UWE Bristol Student Support Fund
This fund is for UK undergraduate and postgraduate students who may need extra financial support.
About the fund
The Student Support Fund is a significant fund provided by UWE Bristol to support UK undergraduate and postgraduate students who may need extra financial support to remain in higher education.
The 2023/24 Student Support Fund is now closed. Our 2024/2025 Student Support Fund will open on Monday 16 September 2024.
Our Summer Fund will open to eligible students on 24 June 2024. Read more information about the Summer Fund, including the eligibility criteria and how to apply.
If you are experiencing exceptional financial hardship that will prevent you from attending or continuing on your course, please contact a Student Money Adviser.
Applications
The fund closed to applications on 7 June 2024.
An application will only be assessed once the following three criteria are met:
- The online application form is completed in full and submitted.
- The student has completed an appropriate module on Blackbullion and achieved an 100% pass mark on the Final Challenge, if applicable.
- Supporting evidence is provided.
We will not look at the application until all of these criteria are met.
Processing applications
Applications to the Student Support Fund are processed by the Funds Team.
Once the application is submitted and evidence is received by the Funds Team, the application will go into a queue. It will then be looked at within four weeks.
The applicant will then be notified of the decision or any further information we need by email to their UWE Bristol email address (ending @uwe.ac.uk or @live.uwe.ac.uk).
Applications are processed in line with the rules of the Student Support Fund (PDF), which are decided by the Funds Team in agreement with the Funds Team Manager and informed by the guidelines produced by the National Association of Student Money Advisers.
Eligibility criteria
To be eligible, the applicant must be:
- fully registered on their course
- a UK 'Home' student (see determining your fee status for more information on fee status)
- on a UWE Bristol course, or a fully franchised course at a partner institution
- receiving all the student funding they are entitled to
- on an eligible course – generally, this includes undergraduate and postgraduate courses which are eligible for Student Finance funding. If you’re unsure if your course is eligible, you can email sms@uwe.ac.uk to find out.
Priority groups
The priority groups for the Student Support Fund are:
- lone parents
- disabled students (in receipt of Special Support Grant or Special Support Element of the Maintenance Loan and/or in receipt of DLA or PIP).
- care leavers (as defined on eligibility for care leavers)
- estranged students (as defined on estranged students eligibility)
- carers (as defined on eligibility for carers).
Priority group students are likely to receive a higher award than other students. However, other eligible students can still apply to the fund and receive support, and being in a priority group doesn’t guarantee an award.
In the meantime, if you are experiencing exceptional financial hardship which will prevent you from attending or continuing on your course, please contact a Money Adviser.