How to apply: postgraduate taught students

It is intended to provide discretionary financial help if you are experiencing unexpected short-term financial issues that are causing you difficulties in meeting your essential living costs.

If you are currently facing financial difficulties because your funding has been delayed, an emergency loan may be the best option for you.

Eligibility

You're eligible to apply if you:

• are currently an active fully-registered on a postgraduate taught degree-awarding programme at the University of York
• are part-time and studying at least 25% of a full-time equivalent course and must have taken their full tuition fee grant and/or loan, or provided evidence that they are not eligible (where applicable). 
• are able to evidence that you have already taken out your full entitlement of student funding before applying to the Student Support Fund eg your funding letter or evidence of self-funding which may include wage slips, and any other funding like scholarships, bursaries or family/friend contributions
• are normally resident within the UK for the duration of your studies.

You will need to show that you have made reasonable provision for your tuition fees and living costs throughout your course before you started your studies. This may be in the form of a budgeting plan for the year with your expected means of income shown as evidence. Failing to make reasonable adjustments to your lifestyle is not considered unexpected or unforeseen.

Unfortunately applications related to the following cannot be considered:

• for tuition fees and tuition fee debt
• requests to compensate loss of income within the family/household
• requests to compensate funds lost via fraud
• holiday-related costs, including costs incurred as a result of cancelled travel
• differences in exchange rates between the student's home currency and the GBP
• where there is an economic crisis in the student's home country
• where the student has not secured sufficient financial provision for the full academic year
• routine or unnecessary medical costs, including costs associated with dental and cosmetic procedures
• visa-related costs
• costs related to distance learning
• part-time students studying less than 25 percent of a full-time course.
• students without an active fully registered status

How to apply

Read the Student Support Fund guidance carefully before you begin your application.

As part of your application, you will need to provide evidence as attachments to some of the questions on the application form. Before starting your application, please ensure you have read the 'What supporting evidence do I need to provide' section, which can be found on the Student Support Fund web page.

Please prepare your evidence in advance before submitting an application, as incomplete applications cannot be forwarded for assessment, and therefore may cause a delay in you receiving an outcome.

Once you submit your application, the Student Financial Support team will create a folder in a secure area and upload some of your application and supporting documentation. The application will be passed to the assessors once all supporting evidence has been received.

To access the application form, please follow the link below which will take you to a Google Form. Please ensure you are logged into your University account in order to access the form. When completing the application, the Google Form will allow you up to 30 days and save your progress. If you do not submit the application within the 30 days, you will need to start a new application.

Apply to the Student Support Fund

The Student Support Fund is open for postgraduate taught students from Monday 6 October 2025 until 5pm on Friday 14 August 2026. The fund temporarily closes during vacation periods. 

What happens next

Your application and supporting evidence is assessed and you will be notified of an outcome within 4 weeks.