Student Support Fund

To apply you must be:

• A current and active undergraduate student (you cannot have withdrawn or taken a break in studies).
• Classed as Home for fees.
• Studying full or part time on an eligible course (if studying part time, you must be studying at 25% of a full-time equivalent course).
• Enrolled onto a course which is a minimum of 1-year duration.
• Enrolled onto a course that leads to an award such as a HND, Foundation Degree, BA, BSc, BEng.
• Entitled to funding from Student Finance England, Wales, Northern Ireland or Scotland.
• In receipt of the full tuition fee loan or comparable funding.
• In proven genuine financial hardship.
• Able to show that reasonable provision was made prior to commencing your course to cover expected tuition and living costs.

Please note:  Students making repeated applications who appear to be relying on the fund regularly,  will be required to demonstrate how their financial situation has changed from the previous application. 

You will not be eligible for support from the fund if you:

• Have not made reasonable provisions before the start of your course to cover all related costs such as rent, tuition fees and general living.
• Have used all your available funds on non-essential expenditure. This can include, but is not limited to, purchases such as holidays, gambling, clothing from premium brands, regular takeaways and meals out in restaurants.
• Have sent some or most of your available funds to friends and/or family.
• Have applied for assistance with arrears/debt incurred before commencing your current course registration.
• Are studying at one of our partner colleges. If studying at a partner college you will need to contact the college directly to check what support is available to you and apply to them directly.
• Are studying a postgraduate course
• Are an international student

Although we will consider applications from any student, priority is given to students who are:

• Lone parents.
• Disabled students (especially where DSA is unable to meet particular costs).
• Mature students.
• Students who are care Leavers.
• Students who are estranged from their parents.
• Students who are carers.
• Students from low income families.
• Students whose courses have additional costs.

If you’re not in one of the priority groups listed you can still apply, but you need to provide as much evidence as possible to show why you’re in need of additional funds.

You can apply to the Fund through our partner platform Blackbullion, using the following link: 

Student Support Fund

If you've not already registered with Blackbullion you'll be asked to register with them, using your student email account before completing your application. Registration is free and will give you access to all Blackbullion's online resources and learning modules designed to help you develop essential money skills, as well as exclusive competitions. For more information on Blackbullion please watch the video Hi, we are Blackbullion (Youtube)

The application will ask you questions about your course and your individual circumstances. You'll also need to upload evidence to support your application. We won't be able to process your application without the required evidence.

If you require help applying please contact our Student Advice Team or the Student Union Advice Centre (Tel. 01782 294629) or pop to their reception above the Ember Lounge) to arrange to speak to an Advisor.

Please note: Your application will not be considered complete and can’t be assessed until all supporting evidence has been received. To see what you need to supply use the evidence checklist below.

To support your application please send:

• The most recent three months bank statements' for each account you/your partner hold. You must explain any credit or debit transactions for £50 or over, which appear on your bank statements.
• If you have an account such as Monzo, Starling, Revolut  - you will need to provide a statement showing all money pots in order for your Student Success Support Fund claim to be assessed.
• A copy of your Student Finance Entitlement Letter which you can download from your Student Finance portal
• A copy of your NHS Learning Support Fund Entitlement Letter (if applicable)
• Evidence of priorty debts

Please note that mini statements will not be accepted. Statements must be in consecutive order and clearly show your name, bank details, transactions and available balance.

Applications submitted without the correct supporting evidence won’t be processed. You’ll be asked to provide any missing evidence, which could delay your application.

How do I send my supporting evidence?

All supporting evidence should be uploaded with your online application. Should you experience any difficulties in doing this please contact us at  student-support@staffs.ac.uk

What format do I need to send my supporting evidence in?

We can only accept:

• PDFs
• .doc or .docx word documents. We accept these for personal statements only. These should only be included if you need to inform us of any additional information that supports your application.

We do not accept:

• Image files of any sort (.png; .jpeg; etc). These are often too large and not clear enough for us to accept, and with the availability of scanners on campus should not be necessary.
• Screenshots or photos of bank statements inserted into a Word document as these are rarely clear enough for us to accept.
• Images of bank statements from mobile phones.

Once your application has been received you may be asked to provide further evidence. If further evidence is required we will contact you through the Blackbullion portal.  Please note: if we do not receive the additional evidence required by the stated deadline on your application, this will result in your application being declined.   This would not stop you from reapplying in the future but you will need to ensure you provide the relevant evidence in order for the claim to be assessed appropriately.

Once your application is submitted with all relevant evidence, you should hear back from us via the Blackbullion portal within fourteen days.

Applications submitted over Christmas, Easter, Summer Break and busy University times (e.g. Enrolment, Welcome and Graduation)

Please note: the fund allows the fourteen days processing time to be extended to twenty eight days during the above vacation periods.

Payments awarded through the Student Support Fund do not usually have to be repaid. If, however your attendance is poor, you take a break in study or withdraw from your studies before the end of the academic year, you may be required to repay all or part of the award.  

If you are granted a financial award through the Student Support Fund, this may be paid to you in instalments.  Where students take a break in study or withdraw from their course, any instalment payment due on or after the break in study or withdrawal will be cancelled.

For further information please contact the Student Advice Team

We have lots of information and helpful tips on our managing your money page. We also have other cost of living funds available for home, undergraduate students. 

Contact the Student Advice Team  or the Students' Union