Hardship Fund

The Hardship Support Fund provides financial support to help you to access and remain in higher education and can help alleviate unexpected financial hardship. 

There are two application forms, depending on when you first enrolled with the University, an application titled September Students and one February Students  please ensure you apply on the correct one, your SFE entitlement letter will indicate your Month start.  

March 2026 Update The fund is likely to close very shortly. You can currently apply for the fund through the online portal via Blackbullion 

To be eligible to apply you must be fully enrolled for 2025/26 and have been assessed by Student Finance England (SFE) and have had your first maintenance loan payment paid.  

As part of the application process, you may be asked to undertake one or more of Blackbullion's learning resources, one of which is the Budgeting 101 Pathway, and we would encourage you to complete this as soon as possible once you have completed your application.  
 
The fund is for students who have made adequate provision to support their study and living costs, but who require financial assistance due to an unexpected and significant short-term situation outside their control. 
 
It is limited and is not intended as a source of income but rather as a safety net for students in financial difficulty. It cannot support a student for the duration of their studies, nor meet all expenditure. 
 
The Hardship Fund can only assist with a contribution to core living costs. It cannot help with the payment of tuition fees. Each application is assessed on individual need and there is no guarantee that an award will be made or will be on the same levels as in previous years.  

We aim to assess fully completed forms with all documents within five weeks of submission. Assessment may take longer at peak times of the year. An incomplete form or missing documents will delay the processing of your application.

Please ensure you upload all your documents, in regards to the SFE assessment, we need the 2025/26 SFE Entitlement letter, not the summary screens

In the mean time you can view the Blackbullion library of interaction Pathways

Students may be able to source some extra support through various trusts and charities. Please refer to the Student Money and Accommodation Advice team's information sheet: Educational trusts and charities and the links below.

 

If you're struggling with energy costs you might be able to receive certain benefits, grants and help offered by the government and energy suppliers.