Student Support Fund

What is the Student support fund?

The Student Support fund provides discretionary financial assistance to students to help them access and remain in Higher Education – particularly those students who need help to meet extra costs not met from other sources of support.  The fund can also be used to help alleviate unexpected financial hardship.

The Student Support Fund opens from the 1st November 2018.  The deadline for applications is Friday 19th April 2019.  Please note that you will not be able to submit an application before the fund opens or after midnight on the date of the deadline. Please note that the fund is limited so there is always a chance that if you leave it till the deadline to apply, the amount you receive may be less than had you applied, and been assessed, earlier in the year.

How can I apply?

Please note - we are no longer able to accept paper applications and all applications to the student support fund must be made electronically and via the steps below.  In addition all supporting documents must be attached to the application form and submitted electronically.

Please note  - we cannot accept applications via email.

Step 1: Read the guidance notes (listed below) and gather electronic copies of all of the necessary supporting documents.
Step 2: Complete a copy of the electronic application form, attach all necessary documentation and submit your application.
Step 3: On submission, your request will be logged on our enquiry system and you will see a popup success message along with a reference number. You will also receive an email as confirmation of receipt, to your university email account from UniHelp which provides a link to your student portal. Please click on the link for any updates on your application.
Step 4: The student financial support team will aim to contact you within 2 working days to give you an indication of how long it will take to check your application. At certain times of the year (and specifically November, December and April when we receive the most applications) it may take up to 3 weeks for your application to be initially considered.  Check your university email account and look for an email from UniHelp with this update.
Step 5: Your application will be checked and assessed and if we require further information we will contact you.  If your application is unsuccessful (which means that a payment will not be paid to you as your income is deemed sufficient to cover your essential expenditure) we will let you know as soon as possible. If your application is successful we will confirm any payment to be made and an associated payment plan, if the award is to be paid in instalments.

All communication will be via email from UniHelp.

Student Support Fund – Guidance Notes
general eligibility
How will my application be assessed?
Informal childcare form
Informal childcare guidance
Information for postgraduate students
Private vehicle costs
Students living with a partner
Assistance with childcare costs
Travel costs

Filling in the Form

Open the form and enter details of your course and household structure. Once you have completed this you will be able to see what supporting evidence you need to gather to complete the form.

It is recommended that you submit the application with all supporting evidence in one go. We would therefore advise that you gather, scan and save all your supporting evidence on your computer and then upload the evidence to the application as you complete the form.

Now you have read all about the fund, click below to complete and submit the form. You can only submit an application on a desktop or laptop and must use  Mozilla Firefox to complete the form. Please do not complete the form on a smartphone or tablet.

Student Support Fund Form

If you have already submitted an application and need to attach additional documentation or view any updates, please log in to myUniHub and your online portal