previous financial record is not a consideration.
When to apply for a loan
If you would like more information on how to apply for a student loan in readiness for your entry to Higher Education in Autumn in 2003, then you should contact ‘The Student Loans Company’ from June 2003 onwards. Once in Higher Education, you can apply for a loan at any time in the academic year.

QUESTION 20-27

Read the passage and answer the questions 20 – 27 below.
In boxes 20- 27 on your answer sheet write
YES if the answer to the question is ‘yes’
NO if the answer to the question is ‘no’
NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in the passage

(Guide: Candidates need to study the questions then either agree with the questions by answering Yes or disagreeing with the questions by answering No. In case there is no fact given in the passage, the candidate needs to answer Not Given)

Question 20. I’m taking a month’s cookery course at a local college. It’s a private catering college. I’m going a couple of evenings a week, after work. I get a diploma at the end of it. Can I get some help with a student loan?

Answer- No

Supporting sentence-The Government has been funding a loans scheme for students in Higher Education.

You are eligible for a student loan if you are a UK resident and are attending a full-time Higher Education course, below postgraduate level, or a Postgraduate Certificate in Education course.

Keyword- higher-education, eligible, full-time, post-graduate

Keyword location- part-2, line 1st, 6th, 7th, 8th

Explanation- It is mentioned in the passage that a student applying for student loans must be pursuing a full-time higher education course or a post-graduate level course or even a post-graduate certificate course. So a monthly cookery course for a diploma from a local college won’t make it to the list for student loans.

Also check:

Question 21. I’m starting a foundation course in September. It’s full time and after a year I hope to get on to a degree course. The fees for the actual course are being paid for by my Local Authority. Am I eligible for a student loan?

Answer- Yes

Supporting sentence- In general, eligible courses include first-degree courses or their equivalents and any other courses for which your Local Authority will pay your tuition fees.

Keyword- eligible, first-degree, course, equivalent, at least

Keyword location- Part-2 student loans, line 6th, and 8th.

Explanation- Here, a student is eligible for student loans if she/he is doing a first-degree course or any other equivalent to it. However, the fee for the same is paid by their local authorities. So, a student is eligible for a student loan if he/she is doing a foundation course and its fee is paid by his/her local authority.

Question 22. I finish my first degree in July. I’ve got a place on a Postgraduate Certificate in Education course to start in September. Will the Local Authority pay the tuition fees for this course?

Answer- Not given

Explanation- there is nothing given in the passage related to this question.

Question 23. Now all her children are grown up my mother says she’d like to finish the studies she was forced to give up earlier in life. She’s 48 now and her course is full-time for a year. Is she too old to get a student loan?

Answer- No

Supporting sentence- You are eligible for a student loan if you are a UK resident and are attending a full-time Higher Education course, below postgraduate level, or a Postgraduate Certificate in Education course, provided you start your course before your 50th birthday. Full-time courses last at least one academic year.

Keyword- start, full-time, course, before, 50th birthday

Keyword location- part- 2 student loans, line 8th.

Explanation- Here, it is mentioned that a person is eligible for student loans until he/she is below 50 years of age and pursuing a full-time course for at least one year. Therefore, the lady is 48 years old and wants to do a full-time course of one year. So she is not old to get a student loan.

Question 24. I’ve already been given a small scholarship to cover some of my tuition fees. Can I still get a student loan?

Answer- Yes

Supporting sentence-Students who want loans are not ‘means tested’ or ‘credit vetted’ - all those eligible will obtain a loan.

Keyword- want, loans, not, means-tested, eligible, obtain

Keyword location- part-2, line 15th

Explanation- In the part mentioned above it is said that students are eligible for student loans no matter they are already getting any benefits from the government, state, or federal welfare programs which includes scholarships. So, this student can have student loans even after getting a scholarship.

Question 25. I’m actually staying with my aunt while I’m at college. Will the Student Loans Company want to know how much she earns?

Answer- No

Supporting sentence- Students who want loans are not ‘means tested’ or ‘credit vetted’ - all those eligible will obtain a loan. This means that:

The income of your parents, spouse, partner, or other relatives is not taken into account.

Keyword- income, relatives, not, taken, account

Keyword location- part-2, line 20th

Explanation- Here, it is mentioned in the above paragraph that while taking student loans, the income of any relative, his/her parents, or their husband/ wife is not considered. So, Student Loans Company would not want to know his/her aunt's earnings.

Question 26. I owed the bank rather a lot of money a few years ago. It’s all paid back now but they won’t lend me any more. Will this disqualify me from getting a student loan?

Answer- No

Supporting sentence- Students who want loans are not ‘means tested’ or ‘credit vetted’ - all those eligible will obtain a loan. This means that:

Your previous financial record is not a consideration.

Keyword- previous, financial, records, not, consideration

Keyword location- part-2, line 21st

Explanation- It is mentioned in the above paragraph, that any money-related issues with bank-like loans taken, not paid back on time are not taken into consideration while giving student loans. So no matter that you were late in paying bank’s money to the bank and they would not let you make money again. You can still get student loans for your higher education.

Question 27. I took a course a couple of years ago, got a student loan, but had to withdraw halfway through. I’ve kept up all my payments on my loan. Am I eligible for a second loan?

Answer- Yes

Supporting sentence-Once in Higher Education, you can apply for a loan at any time in the academic year.

Keyword- once, higher-education, apply, loan, anytime, academic, year

Keyword location- part-2, line-25th last line

Explanation- Here it is said in the above paragraph that a student can take a student loan any time during the academic year. It is just that they must have started the course. So, no matter that you have taken a loan earlier or withdrew your course in between. You can still apply for a student loan second time during the academic year.