Hardship funds

What is the Access to Learning Fund?

If you find yourself in financial hardship or have above average study costs, you may be eligible to apply for a grant from the Access to Learning Fund. If you're considering leaving higher education because of financial problems, you're particularly encouraged to apply.

Awards from the fund are discretionary, means-tested and we may not be able to meet all of your costs. Early applications are recommended as funds are limited and can run out. 

Who can apply?

To be eligible to apply you must have Home fee status and be enrolled on a full-time or part-time on-campus programme. 

How often can I apply?

You can normally apply to the Access to Learning Fund (ALF) once per academic year. A second application to the fund will only be considered in exceptional circumstances. Additional evidence will be required

Before you apply

• Undergraduates must have taken out their full entitlement of Maintenance Loan before being eligible to apply
• Postgraduates must have taken their full entitlement of the Master’s Loan or Doctoral Loan
• Postgraduates must demonstrate that they have made realistic provision to fund their fees and living costs before applying
• If you are a full-time undergraduate, you are expected to have a student account with interest-free overdraft facility - if you are experiencing difficulties in opening a student account, please explain the issues in your application form

Tuition fees

The Fund cannot help with paying tuition fees. If you're a full-time undergraduate student you may be apply for a tuition fee loan from Student Finance England. If you're a postgraduate student, you may be eligible to apply for a Master's Loan or Doctoral Loan from Student Finance England.

Priority for assistance

Priority is given to the following groups of students when deciding how to allocate the funding:

• Students receiving the final year loan rate, who are in financial difficulty.
• Students with caring responsibilities.
• Students with children (especially lone parents).
• Mature undergraduate students, especially those with existing financial commitments, including priority debts.
• Students from low-income families.
• Students who are displaced people, refugees or asylum seekers.
• Estranged students and those with experience of care.
• Disabled students (especially where the DSA is unable to meet particular costs).
• Students who have entered higher education from Foyers or who are homeless.

How to apply

Please read our SOAS Access to Learning Fund guidance (PDF) before applying.

To apply for the SOAS Access to Learning Fund please complete the SOAS Hardship Fund Application and upload the required documents.

Please use the statement section of the form to explain your current financial situation and how this is impacting on your studies. 

Applications take 4 weeks to process and you will be contacted by email with the outcome of your application.

International postgraduate and undergraduate students who encounter emergency unforeseen costs or unexpected financial hardship may be eligible to apply for a small grant usually up to £500 from the SOAS International Hardship Fund.

We also have a fund specifically for students from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh with the same criteria.

To be eligible to apply you must be enrolled on a full-time or part-time on-campus programme. 

You will need to be able to demonstrate that you had made reasonable provision for living costs and tuition fees before starting your programme, and provide evidence of your current hardship.

Students from the following groups would be considered a priority for assistance

• Final Year Undergraduate
• From a developing country
• PhD Student writing up
• Masters student writing dissertation

To apply for the SOAS International Hardship Fund please complete the SOAS Hardship Fund application.

Any student who has childcare costs can apply to the Childcare Fund. To be eligible to apply you must be enrolled on a full-time or part-time on-campus programme.

The fund is not means-tested, and provides a grant of up to £1000 towards the cost of Ofsted registered childcare.

To apply please complete the SOAS Hardship Fund application, providing supporting evidence which indicates your childcare costs and birth certificate(s) of your child/children. You do not need to provide any further supporting documentation unless you wish to apply for further support from the Access to Learning Fund.

The childcare fund is limited and distributed on a first come first served basis, so early application is advised.

To be eligible to apply you must be enrolled on a full-time or part-time on-campus programme. SOAS Additional Study Support Funds are awarded based on the following criteria:

• You must be from a group under-represented at SOAS.
• You must be undertaking your first undergraduate degree (students who currently hold a degree or who are transferring from another Higher Education degree will not be eligible).
• You must ordinarily be resident in England.
• Your household income must be less than £25,000 as assessed by the Student Finance England (SFE).
• You must have applied for all available funding.

SOAS has many diverse groups but would particularly like to support:

• students from low participation neighbourhoods
• students from lower socio-economic groups
• students with disabilities
• students from black and ethnic minority groups
• students from a school with an above regional average of students on free school meals
• students from a school where a low percentage of students achieve 5 A-C GCSEs

Please note that meeting these listed criteria alone will not guarantee this award as these are limited in number.

Applications can take up to 4 weeks to process. To apply for the Additional Study Support Fund please complete the SOAS Hardship Fund Application.

Students registered for a programme in the School of Law who are experiencing financial need may apply to the Ballantyne Financial Assistance Fund for a grant. The Ballantyne Financial Assistance Fund supports two awards of £600 per academic year.

To be eligible to apply you must be enrolled on a full-time or part-time on-campus programme.

Applications will be assessed against the same eligibility criteria as the Access to Learning Fund. However, grants from the fund are to be made only to students registered on a School of Law undergraduate, postgraduate or research degree programme. No grant may exceed £600 and no student may receive more than £600 in any one academic year.

Applications can take up to 4 weeks to process. To apply for the Ballantyne Financial Assistance Fund please complete the SOAS Hardship Fund application. By making this application you will also be assessed for the Access to Learning and Additional Study Support Funds.

The Ballantyne Financial Assistance Fund was set up in 2016 as a result of the generosity over many years of William Ballantyne, a long-standing friend of the SOAS School of Law.

William Ballantyne taught Arab Comparative Commercial Law and Arbitration as a Visiting Professor at SOAS and is author of Commercial Law in the Arab Middle East: The Gulf States (Lloyd’s of London Press, 1986); Law and Development in Arabia (Graham & Trotman, 1980); A Register of Laws of the Arabian Gulf (Lloyd’s of London Press, 1985) and Essays and Addresses on Arab Law (2000).

He continues to practice as a barrister specialising in Arab Laws.