£50 Million Support Package for Students

The Government have recently announced (2nd February 2021), a support package that will be given to universities to help students that are facing financial difficulties due to the impact of Covid-19.

The support package is being given in addition to the £20 million that was announced in December 2020. The funding will allow universities to help students who, due to the pandemic are:

  • Having to pay for additional accommodation in two locations
  • Incurring extra costs to access online teaching
  • Losing their job due to location change or inability to enter the furlough scheme

Universities are being given the ability to distribute the funding and will prioritise those who need help the most.

Michelle Donelan, UK Universities Minister said, “This additional funding will provide real, tangible help for those students struggling financially as a result of the pandemic”.

The Office for Students has set out 3 key priorities in distributing the funds based on guidance from the Government:

  1. The funding should be targeted towards those providers who recruit and support high numbers of disadvantaged students.
  2. £40 million will be prioritised for rent related hardship in a way that students who are renting student accommodation away from home have the maximum opportunity to benefit from it.
  3. That the new funding be available to students ASAP, so it can meet their immediate needs.

Although most of the funding should be prioritised to support students that are facing financial hardships relating to renting, the University providers do have the flexibility to distribute the funding to students in a way that will prioritise the students in greatest need of support.  These could include students who are facing hardship related to the purchasing of IT equipment and connectivity issues to be able to gain access to their courses online.

Hardship funding which is distributed by the Office for Students is primarily intended to support students that are actively studying. There are however exceptions and providers can also support students that have been forced to temporarily suspend their studies.  These exceptions could be because of any of the following:

  • They are recovering from Coronavirus
  • They have been forced to self-isolate
  • They have caring responsibilities
  • They have been forced to suspend studies due to a decision by their provider

If you find that you are struggling financially, please get in touch with your University and see if they could help.

Further information for students can be found here:

Sheffield Hallam University: https://students.shu.ac.uk/shuspacecontent/finance/government-funded-support

University of Sheffield: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/funding/student-covid-19-support-fund

We hope you’ve found this blog ‘£50 Million Support Package for Students’ helpful and should you need any assistance sourcing your student accommodation in Sheffield please do not hesitate to contact us.