The Realise Fund
The Realise Financial Assistance Fund aims to support home fee undergraduate and Foundation Year students on intermission in financial need, who fall into groups identified in The Realise Project as follows:
- Care experienced and/or estranged students
- Refugee, asylum seeker and forced migrant students
- Young carer students
- Gypsy, Roma, traveller, showman and boater students.
The Realise Financial Assistance Fund can provide awards of up to £3,650 (including support from SLC) to help Realise-Project-identified students on intermission who are in financial need.
Applications are carefully reviewed by the University's Financial Assistance Sub-Committee and the application process is managed by the Student Funding and Fee Policy Team. Students must supply confirmation of the level of SLC maintenance support they will receive from SLC during their intermission. (Students who intermit may be eligible to receive maintenance support for 60 days from the date that their intermission begins.)
Eligible students are only able to access this financial assistance once during their studies at the University.
Additional support
Students eligible for the Realise Fund should also take advantage of the support available from the Student Loans Company, which can provide up to 60 days (8 weeks) of additional maintenance support for students on sickness absence. Other useful links are:
How to apply
Applicants to the fund must be current registered undergraduate home students on intermission and fall into one of the Realise groups. The Realise Fund classifies current registered students as students who have not met their course requirements.
Eligible students must fall into one of the below categories:
- Care experienced and/or estranged students
- Refugee, asylum seeker and forced migrant students
- Young carer students
- Gypsy, Roma, traveller, showman and boater students.
Eligible students must apply to the fund before or at the beginning of their period of intermission. Please read the information below carefully.
Financial assistance will not be provided for:
- Students who have not made adequate financial provision prior to starting their studies
- Students with access to savings or alternative funding that could meet their shortfall
- Students with high living costs above the indicative amounts from UG admissions of £11,160 for 2025-26, without acceptable justification
- Students without a student loan who are otherwise eligible to receive one
- Students in the first term of their course
- Students paying off debt or overdrafts
- Situations that occurred before the current academic year
- Students supporting family members or friends
- Laptop or IT costs
- Cost-of-living crisis costs as a singular factor for the application. However, students who have seen a rise of more than 5% in living costs per year since they started may be considered
- Covid-19 costs
- Tuition fees
- Medical costs
- College accommodation costs over the holidays, without an exceptional reason
- Childcare costs
- Visa costs
- Shortfalls higher than £3,650, where there is no viable plan to meet the rest of the shortfall
- Applicants who have already received financial assistance from the Realise Fund.
Applications must be supported by a statement submitted by a College Tutor, which confirms they have spoken to the student about their financial circumstances. College Tutors will request to see evidence of financial documentation regarding income and expenditure to provide their supporting statement.
Assess which fund you are eligible for.
Look at the website and see which fund you are eligible for and is best suited for your needs.
- Discuss the application with your College Tutor and share with them any necessary financial information.
- Apply
Support forms and support documents
Your College Tutor will be asked to complete supporting forms for your application. Please note, that if a form is not received within one month, your application may be rejected.
Receive your outcome
You will receive an outcome via email at the end of the month after you submit 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.
You will be notified of the results at the end of the month following your application*. For example, if you applied to the Fund in October, you should expect to receive an outcome via email by 30 November.
*In cases where we are waiting for additional information, or in busy periods the length of time to be notified of the award may be extended.
Am I eligible to apply for the fund?
Home-fee-paying undergraduate students who are on intermission and fall under one of the categories below are eligible to apply:
- Care experienced and/or estranged students
- Refugee, asylum seeker and forced migrant students
- Young carer students
- Gypsy, Roma, traveller, showman and boater students.
How much support is available?
Eligible students can receive a grant of up to £3,650 (2025/26 rate) once during the course of their studies at the University.
When can I apply to the fund?
Students can apply to the fund any time between 1 October and 31 August.
Who do I contact regarding my application?
The Student Funding and Fee Policy Team manage the administration of the Realise Fund. Please email 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 email financialassistance@admin.cam.ac.uk
How will my application be assessed?
We will assess your expected income against reasonable expenditure and annual indicative rates for living costs (£11,160 for undergraduate students in 2025/26). 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 at the end of the month following your application. For example, if you applied to the fund in October, you should expect to receive an outcome via email by 30 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.
How do I appeal a decision?
If you are unhappy with the outcome you receive, please contact your College Tutor first. An appeal is only possible in the event of a procedural irregularity that materially impacted on the outcome of an application to the Fund. Please contact the Secretary at financialassistance@admin.cam.ac.uk with any enquiries about an appeal.
I have appealed my outcome. When will I hear back about this?
If an outcome has been appealed, it is sent to the University Financial Assistance Sub-Committee for reconsideration. Unfortunately, we are unable to give an exact timeframe as to when the outcome of an appeal will be made.
I have additional information in support of my application. Where shall I send it?
Please send any additional supporting information that has not been included in your initial application to financialassistance@admin.cam.ac.uk
What is considered a high shortfall?
Any shortfall over £4,000 where a sufficient financial plan has not been provided.
Do you expect me to run my savings down to zero?
No. Only savings over £1,000 will be considered as spare money to be used towards any financial shortfall.
Why am I unable to claim the cost-of-living crisis as a reason for financial difficulties?
By itself, the cost-of-living crisis is not a sufficient reason for applying to the Fund as it is no longer considered unforeseen. In exceptional cases, it will be considered for final year students who have seen a greater than 5% inflation of living costs since they started their course.