Financial Assistance: financial help when you don’t have enough money for living costs
The college and the University each have a range of grants available to help you if you experience unforeseen or exceptional financial difficulties after starting your course. These funds are called Financial Assistance, and can provide grants or loans to help you overcome financial difficulty experienced during your studies. Exonian Bursaries (college financial assistance grants), most of which are generously funded by former Exeter students, are usually in the region of £500–£1,000. There are also a small number of named Financial Assistance Bursaries created by Old Members of the College in honour or in memory of people who have played an important role in their lives. Recipients are invited (but not required) to write a brief letter of thanks to the donor. Eligible students can also apply to the University’s Oxford Financial Assistance funding.
Eligibility
Home Undergraduates
The college and the University together fund up-front support packages for first-degree Home undergraduates via the Oxford Bursary scheme. The total amount of money available to a student through a combination of repayable loans and non-repayable grants/bursaries depends on the student’s family’s household income. The aim is that through a combination of loans and grants/bursaries, plus help from parents (which is why the amount of support available from Oxford diminishes as family income rises), and perhaps a little vacation work, students should be able to cover reasonable term-time living costs. No first-degree Home student should be prevented from studying at Oxford for financial reasons. However, sometimes, such cost-of-living support does not quite provide sufficient funding, or family circumstances change, and a student needs to ask for financial assistance funding from the College. If the combination of government loan, government grant, Oxford Bursary, and parental contribution cannot meet your reasonable living costs during term-time, you should consider applying for financial assistance.
EU and Overseas Undergraduates (and self-funding Home undergraduates)
Undergraduate students who are not in receipt of UK public funding for maintenance support (whether loans, or a combination of loans, grants, and Oxford Bursaries), will have declared in advance of the start of their course (through their Financial Declaration) that they have sufficient funds to support themselves during their studies. For these students, therefore, financial assistance funding is normally restricted to those students who have experienced an unforeseen or unforeseeable change in their financial circumstances since the start of their degree course. Please note that fluctuations in exchange rates are never regarded as “unforeseen or unforeseeable”.
Graduates
Graduate students start their degree by producing a Financial Declaration showing that they have sufficient funds to undertake the first year of their course, and are willing and able to pay for all subsequent years. For graduate students, therefore, financial assistance funding is normally restricted to those students on full-time or part-time post-graduate research degrees, who have experienced an unforeseen or unforeseeable change in their financial circumstances since the start of their degree course. Please note that fluctuations in exchange rates are never regarded as “unforeseen or unforeseeable”.
Students suspending their studies
Students (whether undergraduates or graduates) who are suspending their studies are not normally eligible to receive financial assistance funding during the period in which they are not enrolled for their studies; but if they experience financial difficulty on return to study, for any reason including reasons related to their intermission, then they should consider applying for financila assistance funding.
Further Information and Advice on How to Apply
To ask for further information on college financial assistance funding, or to discuss your situation to see what help might be available, please make an appointment to see the Academic Registrar in the Academic Office (academic.registrar@exeter.ox.ac.uk; 01865 (2)79665).
Extra money for Academic and non-Academic activities
Exeter’s provision of financial support, including grants, scholarships, prizes and bursaries, is among the more generous in Oxford. Information on financial support for both academic and non-academic purposes can be found on the Financial Support page.
