Accommodation Bursary

The scheme is open to undergraduate students with a “Home” tuition fee status who have applied to the Student Loans Company (SLC) for finance and who have a household income below the assessed income threshold of £42,875 or less.

The threshold is subject to change annually and is set by the Student Loans Company. The rate of £42,875 is correct as at February 2025 for the 2025/26 academic year.

There are two brackets available which are dependent on your household income:

Take a look at the separate FAQ below about how your eligibility will be checked. 

The Bursary amount is a single amount credited to your Student Account. Read more in the FAQ below about how this payment will be made.

You will need to apply for, and be allocated to, one of the following qualifying residences:

• Holland Hall - Ensuite (Catered)
• Lopes - Single / Twin Standard (Catered)
• Mardon - Single / Twin Standard (Catered)
• Ransom Pickard - Single / Twin Standard (Catered)
• James Owen Court - Ensuite (Self-catered)
• Lafrowda - Standard (Self-catered)
• St David's (Kingdom Mews or Brunel Close) - Standard (Self-catered)

The Accommodation Bursary is not available for any other residences, and you must select at least one of the above residences in your accommodation application for us to consider your Bursary request.

The scheme will close on Friday 3 October 2025 and you must have submitted your Bursary Application Form by this date. We are unable to accept any applications after this time.

You can register your interest when making your accommodation application and you will need to include at least one of the qualifying residences in your accommodation preferences. You must then complete the Accommodation Bursary Application form which is available here. The Bursary Application Form will be available to complete until Friday 3 October 2025.

You will need to submit an application during the year you will be starting your studies. Please check this webpage again when you apply for accommodation to see if there have been any changes to the scheme.

If you have applied to Student Finance England/Wales/Northern Ireland or Student Awards Agency for Scotland for a student loan (tuition and/or maintenance) and have been means tested, you will have been asked to provide details of your household income. Providing you have not requested that this household income figure be withheld, then the University of Exeter will use this data to confirm your eligibility for an Accommodation Bursary. Your household income figure must be £42,875 or below as of Friday 10 October 2025 to be eligible for the award. For more information on how to apply for a student loan, please visit our webpages.

For the 2025-26 academic year, your eligibility will be checked on 10 October 2025 only.

If your household income changes after 10 October 2025 so that you would no longer meet the eligibility criteria, you will be able to retain the original award provided you are not in debt to the University.

Provided you meet all the eligibility criteria as of Friday 10 October 2025, we will apply a credit to your student account to reduce your accommodation fees. We will begin applying credits from the week commencing 13 October. Your online student statement will be updated with a new balance reducing the amount to pay for term 1.

If you meet all the eligibility criteria for the Accommodation Bursary then you are able to apply for it, no matter what other funding you receive.

We will allocate you to the next available residence in accordance with our Room Allocation Procedure, however we will not be able to apply the Bursary unless you are allocated to a qualifying residence.

As long as you submitted your Bursary application form by Friday 3 October 2025 and would have met the eligibility criteria as of Friday 10 October 2025 then we will be able to prioritise you for a room move to a qualifying residence should we get availability at a later stage. When you submit a Changing Room or Residence enquiry via SID Online you will need to indicate that you were an Accommodation Bursary applicant who we couldn’t allocate to a qualifying residence. If we are able to move you to a qualifying residence at a later date, then the amount of bursary paid to you will be adjusted pro rata in line with your new contract start date.

You will need to continue living in one of the qualifying residences for the bursary to be applied. If you choose to move from a qualifying residence to one which is not listed above, you will not be able to transfer the remaining value of bursary. The amount will be adjusted pro-rata to the date your accommodation contract changes. If you move from one qualifying residence to another qualifying residence then no adjustment will be made, and you will retain your original bursary amount.

If you submitted your Bursary application form by Friday 3 October 2025 and would have met the eligibility criteria as of Friday 10 October 2025, then a pro-rata amount of bursary will be paid to you in line with your new contract start date in the eligible room. You are not able to apply for the Bursary after Friday 3 October.

If you did not submit a Bursary application form by Friday 3 October 2025 then we will be unable to consider you for a Bursary award.

If you leave your University-allocated accommodation, you will no longer be eligible for the Accommodation Bursary. The University will reclaim a pro-rata amount of any Bursary already awarded, based on the date we agree to terminate your accommodation contract.

If you Interrupt your studies and leave your university accommodation part way through that year, you will no longer be eligible for the Accommodation Bursary. The University will reclaim a pro-rata amount of any Bursary already awarded, based on the date we agree to terminate your accommodation contract.

The Accommodation Bursary only applies to full time study. If you change your study mode then the University will reclaim a pro-rata amount of any Bursary already awarded, based on the date your full-time study ends.

Provided you are not interrupting your studies to restart in another academic year then a change in course would not affect the terms of your Bursary.

The Accommodation Bursary is related to the occupation of rooms within qualifying residences, which have set contract lengths attached to them. If your course length extends beyond the end date of your initial accommodation contract, then we cannot guarantee accommodation will be available, nor will additional Accommodation Bursary funds be available.

We would encourage all students to refer to the University's Financial Help webpage to understand what other support might be available to them.