The Student Financial Support Fund is provided by the University to give discretionary financial assistance to registered UK students if they:

• need help with unexpected financial difficulties
• have a low income (first degree undergraduates only)
• are considering leaving higher education because of financial problems
• are experiencing a funding delay, such as a student loan instalment

Last year, 81% of the students who submitted an application received assistance from the fund. Read more about some of the successful and unsuccessful applications made to the Student Financial Support Fund‌ (PDF: 455KB).

Find out more about the fund by reading the Student Financial Support Fund Policy 2022/23 (Word: 67 KB)

Please note that due to the large number of enquiries received by the SFSF Team it may not be possible to provide an outcome within the 10 days for all cases received.

Apply for funding from the Student Financial Support Fund

Complete a Student Financial Support Fund application Microsoft Forms and upload a completed 2022-23 Income and Expenditure table (word:110KB) as part of your application.  

If you require a hard copy application form posting or emailing to you please email student.fin-supp@ncl.ac.uk or telephone 0191 208 5679 or 0191 208 3760. 

 

The Financial Assistance Fund (FAF) is provided by the University to give discretionary financial assistance to registered international and EU students who are experiencing serious and unexpected financial difficulties due to circumstances beyond their control.

Last year, 63% of the students who submitted an application received assistance from the fund. Read more about some of the ‌‌successful and unsuccessful applications made to the Financial Assistance Fund (PDF: 457KB).

Find out more about the fund by reading the ‌2022/23 Financial Assistance Fund Policy (Word: 56KB)

Please note that due to the large number of enquiries received by the SFSF Team it may not be possible to provide an outcome within the 10 days for all cases received.

Apply for funding from the Financial Assistance Fund 

Complete a Financial Assistance Fund application Microsoft Forms and upload a completed 2022-23 Income and Expenditure table (word:110KB) as part of your application.  

If you require a hard copy application form posting or emailing to you please contact us by emailing student.fin-supp@ncl.ac.uk or telephone 0191 208 5679 or 0191 208 3760.

Please contact us by emailing: student.fin-supp@ncl.ac.uk 

 

First, we'll speak to you over the phone or Teams. We'll ask you some questions to assess your eligibility for an emergency loan. Answer all of the questions to the best of your knowledge.

If you're eligible, you'll be asked to provide bank statements showing transactions in all of your accounts for the last month. This includes accounts you're no longer using or any overseas accounts (if applicable).

Assessors will try and reach a decision about the outcome of your emergency loan on the same day (Mon-Fri) but in some instances it could take up to 24 hours to reach a decision if you're asked to submit further evidence. 

We'll email you with the outcome of your emergency loan application and you'll be asked to sign, date and return this declaration to indicate that you understand the terms and conditions of the loan.  Once you have returned your declaration we'll arrange the payment of your loan (usually by BACS transfer).

We'll only offer an emergency loan to cover very basic living costs in the short term.

In most instances we will provide short-term assistance by issuing a Tesco Spend Card or evoucher.  If we need to make a payment to you this will be done by BACS transfer and it can take 3 to 5 working days for the payment to reach your bank account. 

We will agree a repayment date with you during your appointment. We'll take into account when you expect to receive your next source of income. You'll only repay what you borrow from us; your loan won't accrue interest.

You can repay online 

If you're unable to repay by the agreed date contact us immediately to discuss the options available to you.

If you're a registered student and don't have access to the IT equipment needed to engage with your course you could be eligible for support through the Student IT Hardship Fund.   This funding is administered on a discretionary basis – it is not an automatic entitlement and you should not regard this as guaranteed income. 

Who can apply?

The scheme can support undergraduate, postgraduate taught and postgraduate research students. Home and overseas students can apply.  Priority will be given to postgraduate research students.

Eligibility Criteria

You can apply for the Student IT Hardship Fund if you’re a registered student who does not have access to a suitable device and / or internet connection where they are experiencing financial difficulties and cannot access support through other IT provision provided by the University.

Other University IT provision:

• Support from the specialist learning and disability team (where applicable)
• Computer Clusters

You must be

• a registered student;
• registered full-time or part-time. Part-time students must be studying the equivalent of at least 50% of a full-time course;
• able to evidence that you are experiencing financial difficulties;
• unable to access support through other IT provision provided by the University

Applications will be assessed on a case-by-case basis and decisions will be based on the information and evidence you provide.  There is no appeals process.

What support is available through the Student IT Hardship Fund?

Eligible students can apply for:

• £200 grant to assist with internet connectivity / or equipment
• a laptop (limited supply) or a £500 grant to assist with the purchase of a laptop 

Grants are non-repayable.

You will not be eligible to receive a laptop / laptop grant of £500 if you have previously been loaned a laptop from the Student IT Scheme and you have been offered a rest of studies extension.  You will usually only be able to apply once for a laptop grant.

Please retain any receipts / invoices of your purchases.  We may ask for copies for audit purposes.

Do not complete this application form if your request is about software. For advice on the software provision that is available to you as a student, visit this page.

How to apply

You will need to complete this online application form. Contact us if you require a hard copy of this form to complete.

You will be asked to provide additional documentation to support your application.

Please only apply if you really need help.

How are payments made?

Payments will be made by BACS credit transfer and will only be made to a bank account held by you.  Please submit your bank details via S3P using the following link:

https://s3p.ncl.ac.uk/login/index.aspx

If you do not hold a UK bank account it will not be possible to upload your international bank account details to S3P. Please contact the team immediately to advise if this is the case so we can make other arrangements.

Contact

If you have any enquiries about this funding contact: student.fin-supp@ncl.ac.uk or teleohoning 0191 208 5679 or 0191 208 3760.

If you are experiencing financial difficulties and are struggling to cover your living costs you may be eligible to for financial support from the Student Financial Support Fund (UK students) or the Financial Assistance Fund (EU and International students).