The Realise Financial Assistance Fund aims to support home undergraduate students on intermission in financial need, who fall into groups identified in The Realise Project. This includes those who are:
- Care experienced and/or estranged students
- Refugee, asylum seeker and forced migrant students
- Young carer students
- Gypsy, Roma, traveller, showman and boater students
About the Fund
The Realise Financial Assistance Fund can provide awards of up to £3,650 (including support from SLC) to support Realise-Project-identified students on intermission who are in financial need.
Applications are carefully reviewed by the University Financial Assistance Sub-Committee and the application process is managed by the Student Funding and Fee Policy Team.
Eligible students are only able to access this financial assistance once during their studies at the University.
Additional Support
Students eligible to receive support from the Realise Fund should also take advantage of the support available from the Student Loans Company- who can provide up to 60 days (8 weeks) of additional maintenance support for students on sickness absence.
Quick Links for Support
Budgeting Advice from the Student Union
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 as identified by the Realise Project:
- Care experienced and/or estranged students
- Refugee, asylum seeker and forced migrant students
- Young carer students
- Gypsy, Roma, traveller, showman and boater students
Please note that eligible students must apply to the fund before or at the beginning of their period of intermission.
Please read the below criteria to determine your eligibility for the fund.
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 which could meet their shortfall
- Students with high living costs above the indicative amounts from UG admissions of £10950 for 2024-25, without acceptable justification
- Students without a student loan who are otherwise eligible to receive one
- Students in the first term of their course
- 5th and 6th year clinical medics
- Paying off debt or overdrafts
- Situations which occurred before the current academic year
- Supporting family members or friends
- Laptop or IT costs
- Cost-of-Living crisis costs as a singular factor for the application. 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 £3650, where there is no viable plan to meet the rest of the shortfall
- Applicants who have already received financial assistance from the Realise fund
Please note that applications which do not meet the above eligibility criteria will be rejected.
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 in order to provide their supporting statement.
- Read carefully through the eligibility criteria to see if you are eligible to apply.
- Discuss your application with your College Tutor and share with them any necessary financial information requested.
- Complete the application form online.
- Once your form is submitted, a copy of your application will be sent to your college tutor and they will be required to submit a supporting form. Please note, that if a form is not received within one month, your application may be rejected.
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 to the fund in October 2024, you should expect to receive an outcome by the 30 November 2024.
Please see the below table to clarify when you will receive an outcome:
You will be notified of your outcome via email.
*Please note, 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 undergraduate students who are on intermission and fall into one of the below categories 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 (2024/25 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 2024 and 31 August 2025.
Who do I contact regarding my application?
The Student Funding and Fee Policy Team manage the administration of the Realise Financial Assistance Fund. Please contact them here: 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
How will my application be assessed?
We will assess your expected income against reasonable expenditure and annual indicative rates for living costs (£11,715 for undergraduate students in 2024/25). 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?
Please see the below table to clarify when you will receive an outcome:
You will be notified of your outcome via email.
How will I receive my award?
Awards are paid to your college and your college will then reimburse you.
What is my payment reference?
This is made up of: Fund, USN and last name e.g. Realise 123456789 Smith
How do I appeal a decision?
If you are unhappy with the outcome you receive, please contact your college tutor in the first instance. Appeals can then be directed to the Student Funding Manager at financialassistance@admin.cam.ac.uk.
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 re-consideration. 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 this?
Please send any additional supporting information, which has not been included in your 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 0?
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?
The Cost-of-Living Crisis is not usually supported as a sole factor for financial difficulties anymore, as it is no longer considered to be 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.