Student Registry

 

Access to Learning Fund

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Access to Learning Fund: purpose and scope

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 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;
  • to intervene in cases where a student may be considering leaving higher education because of financial problems.

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 HE courses.

The Access to Learning Fund is administered centrally by the Academic Division, under the general supervision of the Committee on the Access to Learning Fund, a committee of the University Council. The ALF is a discretionary fund; awards (which are generally non-repayable) range from £100 to a maximum of £3,500.


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Eligibility

Full-time undergraduate and postgraduate students are eligible, as well as part-time students whose courses are at least 50% (60 credits) of full-time (or 25%/30 credits 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 and directives laid down by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS), but the University cannot meet all of the costs that might be applied for and awards will usually cover only part of the student's additional need.

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 some of the residence requirements under the statutory Education (Student Support) Regulations, may be eligible. In general, EU students who are eligible only for tuition fee support are not eligible for support from ALF; some EU postgraduate students 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. The ALF administrators will seek further information, via college Tutors, where eligibility is in doubt.


  • Further information

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Priority groups for help

The ALF assessment process for 'standard' and 'non-standard' awards is designed to identify, respectively, those students who have particular financial needs, and those experiencing unexpected or unforeseeable financial difficulty.

The BIS expects certain groups of students to receive priority: students with children (especially lone parents); other mature students; students from low-income families; disabled students (especially where the Disabled Students' Allowances (DSAs) are unable to meet particular costs); care leavers, students from Foyers or who are homeless; students receiving the final-year loan rate who are in financial difficulty (including those unable to work because of extraordinary academic pressure or those repeating elements for their course); self-funding postgraduates.


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Further information

You can download an application form (which includes guidance notes) from the links below - there are different forms for undergraduates (BA, MSci, matriculated BTh, affiliated students, PGCE, Part III Maths, MEng, and clinical medics and vets) and for graduate students (PhD, MPhil, MLitt, MSc, LLM, etc.). A set of guidance notes aimed at College Tutors is also provided (link below).

Completed application forms, which must be counter-signed by the student's Tutor, should be forwarded to the Awards Clerk, Fees and Funding Team, Student Registry, 4 Mill Lane, Cambridge CB2 1RZ. On receipt, forms will be checked and the level of annual surplus/deficit for each applicant calculated by a formula which compares income to expenditure.


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Mature undergraduate start-up grants

The University of Cambridge welcomes mature students and values the breadth of experience, motivation, and commitment that they bring. In addition to statutory support (loans for fees and maintenance; maintenance grants, etc.) and institutional awards (e.g. Cambridge Bursary Scheme), prospective mature undergraduates may be eligible for a Mature Undergraduate Start-up Grant, worth up to £500 on entry.

If you are a mature undergraduate student (21 years and over and starting your first degree) and a 'Home' student according to the rules for the Access to Learning Fund (ALF) - i.e. you meet the residence requirements for statutory support - then you may be eligible for a Grant. The Grants are funded from the University's ALF allocation and are awarded each January or February so as to coincide with the conclusion of the annual admissions round. Late applications will also be considered, e.g. for students whose admissions interview takes place after the main admissions round.

Your College will make an application on your behalf. For more information contact the Admissions Tutor at your College.


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