This is a page about financial support at Cambridge. Cambridge can be expensive, but there is support for those who need it.
Cambridge Bursary 🔗 There are central university bursaries of up to £3,500 available to some UK and EU students studying for their first undergraduate degree to support living costs. These are means tested based upon household income, with an upper limit of £62,215 per year. A higher Cambridge Bursary (currently of £5,600 per year) is available to UK mature students or care leavers with household incomes of £25,000 per year or less who are also resident in Cambridge throughout the year. There's no limit to the number of bursaries available! You're automatically considered for a Cambridge Bursary if you're financially assessed by your student finance authority - you don’t need to apply.
College and Faculty Funds 🔗 Some faculties and departments may offer funds, grants and/or prizes for students in recognition of academic achievement. Where available, details of such awards can be found on the relevant college and faculty pages. Your College may offer additional sources of funding to help in particular circumstances or for specific costs.
A number of colleges offer college-specific bursaries and grants to their students. Some of these are means tested like the Cambridge bursaries. St John's, for example, has incredibly generous studentships 🔗, while some bursaries target students who may miss out on a Cambridge bursary but are still facing financial pressure. Newnham, for instance, gives out Newnham bursaries with no limit to household income.
Information on these funds is available from College websites below or by contacting the College directly:
Christ's 🔗 | Churchill 🔗 | Clare 🔗 | Corpus Christi 🔗 | Downing 🔗 | Emmanuel 🔗 | Fitzwilliam 🔗 Girton 🔗 | Gonville & Caius 🔗 | Homerton 🔗 | Hughes Hall 🔗 | Jesus 🔗 | King's 🔗 | Lucy Cavendish 🔗 | Magdalene 🔗 | Murray Edwards 🔗 | Newnham 🔗 | Pembroke 🔗 | Peterhouse 🔗 | Queens' 🔗 | Robinson 🔗 | St Catharine's 🔗 | St Edmund's 🔗 | St John's 🔗 | Selwyn 🔗 | Sidney Sussex 🔗 | Trinity 🔗 | Trinity Hall 🔗 | Wolfson 🔗
When you're researching which college you may want to apply to, it's well worth taking a look at what college-specific support there is available. Some colleges may provide extra financial aid for certain students. St John's, for instance, awards studentships of between £100 and £7,000 dependent on household income. A number of colleges have similar, though generally with smaller maximum payments, schemes.
Stormzy Scholarship for Black UK Students 🔗 Starting from October 2019, students are able to come to Cambridge on scholarships supported by grime superstar Stormzy. This covers tuition fees and also makes a big contribution to living costs for up to four of your years here.
Cambridge Trust 🔗 The go-to site if you’re an international student: the Cambridge Trust offers scholarships for undergraduate students who pay university fees at the Overseas rate. You can use the scholarship search to find awards you may be eligible for, but you don’t need to apply as the Trust considers applicants put forward by their Colleges. To qualify for a part-cost scholarship, they’ll look at your academic achievements and potential as well as your financial need.
Unlike a lot of other universities, students cannot work part-time jobs during Cambridge terms. But this does not mean that there aren't other ways of earning some money. Many students work at May Balls and other end-of-term events, which generally offer around £80 for a whole-night shift. Alternatively, most colleges offer some form of paid work within the college itself. This generally takes the form of either working behind a college bar, or helping out with outreach and widening participation events.
Wherever you go to university, it's also worth looking at their psychology departments for quicker, smaller sums of cash. Psychology students will often offer a range of studies during term for which you can be paid: check out Cambridge's Cognitive and Brain Sciences Unit 🔗 if you're interested!
There are plenty of handy guides to help breakdown and simplify the process of applying to student finance!
Brightside Student Finance Guide 🔗
UCAS Finance and Support 🔗
Did you spot a typo or formatting issue? Let us know by emailing us at [email protected].