1
THE ACCESS TO LEARNING FUND 2009 / 2010
Contents of this leaflet
Section One: What is the fund for?
1. Tuition fees
2. How your application is assessed
3. Who can apply
4. Short term loans from the Access to Learning Fund
5. Students entitled to claim social security benefits
6. Information on how your application will be processed
Section Two: How to apply
7. Application deadlines
8. Supporting evidence
9. Timetable for making a decision
10. How to appeal
11. Budgeting Tips
Section One: What is the fund for?
The aim of the Fund is to support vulnerable students, in particular to help
them access and remain in higher education. It is used:

to assist those who need extra financial help to meet particular costs
which are not being met from statutory (or other) sources of funding,

to help if students are in financial hardship,

to provide emergency payments for unexpected crises,

to intervene in cases where a student may be considering leaving
Queen Mary because of financial problems.
1. Tuition Fees
The Fund cannot help you to pay any tuition fees you are liable for. However
you can still apply to the fund as there might be other costs that you can get
help with.
2. How your application is assessed
You are expected to have accessed all support available to you before
applying to the Fund including requesting your full student loan entitlement
and making use of any overdraft facilities available to you.
Your application will be treated either as a ‘standard’ claim or a ‘non standard’
claim or both. We will assess ‘standard’ applications under an ‘additional
need’ method that looks at the difference between your accepted reasonable
expenditure and your expected income. If you have unforeseen
circumstances your application can then also be considered under a ‘non
standard’ assessment.
The assessment process for ‘standard’ and ‘non standard’ awards is designed
to identify students who have particular financial needs and those who are in
unforeseen financial difficulty. This should result in most of the available
funding being directed towards students with a low income and those who
have exceptionally high course-related costs.
3. Who can apply?
Eligibility
The Access to Learning Fund is for students who are eligible for UK
government financial support for living costs. Eligibility for this depends on the
status and duration of your residency in the UK or EEA. If you need further
information on the residency rules please speak to a Welfare Adviser in the
Advice and Counselling Service. International students and EU students who
are only eligible for tuition fee support cannot apply to the Access to Learning
Fund.
Priorities for Assistance
The Fund is there to help any eligible student who has a particular financial
need but we cannot meet every application we receive and we cannot always
meet all of the costs that you might apply for. The Government asks us to give
priority to the following groups of students when deciding how to allocate the
funding:
For full time undergraduate students the priority groups are:

Students with children (especially lone parents)

Mature students, especially those with existing financial commitments,
including priority debts

Students from low income families especially those who do not receive
a Queen Mary bursary

Disabled students (especially where the Disabled Students Allowances
are unable to meet particular costs)

Students who have entered higher education from care

Students from Foyers or who are homeless

Students receiving the final year loan rate, who are in financial
difficulty.
For postgraduate students the priority groups are:

Students with children

Students who are self-funding

Disabled students (especially where Disabled Students Allowances are
unable to meet particular costs).
If you are not in one of the priority groups you can still apply but you must
provide as much evidence as possible to show why you have a particular
need.
NHS Bursary Holders
Students who receive either a means tested or non-means tested NHS
bursary are eligible to apply to the Fund.
Students interrupting study or re-sitting out of attendance
If you have not permanently withdrawn from your studies and you intend to
return after your time out you are eligible to apply for help from the Fund,
during your time out.
Disabled Students
Disabled students, especially those with dyslexia, can apply for help towards
the cost of their preliminary diagnostic test, prior to applying for a Disabled
Students Allowance. Before submitting your form, please contact the Disability
and Dyslexia Service at Queen Mary (020 7882 2756).
Students studying abroad
Students spending a semester or year abroad as part of their course are still
eligible to apply to the fund. You can download an application form from
www.welfare.qmul.ac.uk.
Postgraduate Students
If you are a postgraduate student, you will be expected to show that you can
meet your tuition fees and that you have made reasonable provision to
support yourself through your course before we will consider your application
to the Access to Learning Fund.
4. Short term loans from the Access to Learning Fund
If you have not yet received your maintenance loan payment from the Student
Loans Company at the start of term, because you have not yet received your
financial assessment from Student Finance Direct, you can apply for an
interim loan from the Access to Learning Fund. We expect you to repay this
loan when your first maintenance loan instalment arrives. You should write
‘short term loan’ on the application form in Part 9 Non-standard Awards or
Exceptional Circumstances if you are applying for a short term loan.
5. Students entitled to claim Welfare benefits
Applicants are advised that payments from the Access to Learning Fund are
unlikely to affect your benefit payments. Students who receive help from the
Fund can request a letter from Lesley Green in the Bursaries, Grants and
Scholarships Office to present to their local JobCentre Plus/Housing
Benefit/Local Housing Allowance office to help them in claiming benefits if
required.
If you are claiming or think you may be entitled to Welfare Benefits, you may
find it useful to make an appointment to see a Welfare Adviser. You can
make an appointment by calling in person at the Advice and Counselling
Service (Ground Floor, Geography Building or by visiting the website
www.welfare.qmul.ac.uk or by phoning 020 7882 8717.
6. How your application is processed
Queen Mary administers the Access to Learning Fund on behalf of the
Government and assesses applications according to national guidelines as
follows:
Standard awards
A standard award can help to meet general costs associated with being a
student such as living costs like accommodation, food and utility bills and with
course-related costs such as childcare, travel and books.
For full time undergraduate students being assessed for a standard award
there is an assumed income, set at a realistic level: £1616 per year for full
year students and £539 per year for final year students. This assumes
income from a number of sources including part time work, additional support
from your parents or partner, bank overdraft, savings etc.
For full time postgraduate students a weekly notional postgraduate income
amount is used in standard assessments. This is set at £185 per week. For
students with children or who are unable to work due to disability the amount
is £154 per week.
There is also a set expenditure level, known as Composite Living Costs,
(CLC) based on state benefit amounts for general living costs such as food
and usual household costs such as utility bills. The relevant amount will be
set depending on your circumstances. CLC for 2009/10 are as below:
Single student £104 per week,
Student with partner £142 per week,
Lone parent £104 per week plus £58 for each child.
Non-standard awards
If you have exceptional or unforeseen costs and you are in financial hardship
as a result of these costs then you may be eligible for a non-standard award.
Some examples of non-standard awards are as follows:

repairs to essential household equipment,

prescription costs for students on continuing medication,

help with priority debts,

emergency situations such as travel costs due to family illness or
bereavement,

being refused a student account with an overdraft facility,

set up costs if re-housed in unfurnished accommodation,

set up costs for students expecting a baby for the first time,

students who are out of attendance but who need to retake exams.

Students who are eligible for benefits over the summer vacation can
apply for help to cover costs during the first three weeks of September
when waiting for their student loan payment.
These are only examples; if you feel your circumstances are exceptional you
should apply. If you would like advice about how to present your application,
you can make an appointment in person at the Advice and Counselling
Service (Ground Floor, Geography Building) or by telephoning 020 7882 8717
or by visiting the website www.welfare.qmul.ac.uk.
Section Two: How to apply
If you think you might need to apply for help from the Fund we recommend
that you apply as early as possible; you don’t need to wait until you have run
out of money. If your circumstances change after you have submitted an
application you can reapply to the Fund. Application forms are available from:
Bursaries, Grants and Scholarships office, room CB2, Queens Building at Mile
End or can be downloaded from our website:
www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/bursaries/alf.html
Advice and Counselling Service, Ground Floor, Geography Building at Mile
End, www.welfare.qmul.ac.uk
Students’ Union in the Blomeley Centre, Mile End Campus.
Student Office at Whitechapel.
If you are unable to come in to College please email bursaries@qmul.ac.uk
or telephone 020 7882 5079 and ask for an application form to be posted out
to you.
If you have special or unusual circumstances you may find it helpful to see a
Welfare Adviser before submitting your application. You can make an
appointment in person at the Advice and Counselling Service (Ground Floor,
Geography Building) or by telephoning 020 7882 8717 or by visiting the
website www.welfare.qmul.ac.uk. Alternatively, you may contact the
Students’ Union in the Blomeley Centre.
7. Application Deadlines
Applications for standard awards should be submitted by 7 May 2010.
Applications for non-standard awards should normally be submitted at least 4
weeks before the end of your academic year but if you are a continuing
student you can apply until 19 July 2010 subject to funds being available.
8. Supporting evidence
You will need to provide supporting evidence with your application. We do not
want originals – legible photocopies are fine. If for any reason we do need to
see original documents, we will contact you. Applications that do not have the
correct supporting evidence cannot be processed. We will return these
forms to you, which will delay your application. The guidance notes on the
application form will tell you what documents we need to see. We do ask to
see bank statements for all accounts covering the previous 3 months, so if
you think you may need to apply for help from the Fund, it is a good idea to
keep these. Don’t worry if you have not got them, as your bank should be able
to give you duplicate copies.
9.Timetable for making a decision.
Provided you have completed your application form accurately and you have
supplied appropriate documentary evidence, we will make an assessment and
decision within 4 working weeks of submission. If your application is
complete and has been received in the Bursaries, Grants and Scholarships
office by Thursday afternoon then you will usually have a decision the
following week after the ALF committee meeting. You should normally expect
to receive a payment within 4 weeks. However in some cases we may need
to defer your initial payment beyond 4 weeks to deal with a particular
circumstance. If this applies, we will let you know in advance.
If you are requesting an emergency loan or other short-term help, your
application should be processed and paid within 1 working week. Depending
on your situation, it may be processed and paid within 24 hours.
10 How to appeal
We will notify you in writing about our decision.
If you are not satisfied with the decision and would like your application to be
reconsidered on the basis that you have further information which you did not
disclose with your original application you may do so by writing to Lesley
Green, Bursaries, Grants & Scholarships Manager within fourteen days of
the date of the letter. Your application will then be reconsidered by the Access
to Learning Fund Committee and you will be notified of the outcome by letter.
If you have no further information to disclose and wish to appeal against the
decision you may do so by writing to the Deputy Registrar within fourteen
days of the date of the letter. Information on the grounds for appeal are set
out in paragraph 2.150 of the College Appeal Regulations which can be found
at the following link:
http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/policy_zone/college_appeal_regulations.pdf
11. Budgeting Tips
Managing your finances as a student is very important. If you need advice
about increasing your income and planning a budget please see a Welfare
Adviser. You can make an appointment by calling in person at the Advice and
Counselling Service (Ground Floor, Geography Building) or by telephoning
020 7882 8717 or visiting the website at www.welfare.qmul.ac.uk.

Spend time planning and prepare a budget. Leaflets on planning a
budget are available from the Advice and Counselling Service
www.welfare.qmul.ac.uk .

Be realistic when you list your income and essential expenditure.

Keep a record of everything you spend – this helps identify regular and
occasional spending patterns.

Consider setting up standing orders and direct debits – they can help
you plan and make consistent regular payments to all the places you
need to without worrying about missing payment dates.

Plan for extra expenditure such as start of year costs, special
occasions, family birthdays etc.

If you need to borrow money, use only interest free overdraft facilities.

Get a student bank account if you have not already got one. Keep your
bank statements, and check through them as they arrive.

Try to shop in large supermarkets or local markets rather than more
expensive convenience stores.

Join NUS and take advantage of the discounts available to students.

Try to be economical with utility services, such as heating, electricity
and mobile phones to avoid running up large bills.

Apply for a Student Oyster photocard from the Students’ Union or
online at www.tfl.gov.uk. This entitles you to a discount when you use
London Transport.