College Hardship Fund FAQ

The College Hardship Fund is currently open and can assist FE & HE full and part time students who are struggling financially, especially due to a recent change in circumstances. 

What is the Hardship Fund all about? 

The hardship fund is money (in the form of a non-repayable grant) for students from low income backgrounds (household income below £33,951) , studying on full or part time accredited FE or HE courses.  The fund can assist with costs associated with being a College Student.

You will be required to provide evidence of identity and financial situation.  NB in all instances students must be aged 18 or over, household income must be £33,950 or below and you must not be repeating a course.

Funding is based on attendance, so we will be looking at your attendance to date and that you are now engaging with your online lectures.  It you withdraw or stop attending your course you WILL be required to pay back any money already issued.

We have made some revisions to the support we can offer eligible students -

• Living Costs – allowance for FT Students who are not receiving living cost support from other funds. 
• Travel Allowance –  for FT & PT students.  If ordinarily eligible for travel support, i.e. you live 3 or more miles from College and are not in receipt of travel support from another fund, we will pay the equivalent of your mileage costs, even though these costs are not currently being incurred, as we appreciate that there are additional costs including increased heat & electricity costs associated with studying from home.  
• Books & Materials Allowance–  for FT & PT – as there can be additional costs associated with studying from home we will pay a books & materials grant allowance, to eligible students, without the need to submit receipts. 
• Tuition Fees – for FT & PT fee paying students who are not receiving fee support from other funds. If self-funding your fees these should have been paid in full by this time, however, the Hardship Fund may be able to cover the cost of your tuition fees and we would therefore refund you the amount you have already paid, enabling you to have more money available to spend on essential items. 

If you are already in receipt of Hardship Funding your funding will continue as detailed in your award letter. If you wish to seek additional categories of support please contact your Student Finance Advisor via the studentfinance@serc.ac.uk email address. 

How much money will I receive?

How much you receive will depend upon your household income.  Once approved for assistance you will be notified by email of how much money you will receive.  You will be guaranteed to receive this amount as long as your attendance/virtual attendance does not drop below 80% at any stage during the rest of the Academic Year. 

How to Apply to the Hardship Fund

Contact the Student Finance Team by email: studentfinance@serc.ac.uk  As SERC is operating entirely online at the present time you will be emailed an application pack for the Hardship Fund. The Application pack includes Guidance notes which detail how to complete each section of the form and the necessary supporting evidence which must be submitted. 

How to submit a Hardship Fund Application 

You will need to submit your application form and supporting evidence electronically. If you have a printer you can print out the application form, fill it in by hand and scan the completed application & your evidence back to us. Alternatively you can complete the application form electronically on the  Word document Template that you will be sent, save, and send the word document plus scanned copies of your evidence back to us.   If you don’t have access to a scanner, you can download a free ‘scanner app’ on your phone which enables you to use your phone’s camera to scan documents. Once you have completed your application and sourced all necessary evidence you should email this information to studentfinance@serc.ac.uk The Student Finance Advisor assessing your application will acknowledge receipt of your application and will come back to you if they require any further information, so please keep an eye on your email account for our correspondence, including your junk email folders. 

Timeframe for Notification of Decision 

We will be working as quickly as we can to notify you of the outcome of your application.

If you have any other questions about Student Finance please contact the Team via email: studentfinance@serc.ac.uk  and we will respond to your enquiry as soon as possible.