University Hardship Fund

Eligibility

Students who are on any further education, undergraduate, graduate diploma, postgraduate or research course can apply for the University Hardship Fund, but you should check the detailed eligibility requirements in the guidance notes before applying.

To be eligible for a payment from this fund, students will need to have an annual household income that is below £50,000.

Applications will also be considered from students studying a further education course who are not eligible for statutory funding from the 16-18 Bursary and Advanced Learner Loans Bursary. Further education applications will need to meet the eligibility criteria for the University Hardship Fund in order to be considered for funding.

All Home undergraduate students will need to have student finance assessment of household income that is below £50,000 to be eligible for payment from these funds and, International and postgraduate students will be required to demonstrate their household income is below this level. If you have not been means-tested, you will not be eligible for consideration for the University Hardship Fund.

Postgraduate and research students who are eligible for a student loan from Student Finance,  must have taken out the full entitlement in order for your application to be considered.  If you have not taken the Student Finance loan, you will not be eligible for consideration for the University Hardship Fund. Applicants must be able to demonstrate that they have made realistic provision at the start of the course to fund both the course tuition fees and living costs for the duration of the course otherwise you will not be eligible for consideration for the University Hardship Fund.

In recognition of rising energy costs, the University Hardship Fund will provide a contribution of £500 to help with fuel cost for students who are in privately rented accommodation.

The Fund will treat the following student groups as a priority for assessment. Students:

• with caring responsibilities
• who are care leavers (home undergraduate students only)
• with disabilities and chronic medical conditions which may affect paid employment
• who are estranged from both parents (to be considered estranged from your parents, you must be under 25 years old and you won’t have had any written or verbal contact with either parent and this is unlikely to change. Estrangement is usually for a period of at least 12 months) - this priority group is only applicable to undergraduate students
• with significant debts
• who have been a victim of fraud resulting in unexpected hardship
• who have experienced exceptional unexpected circumstances which can be documented - may include but is not limited to costs incurred due to bereavement for a parent/guardian, within the last 12 months; loss of earnings and parent/guardians loss of earnings - invoices/receipts for expenses incurred will be required.

Priority group awards are capped at a maximum of 2 priority groups.

All applications will be assessed for a full academic year.

About

The University Hardship Fund is a means-tested grant, it is not a loan and does not need to be repaid. Support is available to assist with living and digital equipment costs.

For home undergraduate, postgraduate and research students, the minimum award we can pay is £200. Therefore, if your assessment shows the difference between your income and expenditure to be less than £200, no payment will be made. The maximum amount we award is £5000.

Awards for further education students, all graduate diploma students and international students are based on priority groups. The minimum award we can pay is £200 and the maximum amount we award is £2000.

There is no guarantee that any applicant will be eligible for or awarded the maximum amount.

Awards are paid in 3 termly instalments. All applications will be assessed for a full academic year.

The award is for maintenance only; no award will be made for tuition fees.

Receiving payment

Successful applicants will receive payment via bank transfer. Further information to be provided after confirmation of funding.