Undergraduate bursaries

• The Escape Bursary
  For home full-time first-degree undergraduate students eligible for free school meals (FSM), we offer a £1000 cash bursary each year of your course. This bursary is based on FSM eligibility only.
  
  It doesn't matter if you don't use free school meals - we just need to know whether you're entitled to them, which you can check here.

• The Access to Learning Bursary
  In addition, any full-time first-degree undergraduate student with a declared disability, caring responsibilities, a care leaver, or those students estranged from your family will receive an Access to Learning cash bursary of £500. The Access to Learning Bursary is paid in addition to the Escape Bursary and is also paid for each year of study.

Both bursaries are payable for a maximum of three years of study.

You will be assessed for the bursary each year when you apply for student finance. However, receiving a bursary one year does not guarantee that you will receive it again, as your circumstances may change.

Evidence and supporting documents

• Free school meals (FSM)
  Evidence required to confirm FSM eligibility may include providing a letter from your school or local authority confirming FSM status or providing documentation proving your parent or guardian is receiving one of the following benefits.

  • Income Support

  • Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance

  • Income-related Employment and Support Allowance

  • Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999

  • The guaranteed element of Pension Credit

  • Child Tax Credit (provided you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)

  • Working Tax Credit run-on - paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit

  • Universal Credit - if you apply on or after 1 April 2018, your household income must be less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including any benefits you get).

• You're in care or have experience being in care
  We may need a letter from a social worker confirming your care status.

• You have caring responsibilities for a family member
  We may require documentation such as confirmation of carers’ allowance or a letter from a professional social worker or local authority.

• You have a declared disability
  We may require a letter from a GP or practitioner or a copy of any assessment confirming a disability.

• You are estranged from your family
  We may require a supporting statement to show you are irreconcilably estranged from any parent. For information, please refer to the Stand Alone website.

The annual award for each bursary is paid in equal monthly instalments during term time from October to May, with payments scheduled for the first working day of each month. The instalment may take up to five working days before the funds are credited to your designated bank account. If awarded a bursary, you will receive a letter detailing the timing and amount of these instalments. As a rough guide, see the schedule below.

The Escape Bursary schedule

Access to Learning Bursary schedule

For home undergraduate students starting degrees, we offer a £1500 cash bursary each year of your course to students from the following backgrounds:

• Care leavers

• Students with an annual household income below £25,000 and who are from an area where young people are least likely to enter higher education (POLAR4 Quintile 1)

• Students with an annual household income below £25,000 and who are from one of the most deprived areas (IMD Quintile 1).

The annual £1500 award is paid in monthly instalments during term-time from October to May, with payments scheduled for the first working day of each month. The intsalment may take up to five working days before funds are credited to your designated bank account. If awarded a bursary, you will receive a letter outlining the timing and amount of these instalments. As a rough guide, see timing of bursary instalments below.

Access and Participation Bursary: timing of payments

You will be assessed for the bursary each year when you apply for student finance. Having received a bursary one year does not guarantee you will receive it again, as your circumstances may change.

Please note that bursary awards for 2023/24 entrants are based on both household income and postcode, so having a Quintile 1 area postcode does not automatically mean that you will receive a bursary.

For home undergraduate students who started degrees in 2020/21, 2021/22 or 2022/23, we offer a £1500 cash bursary for each year of your course to students from the following backgrounds:

• Care leavers

• Students with an annual household income below £25,000.

The annual £1500 award is paid in instalments during term-time. If awarded a bursary, you will receive a letter outlining the timing and amount of these instalments. As a guide, you can view a general indication of the timing and amount of bursary instalments for the 2022/23 academic year.

You can see whether you live in a POLAR4 Quintile 1 area using the lookup tool on the Office for Students website which shows the POLAR4 Quintile of the postcode entered.

For postcodes in England, you can use the deprivation lookup tool to see Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) information. When you enter your postcode, it will create an xlsx or csv spreadsheet you can download and open.

Column F in the spreadsheet will show the IMD decile of your postcode. If the IMD decile is 1 or 2, this means your postcode is in an IMD Quintile 1 area.