Undergraduate Funding and Access Awards Guidance

The below is guidance for how to complete the online application for the Undergraduate Funding and Access Awards.

• You will only need to submit one online application. However if you have applied to two programmes at UCL, you will need to complete two online applications.
• As UK residing students, in order for us to consider your financial situation you must have applied to Student Finance (clickable link) before submitting an online application. You do not need to wait for the outcome of their assessment before submitting your application. 
• Please request an income-assessed maintenance loan so we are able to see your household income assessed by Student Finance. Furthermore, please ensure you and your sponsor (parent/guardian) give consent to share information with UCL. Students opting not to take a maintenance loan can still be income-assessed by completing the form PFF2 (clickable link, available from March). We can also consider you for the UCL Undergraduate Bursary if we have your verified household income figure.
• Please use the Student Finance calculator (clickable link) to ascertain the level of funding you may be able to access.
• This online application will collect information on a number of factors, including household income information, personal background and estimations of other available funds for study. Additional information including personal details and references from your UCAS application are available to us and therefore not requested through the application.

Navigating the Form

• In order to move through the form, please click on the ‘Next’ button at the bottom of each page.
• You will need to answer all mandatory questions to move forward with the application. If you have missed any mandatory questions, an error message will appear informing you of this.
• We have highlighted the mandatory questions in the question guidance below.
• Please do not enter any extra space after you finish each answer.
• In order to complete the application, please click the ‘Next’ button on the final page (after the two declarations).
• At this point, you will no longer be able to make any changes to your application, so please check the information before you submit.
• Once you have submitted your online application, you should receive an automated email confirming receipt of your completed application.

Answering the Questions

1. PERSONAL DETAILS

Please answer the following questions on your personal details.

Q2. [Mandatory] Have you already obtained an Undergraduate degree?

For some schemes based on financial need, students who have not yet had the opportunity to study for an undergraduate degree will be given preference to those who already have an undergraduate degree.

Q3. [Mandatory] Do you intend to apply for a Tuition Fee Loan from Student Finance?

To find out how to apply, please visit Student Finance website.

If have already applied, or not applied but are intending to apply at a later point, please select ‘yes’. When answering Q5, Q6 and Q7 you can disregard tuition fee costs.

If you do not intend to apply due to religious reasons, please select ‘no, due to religious reasons’ and enter amounts in Q5, Q6 and/or Q7. This would include both costs for tuition fees and maintenance.

If you do not intend to apply due to other reasons, please select ‘no, due to other reasons’ and enter amounts in Q5, Q6 and/or Q7. This would include both costs for tuition fees and maintenance.

Q4. [Mandatory] Do you intend to apply for the Maintenance Loan from Student Finance? If ‘yes’ please enter the loan amount using numerical values. If ‘no’ please enter 0.

To check what maintenance loan is available for living costs to you, please visit Student Finance website.

If you intend to apply for a maintenance loan but not the maximum amount that you are eligible for, please enter the amount you will apply for here and also enter amounts in Q5, Q6 and/or Q7.

Q5. [Mandatory] How much in personal savings do you have towards the full duration of your programme at UCL? Please use numerical values. If none, please enter 0.

Please mention any personal savings you have access to for use during the entire programme at UCL.

Q6. [Mandatory] What is your expected family contribution towards the full duration of your study at UCL? Please use numerical values. If none, please enter 0.

This should include any monetary support provided by your family or household towards fees or maintenance for the duration of your programme at UCL.

Q7. [Mandatory] Have you secured alternative funding or loans toward the full duration of your programme at UCL? If yes, enter award or loan amounts using numerical values. If no, please enter 0.

Some of the schemes under the Undergraduate Funding and Access Awards only provide partial awards, so it is important for us to know that you have made realistic and adequate financial provision to cover any remaining costs for the duration of your study.

8. HOUSEHOLD FINANCIAL DETAILS

Please answer the following questions on your household finances.

Q9. [Mandatory] Please provide a total figure for your household’s gross annual income. Please use numerical values.

This should include all pre-tax earnings from members of the household whose wages go towards the general maintenance of the household, such as rent and bills. The financial details we are looking for are for the tax or financial year 2023 which is from 6 April 2023 to 5 April 2024.

Please apply to Student Finance as early as possible to ensure that funding is in place for the start of term at UCL. You may also be eligible for the UCL Undergraduate Bursary.

Q10. [Mandatory] Please specify the number of dependents who depend fully on the household's gross annual income stated in Q9. Please include yourself.

These dependants (non-earners and earners) need to be wholly or financially dependent on the overall household gross annual income stated in Q9.

Q11. [Mandatory] Please provide the total income (before tax) of the highest earner in your household. Please use numerical values.

Include here earned income before tax is taken off by HMRC. This can be both employment and self-employment income. If entering self-employment income this should be the ‘profit’ figure.

Q12. [Mandatory] Please provide the total income (before tax) of the second highest earner in your household. Please use numerical values.

Include here earned income before tax is taken off by HMRC for the second highest earner. This can be both employment and self-employment income. If entering self-employment income this should be the ‘profit’ figure.

Q13. [Optional] If you would like to provide any additional information on the number of dependents in your household, please do so here (500 characters max.)

If you do not feel that simply noting the number of dependants in the household fairly reflects your situation, please outline additional information here (e.g. dependent needs long-term care or if you are a parent or single parent with children). Please do not include/repeat any information that we have already captured in the application here.

Q14. [Mandatory] Are you or your family currently in receipt of state benefits If ‘yes’ please enter the total benefits amount using numerical values. If ‘no’ please enter 0.

If ‘yes’, please provide more information in Q16. If your household is in receipt of more than one benefit, please provide the total benefits amount received by all family members (e.g. universal credit, working tax credit etc) between 6 April 2023 to 5 April 2024.

Q15. [Mandatory] Did you attend a fee-paying institution (similar to a private school that charges tuition fees) for your previous education?

In the UK, a fee-paying institution is a school or college that requires students to pay tuition fees, unlike state-funded schools, which are free to attend.

Q16. [Mandatory] Were you entitled to free school meals?

Please visit GOV.UK for information on free school meals. 

Q17. [Mandatory] Are you from a single parent household?

Please indicate whether you were raised in a single parent household. A single-parent household is a family with a child or children under the age of 18 headed by a parent who is widowed or divorced and not remarried, or by a parent who has never married. If you yourself are a single parent, please answer ‘no’ and provide more information in Q18. A single parent is a person who lives with a child or children and who does not have a spouse or live-in partner.

Q18. [Optional] If you would like to provide any additional information on your household income, please do so here (500 characters max.)

Include here any additional details about your household income that you would like to make us aware of when assessing your financial situation, that are not immediately obvious from the numerical value above (e.g. business bankruptcy, parents' recent divorce). Please do not include/repeat any information that we have already captured in the application here.

Q19. [Optional] If you would like to provide any additional information on exceptional household expenditure, please do so here (500 characters max.)

Include here any significant and exceptional costs that impact on your household situation (e.g. medical bills, significant debts). Please do not include/repeat any information that we have already captured in the application here.

Q20. [Mandatory] Please select the most appropriate employment category for the household’s highest earner. Use the document below to select: 

employment category.

• Manual
• Professional
• Semi-Skilled
• Skilled
• Unemployment

Q21. [Mandatory] Please provide the occupation title of the household's highest earner

If the household's highest earner has retired, please select the employment category that best applies to their most recent job title before retirement.

If the highest earner from 2023/24 is deceased, please select former occupational category in Q20 and state ‘deceased’ here.

If the highest earner from 2023/24 had to leave work to care for a family member for more than 35 hours a week, please select former occupational category in Q20 and state ‘full-time carer’ here.

If the highest earner from 2023/24 is currently unemployed, please select former occupational title here and include the date and reason they left this job in Q22.

Q22. [Optional] If you would like to provide any additional information on your household employment situation, please do so here (500 characters max.)

If there are any additional details about your household employment situation that you would like us to consider (e.g. main earner's job at risk, member of household can no longer work due to long term illness or recent accident). Please do not include/repeat any information that we have already captured in the application here.

23. WIDENING PARTICIPATION DETAILS

Please answer the following questions on any UCL widening participation factors you hold.

Q24. [Mandatory] Are you a care leaver?

A Care Leaver is anyone who is under age 25 and has been in the care of, or been given accommodation by, their local authority (LA) for a period of at least 13 weeks before the age of 16, and who hasn't reconciled with their parents between leaving care and starting their course. 

You may be eligible for the Care Leaver Bursary. If we have not awarded you by the end of October please get in touch with us.

If you have been in care, and have contact with your parents in the years before leaving for University, you can be assessed on your parents’ income and won’t be considered independent. For further information, please visit the StandAlone website.

Q25. [Mandatory] Are you a young carer?

We use the term 'young carer' to define a young person who cares unpaid, for a friend or a family member who, due to illness, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction cannot cope without their support.

Q26. [Mandatory] Are you irreconcilably estranged from your parents? 

Please read ‘who can apply for independent status’ from the StandAlone website.

You may be eligible for the Estranged Student Bursary. If we have not awarded you by the end of October please get in touch with us.

Q27. [Mandatory] Are you a forced migrant?

UCL recognises that forced migrant students can face particular obstacles when accessing higher education. We use the term 'forced migrant' to mean one of the following: 

• Refugee
• Asylum seeker (you may be eligible to apply to the Access Opportunity Scholarship)
• Those who have been granted a temporary form of leave as the result of an asylum or human rights application (e.g. limited leave to remain, discretionary leave to remain, humanitarian protection, UASC leave) -  (you may be eligible to apply to the Access Opportunity Scholarship)

Please visit Student Action for Refugees (STAR), Refugee Education UK (REUK) and University of Sanctuary for external support

Q28. [Mandatory] Are you registered as having a disability? If 'yes', you can provide further information in Q29.

This should be marked ‘Yes’ if you are recognised as disabled. Please note that we may need to verify this information and would advise you to register with UCL’s Disability Support team.

If you are not registered, then we would request evidence should you be short listed for a scholarship. We will contact you in August.

Q29. [Optional] If you would like to provide any additional information on your background, please do so here (500 characters max.)

Please provide any additional details about your background that would support your application (e.g. long term illnesses, exceptional circumstances such as homelessness or local authority intervention). Please do not include/repeat any information that we have already captured in the application here.

30. STATEMENT FOR MALCOLM GRANT SCHOLARSHIP

Q31. If you would like to be considered for the Malcolm Grant Scholarship please upload a leadership statement in the next page (350 words max.) Please include a word count at top of page.

If you wish to be considered for the Malcolm Grant Scholarship you are required to provide a Leadership Statement. Please highlight any leadership roles or positions of responsibility you have held, or currently hold, covering the following 5 aspects: 

• Vision / Goals
• Excellent Communication
• Motivating Others / Performance
• Decision Making / Problem Solving
• Passion and Enthusiasm

Please upload your document (Word or PDF only)

Thank you for taking time to complete your application for the Undergraduate Funding and Access Awards for 2025/26. If you are shortlisted for an award and are not being income assessed by Student Finance, we will contact you to request proof of your household income as stated in your application.

The successful candidates will be notified of the awards as soon as decisions are made by mid-September. Please do not contact us for an update until then.

If you have any questions that are not answered above, please email studentfunding@ucl.ac.uk