Wednesday 28-02-2018 - 12:26

Accommodation bursaries of £1000 per annum are available to students if they are living in University allocated buildings. This came about as a result of Student Living Officers over the years pushing for more affordable accomodation for all students. Sarah Redrup, Student Living Officer in 2015 started this great work and it finally piloted in 2017. The pilot was so successful that the funding to support the initiative has increased to support even more students to afford their housing.  

We caught up with Lucky Dube, Student Living Officer (2017-18), to get a few more details.

How important is the bursary for Bristol students?

Every year the SU hears from students that rent is too high in the city, with the majority of rent taking up their maintenance loan. Students get more funding in London through student finance but Bristol students don’t see any difference even though the rent here is considerably higher than other university cities. So, as a whole Bristol students face considerable financial struggles so the bursary helps many students.

What is the future of the bursary?

The take up of the bursary has been great and if it carries on like this, it makes the case easier to argue that more funding should be readily available. Also, for the criteria to be widened to benefit more students. I hope all these things can be achieved.

How do you access the bursary?

I’m currently working on making the bursary more accessible, even to people who don’t know they are eligible. I hope this will be achieved by the University being proactive so students don’t miss out. The University will contact eligible students and provide them with information about how they can access the bursary. This reduces the amount of students missing out on this opportunity if they don’t think they ‘fit’ the criteria.

 

A few facts for you:

You can receive the bursary if:

• you are a Home/UK student, funded through your Regional Funding Provider (e.g Student Finance England)
• you are living in University-allocated accommodation
• your household income is below £20,000 per annum

Have any questions and want to know more?

Visit www.bristol.ac.uk/fees-funding/awards/accommodation-bursary/ or email student-funding@bristol.ac.uk

 

#SUYesYou