For students starting their programme in 2024/25 the Reading bursary will be a cash bursary only of £1,500 per year of eligibility. 

For students who started their programme in 2023/24 or earlier the Reading bursary will be a cash bursary only of £1,100 per year of eligibility.

The bursary will be paid into the same account in which you receive your maintenance loan.

New students commencing study in 2024/25 will need to meet both of the following criteria:

•  Be registered on a full-time undergraduate programme with an assessed household income of up to £27,000 that is confirmed by their Student Finance Authority in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland entering in 2024/25 for year 1 of study, and;

•  Have a home address recorded on their RISIS student record that falls within an area of low participation of young people progressing into higher education (POLAR4 or TUNDRA quintile 1 or 2) or be considered to be from an area of general disadvantage according to the governments Indices of Multiple Deprivation quintile 1 or 2. Please note that if you are a recipient of the University Care experienced and estrangement bursary the requirement to meet this eligibility criteria will not apply

Please check if your postcode meets the criteria.

Returning students will need to meet the following criteria:

•  UK and EU* undergraduate students on a full-time undergraduate course with an assessed household income of £27,000 or below.

(*EU students must be assessed as eligible for funding from Student Finance England in order to qualify.) 

The bursary is available to students of any undergraduate subject. Final allocation of awards will be made at the end of the academic year.

Any student who has not given consent to their Student Finance authority to share the assessed household income by the end of the academic year, will not be considered for the bursary.

Further eligibility criteria

You do not need to apply for this bursary. However, in order to be considered, students must ensure that they have been fully means tested and their sponsors (parents/guardian) have agreed to share household income with the University (given consent to share).

If you have not given your consent yet, your sponsor (parent/guardian) will need to call 0300 100 0607 (England), 0300 200 4050 (Wales), 0300 100 0077 (N. Ireland) or 0131 244 5341 (Scotland) to check that you have given consent to share. You will need to state your Customer Reference Number in order to do so.

For further information please contact the Student Financial Support team in the Carrington Building.

Telephone +44 (0) 118 378 5555 or email studentfunding@reading.ac.uk

One final thing, we would like to introduce you to our online e-learning platform Blackbullion. You can log on to gain access to interactive, bite-sized financial lessons, helping you to master your money from pre-enrolment to graduation and beyond. Topics include budgeting, savings and debt management alongside a Student Loan repayment calculator.