Leeds Bursary
Leeds Bursary is non-repayable support for full- and part-time UK students to help with the costs of being at University.
Your eligibility for the Leeds Bursary is linked to your annual household income. So if your income is assessed by your awarding body as being under certain thresholds and you meet the other eligibility criteria, you are guaranteed to receive it.
You will be able to choose how you receive this support – either as a cash bursary, a discount on your fees or University accommodation.
The level of support you receive depends on your household income and the year you start your studies.
Accessing the Leeds Bursary
Are you eligible?
If you are applying to start your full-time course in 2024, to qualify you must:
- Be registered on a full-time, undergraduate, higher-education course lasting at least one year, for example:
- a degree
- foundation degree
- diploma of higher education (DipHE) or
- certificate of higher education (CertHE).
- Be a UK undergraduate student, normally living in England, Northern Ireland or Scotland for the three years immediately before the start of the course and, 'settled' in the UK on the first day of the course.
- Be paying the maximum tuition fee (£9,250 in 2024)
- Have not already achieved an equivalent or higher-level qualification. This stipulation does not apply if you are studying Nursing, Midwifery or Dental Hygiene and Therapy, and are eligible to receive full statutory funding (both maintenance loan and tuition fees loan).
- Have a household income of less than £42,875 a year
- Have had your household income assessed by the Student Loans Company if you are a full-time student.
- Not be on a study-abroad or work-placement year.
- Not be studying on a degree apprenticeship programme.
If you are applying to start your part-time course in 2024, to qualify you must:
- Be registered on a part-time, undergraduate, higher-education course lasting at least one year, for example:
- a degree
- foundation degree
- diploma of higher education (DipHE) or
- certificate of higher education (CertHE).
- Be a UK undergraduate student, normally living in England, Northern Ireland or Scotland for the three years immediately before the start of the course and, 'settled' in the UK on the first day of the course.
- Be paying a pro-rated amount of the the maximum tuition fee (£9,250 in 2024) based on your credits
- Be studying at least 30 credits a year (25% of a full-time course)
- Have not already achieved an equivalent or higher-level qualification. This stipulation does not apply if you are studying Nursing, Midwifery or Dental Hygiene and Therapy, and are eligible to receive full statutory funding (both maintenance loan and tuition fees loan).
- Have a household income of less than £42,875 a year
- Not be on a study-abroad or work-placement year.
- Not be studying on a degree apprenticeship programme.
Do you need to apply?
Full-time students
If you're a full time student you don't need to apply for the Leeds Bursary; your eligibility will be confirmed based on the information held on your student record and the information you provide to the Student Loans Company (SLC) when you apply for a maintenance loan.
Both you and your sponsors – usually your parent(s) or partner – will need to give the SLC consent to share your household income with the University.
We will send an email to your University email account in the autumn term, once all eligibility criteria has been met, to confirm your award. After you have received the email you can choose how you wish to receive your support.
It is possible to be means-tested by SLC even if you do not wish to take out a maintenance or tuition fees loan. If you do not wish to take out a loan but still wish to be considered for a Leeds Bursary award, visit the Government's student finance forms page.
Part-time students
If you are studying part-time you will need to apply for the Leeds Bursary every year that you are studying with us.
Students with means-tested loans
If you have applied for a means-tested maintenance loan, provided household income details, and consented to share your information, you will need to complete the Part-time Leeds Bursary application form to notify us.
Students without a means-tested loan
If you have only applied for a tuition loan or you did not submit any information about your household income, you’ll need to complete the full Part-time Leeds Bursary application form.
You will also need to upload supporting income documents such as:
- Income evidence (e.g., P60, payslips, pensions)
- Benefits documents (e.g., Universal Credit)
- Proof of partner income (if applicable)
- Address proof (e.g., Council Tax or utility bill)
- Birth certificates for children you support.
After You Submit Your Application
Processing can take up to 4 weeks if all required documents are provided.
Submit you application by October 31 to receive the first payment on time. Later applications may take up to 6 weeks for processing.
How much is it worth?
Full-time students
The following table shows how much financial support full-time students can receive per year based on their household income.
| Household income threshold | Award amount per year |
|---|---|
| £25,000 or below | £2,000 |
| £25,001 to £30,000 | £1,500 |
| £30,001 to £36,000 | £1,000 |
| £36,001 to £42,875 | £500 |
| Over £42,875 | Not eligible |
Foundation year students
The following table shows how foundation year students could receive a Leeds Bursary tuition fee discount depending on their household income, as well as a bursary to help with living costs.
| Household income threshold | Full-time foundation year funding | Part-time foundation year funding |
|---|---|---|
| £25,000 or below | £3,000 Tuition Fee Discount and £3,000 Leeds Bursary | £1,500 Tuition Fee Discount and £1,500 Leeds Bursary |
| £25,001 to £30,000 | £1,500 Tuition Fee Discount and £1,500 Leeds Bursary | £750 Tuition Fee Discount and £750 Leeds Bursary |
| £30,001 to £36,000 | £1,500 Tuition Fee Discount and £1,000 Leeds Bursary | £750 Tuition Fee Discount and £500 Leeds Bursary |
| £36,001 to £42,875 | £1,500 Tuition Fee Discount and £500 Leeds Bursary | £750 Tuition Fee Discount and £250 Leeds Bursary |
| Over £42,875 | Not eligible | Not eligible |
Please note that your fees will be reduced by the relevant Tuition Fee Discount amount after we have received your household income information from Student Finance.
Part-time students
If you are studying part-time, the support you will get from us will be a proportion of the support available to full-time students. Support will be calculated on the basis of the workload of your part-time course compared to an equivalent full-time course. The tuition fee for your course will be calculated on the same basis.
The following table shows the annual Leeds Bursary amount based on household income and number of credits (intensity of study):
| Household income threshold | 40 credits (33%) | 60 credits (50%) | 80 credits (67%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| £25,000 or below | £834 | £1,250 | £1,670 |
| £25,001 to £30,000 | £500 | £750 | £1,000 |
| £30,001 to £36,000 | £344 | £500 | £670 |
| £36,001 to £42,875 | £164 | £250 | £335 |
| Over £42,875 | Not eligible | Not eligible | Not eligible |
Choosing how to receive the Leeds Bursary
You can choose whether you want to receive the Leeds Bursary as a cash award, an award against your tuition fees or an award against your University of Leeds accommodation. You can make your choice up until the second Friday in November. After this date you will automatically receive your Leeds Bursary as a cash award directly into your bank account.
Cash award
If you choose to receive your Leeds Bursary as a cash award, it will give you the greatest flexibility on to how you use it, but remember that you will need to budget carefully to cover living expenses and other essential study related costs.
Award paid against your university accommodation
If you are planning on living in university accommodation, you may want to consider the accommodation option. This option means that the award is paid directly against your university accommodation which means the amount you need to pay directly to cover this cost is reduced.
Award paid against your tuition fee
If you choose this option, the award will be paid directly against your tuition fee account. This means that the amount you need to pay directly to cover this cost is reduced. If you are taking out a tuition fee loan, we will inform the Student Loans Company about the bursary and they will reduce your tuition fees loan accordingly. If you are paying the remaining tuition fees yourself, the reduced fee will be split into the instalment plan you have chosen.