Hardship Support Fund
The University, in partnership with its alumni community, has created a fund to offer additional financial support if you are experiencing unexpected financial hardship which is affecting your ability to study within your current academic year.
You are considered to be in financial hardship when your allowable expenditure is higher than your income. The fund is to assist with costs associated with your ability to study and cannot fully compensate for lack of parental contribution or over spending on non-essential items.
Before applying to the fund, there is an expectation that you will have exhausted all avenues of funding available to you including all Student Loans you are entitled to. You are expected to use any significant savings available to you before applying, as an application can be refused if savings are available to you. The fund is intended to be a safety net for students, and not a main source of support.
We recognise that, for many students, there will be a gap between the amount of student finance received and the overall cost of living. Unfortunately, the hardship fund is not intended to cover this shortfall in full.
Students are expected to supplement their income through other means where possible, such as personal savings, support from parents or family members, or part-time employment. When assessing your application, we may ask for evidence to show you have exhausted these avenues of funding prior to applying to the fund.
Please review our FAQs before you apply. Our FAQs provide more information about the types of funding available and the evidence you will need to support your application. If you are an international student, it is particularly important that you check this information as additional eligibility criteria apply.
If you are experiencing difficulties with submitting your application or have any questions about the Success for All Fund and your eligibility, you can email us at SuccessForAll@exeter.ac.uk. You can also contact the Students’ Guild (Exeter students) or the Falmouth & Exeter Students’ Union (Cornwall) students for help with your application.
The University has a dedicated cost of living webpage with advice on how to manage your money while at University. Please take a look for help and advice on managed your finances while at University.
Once you are ready to submit an application, you can follow these steps:
- Apply online and upload the evidence requested. Be as open as you can; the more we know about your circumstances, the better equipped we are to help you. Please only submit one application, even if you are applying for multiple types of financial support.
- We will confirm via email that your application has been received.
- An assessor will review your application, using standardised calculations, and ask for more information if necessary.
- We will inform you of our decision within 4 weeks of receiving all required evidence.
- If you have been successful, funds will be paid electronically using the bank account details on your student record unless you request otherwise.