Student support fund | University of Reading

Student Support Fund

Applications now open

About the Student Support Fund

The Student Support Fund is a range of different pots of money set aside to assist students who are experiencing unexpected financial difficulty. The Student Support Fund can only be used to help with living costs and are provided by the University based on an assessment of need. When applications re-open in October, you can apply via the RISIS portal.

See further details and eligibility on the fund below and please read the Guidance Notes and instructions for applying before you start.

The Student Financial Support team are available to assist with your queries.

Are you struggling to manage a change in your money situation?

Life can change unexpectedly; loss of a job, illness or family etc. In the event of unexpected changes in circumstances, the university is here to support you. Especially in cases where you are struggling financially.

The University may be able to provide short-term solutions in the form of bursaries, loans, support funds and essential food and household items. The Student Financial Support team can also help ensure you are receiving all the funding available while at university.

Deadlines

Please note the following deadlines in the academic year for Student Support Fund applications to be received:

Final Year students	5 May 2023
Continuing students	9 June 2023

Maximum Award Levels

The below maximum award levels have been agreed for applications submitted until the end of the academic year. The Student Support Funds are heavily oversubscribed and in the vast majority of cases we are only able to award a portion of the calculated shortfall or amount requested.

Single students	£1,500
Families (students with dependents)	£3,000
Final year students who apply after Term 2	£1,000

The maximum level of award is only given in situations of extreme hardship, it is NOT the standard level of award.

What can awards be used for?

The primary purpose of the Funds is to relieve unexpected financial hardship that might impact on a student’s participation in higher education.

Awards from the Student Support Funds are not required to be repaid and can be used towards unexpected living costs, internet connectivity, specialist software, as well as IT-related study equipment costs.

The Student Support Funds cannot support students with any fee-related payments; including Tuition fees, Resit fees, Library fees, late payment charges and Hall fines.

Who can apply?

Any UK, EU or International undergraduate or postgraduate student currently enrolled at the University of Reading can make an application to the Student Support Funds.

Please note that students must normally be enrolled for a minimum of 60 credits or 50% of a full-time course. Disabled students studying less than 50% because of their disability may apply if they study at least 25% of a full-time course. New part-time students who started their course on/after 1 September 2013 must be enrolled for a minimum of 30 credits or 25% of a full-time course.

How to apply

When applications are open, you can apply via the RISIS portal.

Go to the “Actions” menu and then click on “Financial Support”. From this page you will be able to read the guidance notes and click on the link “Begin/Continue application for financial support or bursary”. When you have completed your online application you will get an acknowledgment email sent to you.

If you get stuck with finding the application on the RISIS Web Portal then do take a look at the screen shots of the process.

More information on Student Financial Support

Busting Myths

Busting student funding myths

You might be surprised to know...

Myth: I am an international student and cannot apply.
Busted - If you are a registered student and have completed your enrolment at the University, you can apply for the Student Support funds if you are in unexpected financial difficulty. We encourage you to make an application as this will help us to assess if we can help you.

Myth: If I apply to the Student Support Funds, you will take my student visa away.
Busted - Applying for and/or receiving an award from the Student Support Fund will not affect your Student/Tier 4 student visa. As a student visa sponsor the University does have certain obligations, including monitoring academic engagement and reporting duties when students are no longer actively studying, but there is no requirement for UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) to be informed, or for any changes to sponsorship to be made, if a student is awarded Student Support Funds, read more on visa compliance.

Myth: I will be judged/get into trouble for the way I’ve spent my money
Busted - Although we do need to see bank statements as part of your application to the Student Support Funds and have transactions over £100 explained, our staff will not make judgements on what you are spending your funds on. We may make suggestions on how you can improve your spending power and how you can have a balanced budget.
Although part of the application process involves consideration of your bank statements, our trained advisors understand that you may have a variety of spending commitments. We will work with you to understand transactions of over £100 and will use the information to help make suggestions on how to improve your budgeting and spending power.

Myth: I’m not eligible for Student Support Funds because I made a mistake and lost a lot of money,
Busted - We are here to support you and will work with you, without judgement, to find the best way to address your financial difficulties, no matter how you came to be in the situation.

Myth: The Student Support Funds is only available to undergraduate students.
Busted - Any registered student, including Postgraduates, can apply to get financial support from the Student Support Fund if they are in unexpected financial difficulty. Each application is assessed using the criteria set out in the Guidance Notes for the fund.

Myth: You will only help full-time students.
Busted - Part-time students who started their course on/after 1 September 2013 must be enrolled for a minimum of 30 credits or 25% of a full-time course in order to be eligible for financial support from the Student Support Funds.

Myth: The application process is lengthy and intrusive.
Busted - We understand why some students may think this, but recent changes have made a big difference. We regularly review the processes that underpin the Student Support Fund, and to make it more accessible and less intrusive have:
• Improved the style of and technology behind the application form, reducing the number of questions and improving accessibility
• Replaced the need for a personal statement with three simple questions that establish what we need to know
• Reduced the volume of supporting evidence required to make an application – you now only need your most recent bank statement, for example, not three months, as before.

Further questions answered

Will applying to the Student Support Fund impact other funding I get (e.g. welfare benefits, SFE funding, Reading Bursary etc.)? Applying to the Student Support Fund will not impact your maintenance loan/grant funding from your Student Finance Authority or the Reading Bursary. Being awarded a one off non-repayable grant from the Student Support Fund should not impact on welfare benefits as it is not a regular payment, but you can get expert advice on this from the RUSU Student Advice team.

Why do I need to provide my partner’s bank statements when I am asking for money?
To do our best in assisting you, we need to have a proper understanding of your financial position. If you are applying for financial support as a couple or a family, we need to understand the income and expenditure. If you are unable to provide your partner’s bank statements, you can request that we assess you as a single student when maximum awards levels are lower.

Why do I need to submit all my bank accounts, there is no money in some of them and I can’t easily access them.
To do our best in assisting you, we need to have a proper understanding of your financial position. If there are no funds in your other accounts, explain this to the Student Financial Support team and it may be that a recent balance confirmation will be acceptable for those accounts.

My parents have put some money in my account to help me out, does this mean you won’t give me any money?
No, If the transaction is over £100 you can explain that this is not a regular payment. When calculating income, we would only consider actual payments from parents if those payments are higher than the assumed parental contribution by the Student Finance Authority.