Postgraduate Financial Assistance Fund

Applicants must be current registered postgraduate students of the University. The Financial Assistance Fund classifies current registered students as students who have not met their course requirements and who have not submitted their soft-bound thesis. 

Applicants should have sought the maximum support from all available sources before applying. It is expected that if a student has access to a funder or a government supported, educational loan they will take out/extend this loan before applying for financial assistance from the University. 

• Students must be matriculated (i.e. have a college) postgraduate students of the University of Cambridge, working towards their course requirements. Students studying for award-bearing courses with Professional and Continuing Education (PACE) who are not matriculated (i.e. do not have a College) are unfortunately not eligible. Most of these courses are under a year in duration and the student should have appropriate finances to cover their costs for the year as stated in their financial guarantee.
• Following the same principle, matriculated students on a one-year course will not usually be eligible for support.
• Intermitting students are not eligible for this fund. 
• Students on the following courses are ineligible to apply to the fund:
  1. Non-award (degree) bearing courses offered by PACE
  2. Diplomas
  3. Postgraduate Certificate and Master of Studies, which are less than 9 months in length
  4. Higher Doctoral
• Students who have completed their course requirements, (i.e. submitted their soft-bound thesis)
• Students who are within the last 6 weeks of their course - PhD students must apply more than 6 weeks before soft-bound thesis submission / their submission deadline. Masters students must apply 6 weeks before final exam/ final coursework deadline (course dependent)

Students should refer to the 'Further grounds for ineligibility' below before they consider making an application to the Fund.

Financial assistance will not be provided for:

• students who are on intermission
• students who have not made adequate financial provision prior to starting their studies
• students with access to savings of over £1,000 or alternative funding which could meet their shortfall
• students with high living costs above the indicative amounts from the University's Postgraduate Admissions Office of £19,020 for 2025-26 without acceptable justification
• students who are fully funded by a sponsor (rather than by personal savings or by family). ‘Fully funded’ refers to students who receive maintenance support equal to or greater than the indicative living cost for 2025-26 (£19,020), and whose tuition fees are fully covered by an internal or external funder — for example, those funded by a UK Research Council
• students in the first term of their course
• students paying off debt or overdrafts
• situations that were foreseeable (including normal course costs).
• situations that occurred before the current academic year
• supporting family members or friends
• tuition fees
• medical costs
• College accommodation costs over the holidays, without an exceptional reason
• childcare costs
• visa costs
• shortfalls higher than £3,000, where there is no viable plan to meet the rest of the shortfall
• applicants who have received the maximum award this academic year of £3,000 
• costs that have already been mitigated against by a previous award from the fund
• currency fluctuations are not supported, unless there is a currency collapse. Please see our FAQs for more information
• students studying for Award-Bearing courses with PACE who are not matriculated (i.e. do not have a College). This is because most of these courses are under a year duration and the student should have appropriate finances
• following the same principle, matriculated students on a one-year course will not usually be eligible for these funds

Support for students undertaking a fourth year of PhD study is available to those who have been subject to an unforeseen circumstance, but only after they have exhausted all other funding options. This includes possible funding from their College, department or external sponsor(s). The Fund views a fourth year of PhD study as a reasonable expectation of undertaking a PhD and will not fund fourth years for those who have not experienced an unforeseen circumstance that impacts on their completion date.

• Applications must be supported by statements submitted by a College Tutor and Academic Supervisor as confirmation that they have discussed the student's financial circumstances with the student.
• College Tutors will request evidence of financial documentation regarding income and expenditure to provide their supporting statement. This allows us to verify the information you have provided and to ensure that students are accessing all avenues of support.
• Applications require a supportive Supervisor's statement, which details your course progress. For cases citing extensions to PhDs, students will need a detailed Supervisor's statement explaining why an extension is necessary, what mitigations have been put in place, and why these have not been sufficient.

You can download an offline copy of the application form to practise. Please note that this is for practise only and the link to the online application form can be found below. Applications need to be submitted via the online form in step 2 and not via email. 

1. Assess which fund you are eligible for

   Check the website to see which fund you are eligible for and which fund best suits your needs.

2. Discuss the application with your College Tutor
3. Apply Here

4. Support forms and support documents

   Your College Tutor and Academic Supervisor will be asked to complete supporting forms for your application.

5. Receive your outcome

You will notified of the outcome via email at the end of the month following your application.You will then be invited to add your bank details on CamSIS after receiving an award confirmation. Payments will be made within 2 weeks of receiving your bank details on CamSIS. In most cases payments will be made directly to the applicant, in cases of significant college debt, payments will be made to the College. 

You will receive the outcome of your application at the end of the month following your application to the Fund*. For example, if you applied to the fund in October, you should expect to receive an outcome via email by 30 November.

*Please note, it may take us longer to communicate outcomes during busy periods, and in cases where we are awaiting additional information regarding an application. 

Am I eligible to apply for the Fund?

Current postgraduate students who have not submitted their soft-bound thesis are eligible. Unfortunately, the Fund is unable to accept applications from non-matriculated students or students on the following courses:

• Non-award (degree) bearing courses offered by Professional and Continuing Education
• Diplomas
• Postgraduate Certificate and Master of Studies courses of less than 9 months in length
• Higher Doctoral courses

How much support is available?

Eligible students can receive a grant of up to £3,000 (full-time) or £1,500 (part-time) (2025/26 rate) per academic year to assist with unforeseen financial difficulties.

When can I apply to the fund?

Students can apply to the Fund any time between October and August.

Do you expect me to run my savings down to £0?

No, savings over £1,000 will be considered as spare money to be used towards any financial shortfall.

How many times can I apply to the Postgraduate Financial Assistance Fund?

Students can apply once per term. However, the maximum amount that can be awarded per academic year is £3,000 (full-time students) or £1,500 (for part-time students) (2024/25 rate). If you have already received awards totalling the maximum award in an academic year, you will be ineligible.

Who do I contact regarding my application?

The Student Funding and Fee Policy Team manage the administration of the Postgraduate Financial Assistance Fund. Please contact them at financialassistance@admin.cam.ac.uk 

How do I find out what is happening with my application?

To check on the progress of your application, please contact financialassistance@admin.cam.ac.uk 

Please do not contact us if you have not passed the final working day of the month following your application. 

How will my application be assessed?

We will assess your expected income against reasonable expenditure and annual indicative rates for living costs. Additionally, we will consider your application against our eligibility criteria and your CAMSIS record to determine if an award can be made.

When/how will I hear my outcome?

You will be notified of the results of your application at the end of the following month after you have applied to the Fund. For example if you applied in October, you should expect to receive an outcome via email at the end of November. 

How will I receive my award?

Awards are paid directly to the student via CamSIS.

How do I add my bank details onto CamSIS? 

Log in to CamSIS and click on the ‘Student Payments’ tab. You will then be prompted to upload your bank details (name, sort code and account number). Your details will then be checked and verified. You will need to provide the details of a UK bank account.  

CamSIS says I need to contact an administrator. What do I do? 

We expect that the majority of students will be fine with the automatic verification of bank details online. However, if there are issues you will be redirected to contact your school administrator. Please contact financialassistance@admin.cam.ac.uk who will be able to assist you. 

How do I appeal a decision?

An appeal is only possible if procedural irregularities occurred when considering an application for an award that materially (or potentially material) affected the outcome. Please contact the Secretary at financialassistance@admin.cam.ac.uk with any enquiries about an appeal. 

I have additional information in support of my application. Where shall I send this?

Please send any additional information, which has not been included in your application, to financialassistance@admin.cam.ac.uk

What is a currency collapse?

This is a devaluation of currency exchange rate of/or equal to 20% or more, when verified on https://www.oanda.com/currency-converter/en/ by the Student Funding and Fee Policy Team over the course of the last month. Preference will be given to students whose money is in a currency experiencing a devaluation of 50% or more, or those on a course with a duration longer than 12 months.

Where can I find out more about external funding?

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. It also gives advice about how to apply to them. 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.