Bursaries for current students
For our current students, there are several university financial support options and bursaries available to help with everything from day-to-day living costs, to funding professional development opportunities.
Take a look at our Bursaries and awards for current students page to find out more.
For our current students, there are several university financial support options available to help with everything from day-to-day living costs to funding professional development opportunities.
These include the Cost of Living Assistance scheme (COLA) and the Living expenses support scheme (LESS).
For full details on all the bursary and awards that are on offer for our current students please see them listed on the (LESS) webpage.
Disabled Students' Allowance (DSA)
If you have a long-term health condition or disability, you may be eligible to apply for the Disabled Students' Allowance grant, provided by Student Finance England.
For more information, visit our Funding for students with disabilities page.
If you receive Disability Living Allowance or the Personal Independence Payment, please contact Student Advice to discuss your state benefit entitlement.
Charities and trusts
Charities and trusts offer financial support to people in need. Each one has its own eligibility criteria and application process, for example, you may need to live in a certain area and be under a certain age or have an unexpected financial difficulty during your studies. This is a useful option to investigate, but should not be viewed as a way to meet all your financial study needs, as the grants involved are normally minimal.
The Turn2Us website has a free online trust fund search.
The following sites are also useful resources for funding information:
- Directgov website
- Prospects website
- The Alternative Guide to Postgraduate Funding
- The Student Room
- Scholarship Search
- Research Council
Student Finance England grants
The following grants are available:
- A Parents' Learning Allowance of up to £1,963 in 2024–25 to help with additional costs for your child
- A Childcare Grant with a provider who is on the Ofsted early years register or General Childcare register. This grant can cover up to 85% of your childcare costs, up to a maximum of £193.62 in 2024–25 for one child and £331.95 for two or more children. It will never cover 100% of your childcare costs. You can apply for the Childcare Grant with your main Student Finance application. You will be asked to send in evidence. You will then receive a letter detailing how much Student Finance you will receive, and asked to set up an account with Childcare Grant Payment Service (CGPS).
- An Adult Dependent Grant of up to £3,438 in 2024–25 paid for an adult who is dependent on you financially, for example, a partner with little or no income
Grants for Dependents, eg for a child or partner, are assessed using household income, financial dependence on you and do not need to be repaid. These are paid directly to you in three instalments at the beginning of each term. The financial assessment used to calculate your entitlement to these grants differs from the one used for the Maintenance Loan, so receipt of this loan does not guarantee you will also receive these grants.
For more information about the additional grants available, visit Student Finance England.
If you are responsible for a child or young person please contact Student Advice to discuss your state benefit entitlement.
Tax credits
It is no longer possible to make new claims for tax credits. If you are already getting tax credits, you may be able to carry on receiving them. Otherwise, you will need to make a claim for Universal Credit. From April 2025 tax credits will be migrated into Universal Credit.
Tax credits may be an option to top up your income and/or help pay for childcare costs if relevant. To check the eligibility rules visit the gov.uk website.
Contact Student Advice if you have a Student Visa or any other type of visa, as you may not be eligible to claim tax credits or state benefits and claiming could break your visa conditions.
Claiming Government benefits
Most full–time students cannot claim or continue to claim benefits while they study. However, there are exceptions. For information about who can claim and how student loan income affects benefits, please visit our Benefit pages.
Part-time study does not exclude students from claiming Government benefits and you can claim under the usual benefit rules. The part-time Tuition Fee Loan and Disabled Students' Allowance do not count as income and do not reduce the amount of benefit payable to you.
The part-time maintenance loan does count as income, so any benefits you receive may be reduced if you are in receipt of the part-time maintenance loan.
Funding for architecture students
If you are an architecture student, have a look at the RIBA Hardship Funds.
Funding for postgraduate students
Professional studies loan
If you are considering postgraduate study, masterscompare has information about funding opportunities for a number of universities.
The Postgraduate Master’s Loan and The Doctoral Loan are the main financial packages for students studying on such courses.
30% of whatever is given to the student for the academic year is considered income, and will be used in the calculation when assessing how much a student’s benefit payment will be reduced by some banks may operate personal loans for postgraduate study, you will need to check the availability with each individual bank. You should also check and compare interest rates and payments and read the terms and conditions carefully to ensure you can meet these terms before taking out a loan.