Hardship Support Fund

• Have you applied for all Student Loans available to you?
• If you receive a lower maintenance loan, do you receive a parental contribution towards living costs?
• Do you have significant savings available to you? (e.g. ISA, cryptocurrency/trading portfolio)
• For Postgraduate students, have you made reasonable provision for your expected living costs and tuition fees prior to starting your course? (e.g., student loans, significant savings, parental contribution, scholarship stipend)
• Have you considered the travel costs you will incur throughout the year? (e.g. flight tickets)
• Are your outgoings larger than your expected income? And the reason for this – why does your current funding not cover all your needs at this time?

We would consider income, where applicable, as including:

• Savings
• Wages
• Student loans
• Benefits
• Family contributions
• Assumed income 

Allowable expenditure includes (but is not exclusive to):

• Accommodation fees
• Travel
• Childcare
• Course costs
• Living costs
• Unexpected one-off costs

We do not want you to drop out or fail in your studies because of money worries. We fund around a quarter of our undergraduate home students through our Access to Exeter Bursary and pay grants to many students during the year to help them overcome hardship or deal with unexpected financial challenges. We are here to help.

You won’t have to pay the money back and the amount you receive will depend on your financial circumstances. Applying to the Success for All Fund will not affect your visa.

What the Success for All Fund Can Help With

The fund is here to support students facing financial difficulty by contributing to essential costs not already covered by other funding. We may also be able to help if you're considering leaving university due to financial pressures.

You can apply for help with:

• Living costs (e.g. rent, food, bills)
• Unexpected one-off expenses (e.g. emergency repairs or travel home)
• £200 DSA contribution (for specialist equipment)
• Diagnostic assessments
• Graduation costs (eg. robe hire)

Summer Support.

You may be eligible for support over the summer if:

• You’re not in your final year
• You’re a care leaver (at any stage)
• You’re estranged, a carer, a parent, a refugee, or an asylum seeker
• You’re resitting or retaking part of your course
• You’re unable to work due to illness or disability
• You have no other means of support
• You’re on a Medical School placement that runs outside normal term dates
  (Check with your course administrator for additional Medical School funding.)

What the Fund Can’t Cover:

• Tuition fees (If you're struggling with fees, please contact the Accounts Receivable team via SID to discuss a payment plan.)
• Credit card or pre-enrolment debt
• Loan repayments
• Non-essential costs (e.g. holidays, entertainment, mobile phone bills)

Who Can Apply for the Success for All Fund?

All registered undergraduate and postgraduate students at the University of Exeter can apply, regardless of fee status, study mode (part-time/full-time), or location (on campus or distance learning). You must be studying at least 25% of your course in the academic year.

If you are a postgraduate student, we expect you to have planned for your living costs as some bursaries are only available to undergraduates.

Funding for international students is limited. Please see 'I am an international student, am I eligable' FAQ for more information. 

Interrupting your studies?

Generally, students who have interrupted their studies are not eligible. However, we may offer support:

• In the first four weeks after interruption
• When you're preparing to return

If you're unsure, we encourage you to apply so we can assess your situation and offer guidance.

Multiple Applications

You can apply more than once per academic year, but we will consider any previous funding already received and we would expect a change in your circumstances between applications. 

Depending on the type of support you're applying for, you'll need to provide relevant evidence. Typically, we ask for:

• A supporting statement explaining why you're applying and what costs you need help with.
• Proof of income, such as Student Loan letters, bursary/scholarship letters, and your last 3 months of bank statements for all accounts (UK, overseas, savings, investment, etc.).
• Proof of outgoings, like a tenancy agreement or mortgage statement.
• Explanations for any transaction of £100 or more on your bank statements.
• Partner’s income details: if you share household bills, we ask for your partners last 3 months of bank statements and 3 recent payslips. If this request causes you concern because of your domestic circumstances, please contact us and we will review any disclosure to us in the strictest confidence.
• Evidence of benefits received in the last 3 months 
• Proof of one-off costs, such as an invoice or an email confirming the expense.
• If you have dependents or need to commute for your course, please include this in your application.

Important 

We can’t accept screenshots, spreadsheets, or documents without your full name visible. All evidence must clearly show your name, payment dates, and amounts.

All documents are handled confidentially and will not be shared with other university teams without your permission.

Why do I need to provide details of my partner’s income?

If you live with your partner and share bills or childcare responsibility, this information helps us understand your full financial situation. If it is difficult for you to share this information, then please reach out to us at successforall@exeter.ac.uk

Why do I need to disclose my benefits?

We would count some benefits as income. Knowing what you receive helps us ensure you're accessing all available statutory support before applying for university funds.

If you receive the Access to Exeter Bursary, a Care Leavers’ fee waiver or Sanctuary Scholarship, you will be fast-tracked for funding support.

Mature students

We recognise that mature students may face several unique issues, such as having pre-existing financial commitments or caring responsibilities and these will be considered in your application. 

Care experienced students

If you are a UK undergraduate student who has been in local authority care for a period of 13 weeks or more, with some period of care after your 16th birthday, you may apply through the fund for a Care Leavers’ Bursary to support your accommodation costs during the summer. If you meet these criteria, you should already receive a Care Leavers’ tuition fee waiver. We may also provide bridging support if you are facing financial challenges immediately after graduation.

If you have experience of care but do not meet the eligibility criteria above, you will not automatically qualify for a bursary but you may still be eligible for financial support depending on your circumstances.

See our Widening Participation Student Support web pages for more information about the support available for care experienced students.

Estranged students

If you are a home undergraduate student and estranged from your family, you may be eligible for our Estranged Students’ Bursary which aims to help you with some of the additional financial challenges you may have to face. You can find out more on our web pages for estranged students. Impartial advice is also available from Stand Alone.

As an international student you are expected to ensure you have sufficient funds to cover your living and study costs before coming to the UK.   You are also required to demonstrate that you have sufficient funds to get your Student Visa.

Your application will therefore be considered against a stricter set of criteria than for domestic students.

Funding Limitations

We’re here to help where we can, but please note that we can only offer financial support in specific situations.

To be eligible, you must be experiencing (and may be asked for supporting evidence as proof):

• Exceptional circumstances – for example, a serious personal or family emergency, or a sudden change in your financial situation.
• Unexpected costs – such as urgent medical expenses, emergency travel, or essential repairs that you could not have planned for.

If you're unsure whether your situation qualifies, please contact us on successforall@exeter.ac.uk and we’ll talk it through with you.

The University uses the guidelines shared by the National Association of Student Money Advisors (NASMA) when making our assessments. Using set criteria allows us to be consistent and fair when reviewing applications.

We will consider your incomings and outgoings and use a standard calculation for weekly composite living costs which include, but are not exclusive to, laundry, toiletries and mobile phone costs. We will also include assumed income for undergraduates and minimum required provision for postgraduate students (see definitions below).

What is assumed income?

For most undergraduates, there is an expectation that you will be able to supplement your income through part-time work, savings, interest-free student overdrafts or family contributions.

Regardless of how much income you have acquired from these sources, a fixed assumed income figure is applied across all applications, giving you the capacity to earn larger sums without affecting your payment from the fund. If there are mitigating circumstances, we can take these into account when assessing your application.

What is minimum required provision?

For postgraduate students, there is an assumption that you will have made provision for a basic level of income to support yourself during your studies. Your funding may be from a variety of sources including PG loans, scholarships, part time work or additional parent/spouse support where appropriate. We will include all income from these channels when assessing your application to the fund.

Due to timings for receiving various funds, you may wish to request a loan for assistance until you receive your other funding. 

If I request a loan, how much can I borrow?

You can borrow up to a maximum of £500 but we won’t offer you a loan unless we are satisfied you can afford to pay it back within the timeframes agreed. Bridging loans are usually offered over one or two months and aim to help with cash flow problems (e.g., if you need to pay your accommodation deposit but are still waiting for your first grant or loan payment). In these cases, if successful, we will advance you the loan money so you can manage in the meantime.

What are the terms of bridging and short-term loans?

Loans will be issued with 0% interest and must be repaid within a maximum of 12 months, although it is expected the amounts offered are lower and paid back over a shorter period. We will only enter a loan agreement with you if we are both comfortable that the repayments can be made.

What are the penalties if I default on my loan repayments?

If you are having trouble paying back your loan, please contact us immediately by raising a SID enquiry for the Accounts Receivable team. We will work with you to discuss a payment plan; however this cannot exceed the 12 months. If you default on your repayments without contacting us, you may incur late fee penalties of 3%.