BU Maintenance Bursary

Eligible new students with a household income of £16,000 or below will receive a bursary of up to £2,400 (up to £3,200 if studying a Foundation Year) to support their learning and living costs. You'll be awarded £800 in your first year, and, provided you still meet the eligibility criteria, £800 in your second and final years of study. The amount received will be pro-rata for part-time study. If you are studying a Top-up degree lasting one year, you will receive £800.

To be eligible for a BU Maintenance Bursary, you must: 

• be registered as Home for fee status; and
• live in England and have been ordinarily resident in England for three years prior to the start date of your course*
• be a new student, actively participating on an Undergraduate BU course or Wiltshire College Salisbury** course (excluding HNC/HND) on a full or part-time basis
• be studying a first degree (including Top-ups)
• have a family income of £16,000 or less per year to qualify for the bursary***.

*Students who are ordinarily resident in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are excluded from receiving the BU Maintenance Bursary due to alternative funding arrangements being available to them. Ordinarily resident has been defined as 'habitual and normal residence in one place.’ It means that you live in a country year after year by choice through a set period, apart from temporary or occasional absences, such as holidays or business trips. Living here totally or mainly for the purpose of receiving full-time education does not count as being ordinarily resident. The course start date is defined as 1 September for September entrants.

**Applies to: BA (Hons) Commercial Photography and BA (Hons) Film Production and Cinematography. If you're studying at one of our other Partner Colleges, you will need to contact them for information about financial support.

***You will need to meet the eligibility criteria each year in order to qualify for the full bursary.

Your bursary payments will be loaded onto a pre-paid card. The money will be made available to you in nine instalments from October to June each year. If the first payment is made after the start of term due to late assessment, the first payment will include any back payment and will be followed by the remaining instalments. You can only spend money that’s in your account, so you can’t go overdrawn, and you can receive up to 2% cashback on purchases at certain retailers. 

The BU Maintenance Bursary is awarded to all eligible students.

There is no need to apply as you should automatically receive the bursary if you meet the eligibility criteria, providing you have completed an income assessment as part of your student finance application, and given consent to share this information.

If you're applying to study a part-time course, you will need to contact us by email to be assessed for eligibility.

Students from the Channel Islands and Isle of Man are subject to different funding arrangements to mainland UK students, and are not eligible for the Maintenance Loan, BU Maintenance Bursary or BU Hardship Fund.

For information on the support available for tuition fees and living costs, you should contact your island education offices:

• Guernsey Government website
• Jersey Government website
• Isle of Man Government website

When you apply for a tuition fee loan, you need to state that you would like to have a household income assessment and give consent to Student Finance England to share this information with the university. You will need to complete the family income assessment form and send the relevant documents to the Student Finance England. We will then be able to match the family income with our bursary eligibility criteria to determine whether the bursary will be awarded.

Please note that the decision to award a bursary is made on the first family income figure BU receives from Student Finance England and any in-year reassessment will not result in a change to the level of award or in an award being made.