University College Birmingham is giving prospective UK students £5k to enrol there

University College Birmingham (UCB) is offering £5,000 to UK undergraduates studying there as part of its cost of living allowance initiative. The allowance aims to support students with living expenses and higher tuition fees.

Beginning in September 2025, first-year students will be eligible to receive the funds. The requirements are that students must pay their fees via a UK student loan, and they must also be eligible for funding under Student Finance England guidelines.

During the first two years of the course, the allowance will be paid in eight monthly instalments of £250 between October and May. In the last year, an additional £1,000 will be paid in two instalments of £500 each.

The institution emphasised that it was not required to be paid back but said that “strong attendance, engagement, progression, and successful completion of studies” would be necessary to guarantee repeated payments.

Current UCB students can also apply for a new hardship fund of up to £1 million if they will be in their second or third year of study by September of next year. The university explained that this fund was for “genuine, significant cost pressures which could otherwise impact on their ability to complete their studies successfully.”

The Cost of Living Crisis, which refers to the increasing costs of energy and food prices in the UK has negatively impacted UK students, who are at risk of becoming “the forgotten group in the cost of living crisis,” according to university leaders.

According to a 2023 survey by Russell Group universities Students’ Unions, 25 per cent of students will regularly go without food because of financial restraints.

This fund will help students to continue their studies and to counterbalance the more negative effects of the crisis.

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The Cost of Living Allowance is not means-tested, and students are not required to apply for the fund.

Vice-chancellor and principal Professor Michael Harkin spoke about the driving force behind the fund: “We feel passionately that more must be done to ease pressure on students and to guarantee those with the ability and aptitude to succeed in higher education do not see the cost of entry as a barrier.”

Featured image via Google Maps