**UFAF is now closed to final year undergraduate students for the 23/24 academic year**
University Financial Assistance Fund (UFAF)
UFAF/Summer Fund provides discretionary financial assistance to home students, in the form of a non-repayable monetary award. The fund can help to alleviate unexpected financial hardship and is intended to help with essential living costs. Students who may be considering leaving higher education because of financial problems are particularly encouraged to apply.
Awards received will be offset against any outstanding accommodation debt to the University as a priority. If there is any balance remaining after, this will be paid by BACS into your nominated bank account. An award will never be paid to a student in cash.
Please note, UFAF has limited funds so we would encourage you to apply early. Once the fund’s resources have been exhausted, shortfall percentages may be reduced or it may be closed without advanced warning prior to the deadlines provided.
Eligibility
UFAF/ Summer Fund is available to Home students who have applied to the appropriate funding body and are in receipt of their full entitlement. If you an Overseas or EU (as assessed by the Student Loans Company) please refer to our Overseas Emergency Financial Aid page.
The UFAF/summer fund cannot be used to pay tuition fees. Any applications stating this will be rejected.
Students can only make one application per academic year unless there is an unexpected change in circumstances since their initial application.
For full information on eligibility and fund opening and closing dates please see the UFAF/Summer Fund Criteria.
How to apply
You will need to register online at www.blackbullion.com. Using your student email address in the following format ab20cde@herts.ac.uk. *Please note, this is an example and you should use your own details to sign in.*
The application will ask you what financial provisions you have put in place for your living costs prior to the start of the academic year, as well as asking for a description of the unexpected financial difficulties you are facing. You will also need to upload supporting evidence. If any evidence is missing or unclear in your application, we will request this evidence from you through Blackbullion.
If you would like some guidance or support with your application, we offer Drop-in Sessions with a member of the team.
Students will also be required to complete Blackbullion e-learning modules. There is a short quiz at the end in which students will need to achieve 80% pass rate. These modules can be taken as many times as needed. Please see the Blackbullion Ask Herts page for more information.
Awards
Assessments are completed using a set criteria. Our minimum award is set at £250 and ranges up to £2,500. Award amounts are dependent on the outcome of the assessment.
The Summer Fund awards are set as £150 as a minimum and ranges up to £500.
Timeframe
An assessment and decision should be made within 4 working weeks of submission of a completed application form, including all required documentary evidence.
However, there may be times when this process may take longer than the 4 weeks outlined above; you will be notified via email if we require a longer time for the assessment to be completed.
UFAF/Summer Fund Appeal
If you are unhappy with the decision made by the Student Funding and Financial Support team and wish to appeal the decision, please see the appeal page.
Student Funding and Financial Support
Please visit our Financial Support page, which details the different forms of financial support offered by the Student Funding and Financial Support team, such as:
- Blackbullion
- Appointments