Students facing financial difficulties

What does "facing financial difficulties" mean?

We are very aware that we are in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis and that many students are struggling to meet and balance the various costs involved in Higher Education. For our support initiatives, we prioritise, where we can, students who come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, proactively contacting these students in some instances to receive additional support.

Students on household incomes of less than £15 and £20 per hour can fall into these categories, as well as students juggling studies with part-time work who still struggle to meet their main costs. For our purposes, we define "students facing financial difficulties" as those who are really in need of the additional support, not the students who would simply like some of their costs to be covered by us. There is a limited budget, so we are passionate about ensuring that what is available goes to the students who need it most.

What support is available to students "facing financial difficulties"?

There is a wide range of financial support available, including smaller funds and digital loan schemes, as well as larger funds and bursaries.

WP Student Engagement provides various financial support, such as:

The WP Student Engagement Fund – a small fund covering up to £175 to enhance the students’ University experience, covering costs such as course trips, DBS checks, and sports memberships.
The WP Student Engagement Graduation Support Fund – a yearly fund available to cover the costs of graduation (e.g. gown hire, guest tickets, etc.), for students who would otherwise be unable to attend.
The WP Student Engagement Commuter Fund – a wing of the WP Student Engagement Fund designed to support students with one-off contributions of up to £175 to help with transport costs for students who do not live on campus.
The Digital Equality Scheme – a programme through which we work with the library to lend out digital equipment, such as laptops, long-term, to students who cannot afford their own.
For information on the St Mary's Hardship Fund, St Mary’s Cares Award, and WP Scholarships and Bursaries.

If you would like to talk to a member of the WP Student Engagement team to help you with accessing different support, you can contact us at studentengagement@stmarys.ac.uk.