The Student Money Advice Team at the University are here to offer advice and guidance to students on a variety of financial areas:
- Advice on managing your money, budgeting and monitoring of spending
- Support with financial entitlements to Student Finance England Funding
- Access to Scholarships and Bursaries
- Support to students who are Care Leavers or Estranged from family
- Advice on extra sources of income, including the Access to Learning Fund and the NHS Learning Support Fund
- Advise on the financial implications for changing your course or repeating studies
Read on for more information about these areas.
Advice on managing your money, budgeting and monitoring of spending
Here are our basic top saving money tips:
- Don’t shop on an empty stomach
- Eat at home, or take a packed lunch with you
- Buy a water bottle and refill at the water points on campus
- Use your leftovers – Check out this blog post for some top leftovers recipe ideas!
- Share Buy One, Get One Free’ or ‘BOGOF’ offers with your flat mates
- Learn to budget! Complete our online budgeting planner to help manage your finances.
- Beware of ‘Invisible spending’. This is the type of spending that seems innocent but quickly adds up, it’s the afternoon chocolate bar, or the canteen cup of tea. Check out this blog post for more info on how to watch out for this.
Support with financial entitlements to Student Finance England Funding
If you need help with your Student Finance England Funding, please get in touch. It’s important you apply and respond to any further information requests quickly to ensure the processing of your application is a swift as possible. If there are delays we can sometimes assist with emergency Access to Learning Fund support.
More information can be found on the University’s Student Support site.
Access to Scholarships and Bursaries
You could be eligible for a scholarship or bursary. Check out the Student Support website for more information.
The Team can also advise you on scholarships and bursaries you may be eligible to apply for throughout the academic year, email sab@beds.ac.uk or log an enquiry through the Student Information Desk (SiD). We’ll do our best to assist you.
Support to students who are Care Leavers or Estranged from family
Care Leaver Students under 25 who are “open to care” and supported by their local authority will be eligible for the Care Leavers’ Bursary, providing they meet the right criteria. Contact sab@beds.ac.uk for support with this.
Advice on extra sources of income, including the Access to Learning Fund and the NHS Learning Support Fund
The University has an Access to Learning Fund (ALF), which is designed to help eligible students if they fall into financial hardship whilst studying. More information about the scheme and how to apply can be found here.
It’s also important that you’ve applied to all the sources of income you’re entitled to. Some courses such as Healthcare or Social Work have SFE funds you can apply for and you may also be eligible for additional funding from the NHS.
Students with a disabilities and mental health concerns may be entitled to the Disabled Students Allowance (DSA). Contact the team for assistance with this via studentmoney@beds.ac.uk
Advice on the financial implications for changing your course or repeating studies
Please do arrange to speak to one of our advisors if you find yourself wanting to change course, or repeating academic units. There could be a financial implication to this and we’d like to be able to ensure you have all the information before you make any decisions. Arrange to speak to us by booking an appointment through SID online or email studentmoney@beds.ac.uk
Find out more
For more information and guidance, please check out our Student Money webpages.