Cambridge University Reporter


SECTION A

UNIVERSITY AWARDS

General, and related to more than one subject

Access to Learning Fund: Notice

The Access to Learning Fund (ALF) is provided by government to support students in financial hardship who may need extra financial assistance in order to access and remain in higher education. More specifically, the Fund should be used: to assist those students who need extra financial help to meet particular course and/or living costs that are not already being met from statutory (or other) sources of funding; to provide emergency financial support for unexpected crises; and, to intervene in cases where a student may be considering leaving higher education because of financial problems. The ALF is a discretionary fund; awards (which are generally non-repayable) range from £100 to a maximum of £3,500. The Fund cannot be used to meet the cost of tuition fees for any full-time student; some fee support is available in the case of certain qualifying part-time courses.

Full-time undergraduate and postgraduate students are eligible, as well as part-time students whose courses are at least 50% of full-time (25% in the case of disabled students). The Fund is there to help any eligible student who can demonstrate a particular financial need, according to the guidance laid down by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills, but the University cannot always meet all of the costs that might be applied for. The priority groups for support are: students with children (especially lone parents); other mature students; students from low-income families; students with disabilities; care leavers; students from Foyers or who are homeless; students receiving the final-year loan rate who are in exceptional financial difficulty; self-funding postgraduates.

The ALF is principally for 'Home' students, but some other categories of student (refugees, persons granted exceptional leave to enter or remain, migrant workers, etc.), including certain EU students who satisfy certain statutory residence requirements, may be eligible. In general, EU students who are eligible only for tuition fee support are not eligible for support from ALF; some EU postgraduates may be eligible for the Fund on the same basis as home students provided that they fully meet the residence requirements in the UK or Islands for the three years before the start of their course.

Application forms are available from college tutorial offices, the CUSU, or GU. Further information about the Fund can be found at http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/univ/funds/access/.