Hardship Fund Information

Important Information – Please Read in Full

The Hardship Fund is an emergency fund for students experiencing financial difficulty, due to an unexpected incident or set of circumstances.  Our focus is to assist students who are in immediate and unexpected hardship.  Students who have failed to make adequate financial plans for their studies cannot be supported by the fund.

Unfortunately, the Hardship Fund cannot provide bursary/scholarship funding and cannot enable students to embark on a course of study.  Any funding awarded from the Hardship Fund will be limited in nature, cannot meet all needs, and is not intended to be a primary source of income.

If you require ongoing support and/or cannot afford tuition fees, contact your Advisor of Studies, Supervisor, Student Support Officer, or International Student Support, and advise them the Hardship Fund cannot provide the support you require.

Hardship Fund - What support is available?

The Hardship Fund may assist students meeting the basic eligibility criteria with basic living costs (typically rent, food and bills) only.

We are unable to support the following requests:

  • Requests for support or compensation towards accommodation or other costs which you have already paid.
  • Requests for support with tuition fee costs or compensation for fees paid.
  • Requests to compensate for loss of income within the family/household.
  • Requests to compensate for cancelled travel.
  • Requests to compensate for any costs that will be met via other means such as insurance, refunds etc.
  • Requests to compensate for funds lost via fraud.

Please note the Hardship Fund cannot assist directly with a laptop purchase.  If you cannot afford a laptop, you should request a laptop via the Laptop Loan Scheme.

How to Apply

  1. Check you are eligible to apply.
  2. Ensure you have completed registration.
  3. Collate all supporting documents as individual PDFs (www.ilovepdf.com).
  4. Complete the Hardship Fund Application Form.
  5. Sign Student Declaration and Privacy Notice (see end of form).
  6. Submit application.

Please answer all questions and submit your application form and all supporting documents as separate PDF attachments in a single email from your student email account to hardshipfund@glasgow.ac.uk  

The following cannot be processed:

  • Applications submitted before your course has begun.
  • Applications not submitted as PDFs.
  • Applications with missing/unsuitable supporting documents.
  • Applications sent over multiple emails.

Complete applications will be prioritised.  If your application is incomplete, you may be invited to reapply.  New applications are placed at the back of the processing queue.

Applications will be processed as quickly as possible however this can take upwards of 4 weeks during busy periods such as the beginning of term.

Appeals

If your application has been unsuccessful, you can submit an appeal for your application to be reviewed.  Only applications which included all required supporting documents can be reviewed under the appeals process.

To appeal the outcome of your application, email hardshipfund@glasgow.ac.uk explaining in detail why you feel your original application meets the eligibility criteria above.  You can also provide any additional information and evidence you feel are relevant to your application.  Please mark your email as high importance and enter Hardship Fund Application Appeal as your email subject.

Appeals will be considered by the Financial Aid Team and the outcome of your appeal will be confirmed via email within 28 working days of receipt.

 

Hardship Fund Eligibility

To apply for the Hardship Fund, you should:

  • Be an EU or International student.
  • Be fully registered for the current academic year, at undergraduate degree level or above.  (Short Courses, Upskilling and undergraduate certificate students are not eligible).
  • Be able to provide clear evidence of the financial plans made to fund your studies.
  • Be able to provide clear evidence of an unforeseen incident which has directly impacted your financial plans.
  • Be able to provide clear evidence of how your living costs are paid, from all bank accounts held in your name, as well as your partner/spouse’s bank accounts.

Students who do not provide evidence to show how their studies are to be funded cannot be supported by the fund.

Who is not eligible?

  • UK students, unless advised to apply by a member of the Financial Aid Team.
  • Students studying below undergraduate degree level, such as Short Courses and undergraduate certificate students.
  • Students studying an Upskilling course.
  • Students who have not made adequate financial plans to fund their studies.
  • Students who do not provide evidence to show how they are funding their studies.
  • Students who cannot clearly evidence an unforeseen event which has directly impacted their original funding plans.
  • Students who have adequate personal or family savings or other funds available to fund their studies.

Students registered on the following basis are not eligible to apply for the funds:

  • Erasmus Incoming
  • Exchange In
  • Reassessment of Dissertation
  • Sabbatical
  • Visiting In

Students who have received support from the Hardship Fund previously are only eligible for support additional support under exceptional circumstances.

Hardship Fund Supporting Documents Guidance

Important, Please Read

Please take the time required to collate all supporting documents as separate, clearly labelled PDF files before applying.

All supporting documents should be attached to your application email as separate, clearly labelled PDFs.  For example:

  • 1 Current Account Transactions PDF
  • 1 Savings Account PDF
  • 1 Scholarship Award Letter PDF
  • 1 Proof of Unforeseen Emergency Situation PDF

There are online tools to assist with converting documents to PDF and combining multiple pages of a document to a single PDF e.g. www.ilovepdf.com

There are various online tools to reduce file size, if you are having difficulty attaching to an email e.g. https://www.adobe.com/uk/acrobat/online/compress-pdf.html

Please do not submit any supporting document as multiple files e.g. individual bank statement pages as separate images.  Applications containing these cannot be processed.

Please do not provide documents as zip files, or shared documents.

Documents cannot be added to an application after initial submission, unless specifically requested by a member of the Financial Aid Team.

Applications with supporting documents missing or not meeting the detailed supporting documents requirements cannot be processed.

If your application is incomplete, you will be invited to reapply, and new applications will move to the back of the processing queue upon resubmission.

Required Supporting Documents – Important, Please Read

Bank Statement(s) (including spouse/partner if cohabiting)

  • Mandatory for all
  • Statements should demonstrate all monthly income and expenditure. Applications including limited income and expenditure will not be considered.
  • Students should also provide spouse/partner’s bank statements when co-habiting.
  • Document should show the last 30 days transactions from the date of application for all accounts held in your name (and your partner/spouse’s name where applicable).
  • Online statements and transaction lists are acceptable. Excel spreadsheets and word documents are not.
  • Bank statements should be highlighted clearly to match income, expenditure and debt on your application form.
  • Food and social costs do not require to be highlighted on bank statements.
  • Transfers between accounts should be highlighted and clearly explained in your Personal Statement.
  • Out of date bank statements and statements that are not highlighted/annotated appropriately will be rejected.

Proof of Funding

  • Mandatory for all Applications will not be considered without proof of funding.
  • You should provide evidence of how your studies are being funded e.g. scholarship award letter, proof of savings etc.

Tenancy Agreement/Mortgage Statement

  • Mandatory for all Applications will not be considered without proof of accommodation costs.
  • Tenancy agreement should be current and show your name, property address, dates of agreement and monthly costs.
  • Annual mortgage statement or a letter from provider confirming your name, address, and monthly payments. An amount on a bank statement itself is not acceptable.
  • If you are a sub-tenant and do not have a formal lease agreement, please provide a letter from your landlord.

Proof of Unforeseen Emergency Situation

  • Mandatory for all Applications for emergency support will not be considered without proof of an unforeseen emergency.
  • If you have applied for a form of leave or extension of right to stay in the UK.

Proof of Home Office Application

  • If you have applied for a form of leave or extension of right to stay in the UK.