The University of Cambridge’s Financial Assistance Fund is becoming increasingly inaccessible to students, with undergraduate rejections from the fund more than doubling in 2023/24, a Varsity investigation has found.
The fund grants awards of up to £3,000 to students facing “unforeseen financial difficulties,” defined as ones which “could not have been otherwise predicted,” provided they meet a set of eligibility criteria.
Freedom of Information Requests show the University rejected 59% of applications last year (2023/24), a sharp rise from 2022/23 when only 25% were rejected, and over quadruple the portion of applications rejected in 2021/22 (13%).
Alongside this, the criteria for accepted applications to the fund has narrowed, and students have also condemned the “stressful” application process.
In 2023/24, 162 undergraduates applied to the fund, with five withdrawing before receiving an outcome. Out of the 157, 64 were successful and 93 were rejected. In the previous year (2022/23), 292 applied for aid of whom 11 withdrew, 211 were successful, and only 70 were rejected.
This data represents a severe drop in the accessibility of hardship funding compared to previous years. In 2020/21, fewer than 8% of applications were rejected.
Previously known as the Hardship Fund, students apply with the support of their college, up to six weeks before the completion of course requirements.
In some cases, applications were denied when students were referred to other funding sources, or the required supporting statements from the students’ college or department were absent.
Jessica Asiedu-Kwatchey, Vice-President (Education & Widening Participation) of the Cambridge SU, said, “Cambridge University’s decision to refine its eligibility criteria for applications to its Undergraduate and Postgraduate Financial Assistance Funds, coupled with the findings demonstrating the lowered success rate of students’ applications, are of great concern to the SU.”
Students also raised concerns to Varsity about the process of applying for the fund, which “caused [them] significant stress”.
The student noted the “extensive criteria” of the application seemed “actively trying to disqualify applicants from funding”, stating the process “was overwhelming at an already difficult time.”
The University lists an “Eligibility Criteria” on the website of the fund, specifically outlining those for whom “financial assistance will not be provided”. This includes those who “have not made adequate financial provision prior to starting their studies,” and students with situations that “could reasonably be foreseen”.
This list of invalid reasons has increased over the past two years, further narrowing the possible grounds for securing funding.
The cost-of-living crisis is no longer a valid “sole reason” for funding applications, due to it being considered “not an unforeseen circumstance”.
The maximum amount provided by the fund also dropped from £3,500 in 2022/23 to £2,500 in 2023/24. Out of the 64 awards made to undergraduates in 2023/24, the University made 12 full awards of £2,500 and in the previous year (2022/23), out of the 211 awards the University made, similarly 12 full awards of £3,500 were made, despite a far larger number of awards made.
Another reason for the decline in awards made was the Uni’s decision to instead provide a higher number of large awards. In the 2022/23 documents, the University explained: “The maximum award was exceptionally increased from £2,000 to £3,500 to acknowledge the impact of the Cost of Living crisis on students.”
While in 2022/23 the cost of living crisis was the most common stated reason for financial difficulties among undergraduates, family circumstances have since become the most common explanation.
For postgraduate students, the likelihood of rejection from the fund also rose sharply, mirroring the significant increase in undergraduate rejections. In 2023/24, 68.57% of postgraduate applicants were rejected from the Postgraduate Financial Assistance Fund, compared with 38.94% in 2022/23.
Lucy Cavendish and Trinity Hall both had the highest number of undergraduate applicants to the fund, with 20 each in 2023/24.
A student also criticised the University’s emailed suggestion to recipients of financial aid to trial online platform Blackbullion, designed to “support better money management”.
To access the platform, recipients of University financial support are asked ten questions. These include whether they “know how to create and manage a personal budget,” and what they would do with a £1,000 payment.
One student emailed about Blackbullion told Varsity that this created an “implicit suggestion” that “students on financial aid cannot manage their money as well as others,” because it “places responsibility on disadvantaged students for financial insecurity which is likely not their fault”.
Cambridge University was contacted for comment.
Varsity excluded withdrawn applications from its calculations, which measure rejections by the sum total of awards and rejections.
