Contents
- UK student funding
- University financial support
- What can i do if i cannot pay my fees?
- Scholarships
- Postgraduate funding
- Cost of Living Crisis support
- Employment
- Additional sources of financial support
UK student funding
You can apply for these online via the following sites:
Your eligibility for support will depend on a number of factors including meeting the relevant funding bodies residence criteria (where you have lived prior to starting your course), your income, your parents’ income, your age and whether you have studied for a degree previously.
It is worth noting that funding bodies will typically fund you for the duration of your course, with the addition of 1 additional year (should you have to change course or repeat a year). If you have already used this additional year and have compelling circumstances (e.g. personal / health challenges) you can in some instances request a further additional year of financial support.
If you are in this situation please get in touch with the SRC Advice Centre who can assist you with approaching the relevant funding body about this.
From the 2024/25 academic year onward eligible undergraduate students applying to SAAS can choose to have their maintenance loan or bursary payments paid over a period of 12 rather than 9 months. The total amount you receive would not increase, the payments would just be made between September and August rather than them ending in May. You can see more information on this on the Scottish Government website.
If you wish to request your SAAS payments are paid over this longer period you can select this option when completeing your maintenance loan application on the SAAS website.
If at any point you’re confused or want to query a response you’ve received on funding you can contact the SRC Advice Centre who’ll be happy to help.
University financial support
The University has two dedicated funds which can offer eligible students additional financial support towards their living costs.
It's important to stress that these funds will not help pay off any tuition fee debt you may have.
The essence of each fund is that a student has to evidence in some way that the money they have coming in is not able to meet the expenses they have going out.
Discretionary & Childcare Fund
To apply for this fund you must be a UK home student and fully registered for the current academic year. This fund is not open for applications from EU or International students.
Hardship Funds
To apply for this fund you must be an EU or International student and fully regsitered for the current academic year. UK home students who have already applied for the Discretionary Fund and are in need of further help can in some instances also apply too.
What can I do if I cannot pay my fees?
If you are not able to pay your tuition fees because of financial difficulties, initially consider amending your payment plan manually here. If this isn't financially an option for you then you should contact the Student Credit Control Department at the University via this email (which includes tips on how to explain the situation) or by using the Helpdesk.
If you are being sent debt collection emails because you have fallen behind with your payments, try your best to reach out to this team and don't fall into the trap of ignoring these emails.
You might want to refer to the University's student debt policy here for more information.
Scholarships
The University has a dedicated page on scholarships which lists all of the scholarships it currently offers to students. You can use this page to search for any additional financial support for your programme of study. There are also some external resources, like the scholarship hub that might be helpful.
Postgraduate funding
The University has a dedicated postgraduate funding page here with an overview of relevant information.
The Alternative Guide to Postgraduate Funding is another good resource you can use to try and source additional financial support towards the cost of a postgraduate course.
Cost of Living Crisis support
In light of the ongoing cost of living crisis we have created a support guide in conjunction with the University. The guide includes advice on finding suitable and affordable accommodation, avoiding housing scams, how to make sure you're paying the lowest possible prices for your gas & electricity and how to access the cheapest student rail and bus fares.
You can access the guide on the University website.
Employment
Getting some form of part-time job may not be ideal whilst studying a challenging course, however this may be something you might have to consider in some form. You can see a list of current vacancies both on the SRC Jobshop here and University Careers Service here.
The Advice Centre also has some additional employment resources here. For international students here on a visa, the International Student Support service at the university has some information on working on a visa here.
Additional sources of financial support
Outside of the University and statutory funding bodies, there are also a wide network of external funders in the UK who you can apply to in search of additional financial support with tuition fees or living costs. You may wish to do a search for these using the Turn2us search tool.
SAAS also maintains a list of charitable trusts and organisations here, primarily for those with a connection to Scotland.
The University is also signed-up to an external resource called 'The Alternative Guide to Postgraduate Funding', which is an enormous resource of hundreds of funders in the UK and tips on making applications. It's relevant to students at all levels of study and something you can access here (you will need to create a username and password).
The SRC Advice Centre also has a dedicated Money section for other aspects of your finances, which you can look over here.
If at any point you want to talk through your financial situation and any challenges you may be facing please do contact the SRC Advice Centre who’ll be happy to help.