4. Discretionary support funds
Higher education institutions are allocated money to provide hardship funds for ’home’ (see
here) undergraduate and postgraduate students in financial difficulty. In Northern Ireland these are known as ’support funds’
. Repayable loans and non-repayable grants can be issued, although support is not guaranteed. Additional hardship funds may be available – check with your institution or students’ union.
Non-repayable grants may be available on a needs-assessed basis if you are experiencing financial difficulty serious enough to mean you may have to leave your course. The funds can help with living and study costs such as childcare, rent, books and utility bills, or with large one-off and exceptional costs, such as major housing repairs and emergency situations, such as fire or bereavement.
Priority is usually given to students with children, mature students, students from low-income families, disabled students, final-year students and those who have left care. However, all students who meet the personal and course requirements for undergraduate student support can apply, including healthcare students. You must, however, have applied for your full entitlement of a student loan, if you are eligible for one.
The funds cannot be used to meet the costs of tuition fees or to make up for non-receipt of a parental contribution to a grant or loan.
Grants are not normally more than £3,500, although institutions have some discretion in exceptional circumstances. Individual institutions have different application processes and different pressures on the funds, and no student, regardless of circumstances, is guaranteed a payment of any sum. However, there is an appeals process if you want to challenge a decision.