We understand that the rising cost of living is a major concern for you, and we’re committed to providing support to help you focus on your studies. We’re proud to have worked with your elected Students’ Union officers since summer 2022 to develop the most extensive cost of living support package available at any UK university. Today, we are announcing the next stage in this support: an additional payment to 10,000 students, which comes from the £9million package announced in November 2022.
The payment will be made to:
- Students who received a contextual offer from The University of Manchester, for example because they lived in an area of disadvantage when they applied
- Students who declared during University registration that they were care experienced, estranged, have caring responsibilities or dependents.
- Students who are seeking asylum in the UK.
- Recipients of the following scholarships and bursaries:
Eligible full time students will receive £230 and eligible part time students will receive £115.
If you belong to one of the above groups, you will receive an email by Wednesday 8 March confirming that you’ll be receiving the payment and asking you to update your bank details on the student system. Once you’ve added your bank details, we’ll transfer the funds to your account within ten working days. You can find out more in our frequently asked questions.
How we’re standing up for you
We’re proud of the cost of living support package we’ve developed with your Students’ Union, but we recognise that there are still significant challenges facing the student community. We’re committed to advocating on your behalf to government to improve the situation. For example:
- We agree that that the 2.8% increase in the student maintenance loans provided by the UK Government is insufficient. We’re actively working with other universities to encourage a review of this and our President and Vice Chancellor, Professor Nancy Rothwell, has been lobbying government ministers on this issue.
- Your Students’ Union is making sure that your concerns are heard by Mayor Andy Burnham through the Greater Manchester Student Assembly and is collaborating with other students’ unions to lobby central government.
- We’re advocating for affordable rents and when Manchester City Council ask us to comment on planning applications, we won’t support any new student accommodation unless it offers good value for money.
Sam Bronheim, Union Affairs Officer at the Students’ Union, commenting on behalf of the elected SU Officer Team, said: “We are delighted to announce this second targeted payment to 10,000 students and we’ll continue to collaborate with the University to support the wider student body with the rising cost of living. We’re also lobbying local and national government, on your behalf, to introduce greater financial support for the student community”.
What to do if you’re in financial difficulty
If you’re struggling, get in touch with us. Our Cost of Living support doesn’t stop with these payments to students. We also have a support fund that can award, depending on an assessment of your circumstances, non-repayable grants up to £2,000; trained advisors on hand to help with a range of money matters; an emergency loan scheme; and mental health and wellbeing support.