Students should have sought the maximum support available from external sources before applying to the University's Financial Assistance Funds. It is expected that if a student has access to a government supported, educational loan they will take out/extend this loan before applying for financial assistance from the University.
Undergraduate students
UK students should have applied to Student Finance for all tuition fee loans and grants, maintenance loans and grants and any other statutory awards for which they may be eligible, before applying to the Undergraduate Financial Assistance Fund.
If household financial circumstances have worsened since their initial application, students can apply to have their household income reassessed by Student Finance, which may result in further support and a higher Cambridge Bursary (which is calculated automatically based on household income and other factors). Your College Tutor can advise you.
EU students should have taken out a tuition fee loan from Student Finance England, where eligible, before applying to the Undergraduate Financial Assistance Fund. They should have also applied for any student loans that are available to them in their home countries.
Overseas students will have supplied a funding plan before arriving in Cambridge, and should ask their guarantors to honour this plan before applying to the Undergraduate Financial Assistance Fund. The Fund will not be prepared to assist students unless there has been some unexpected change of circumstances since they originally supplied their funding plan.
Student Finance funded students having to intermit their studies may apply for their maintenance funding to continue for up to 60 days (8 weeks) due to 'Compelling Personal Reasons'. Please see here for more information: Withdrawing or suspending study.
Postgraduate students
Many hundreds of charities make awards to current and prospective postgraduate students. However, they can be hard to find and may require a specific and specialised approach.
A useful source of information for exploring funding opportunities from charities and voluntary organisations is the Alternative Guide to Postgraduate Funding. This is an external resource published independently by GradFunding. It provides a database of alternative funding opportunities from charities and trusts and gives advice about how to apply to them, including model personal and financial statements. The University has purchased a licence to the Guide, so it’s free for all students and staff to use.
Current Cambridge students and staff can use their University email address to register online for access to the Guide.