Financial Assistance
Support for Critical Financial Difficulties
All students are asked before starting their programme to confirm that they have sufficient funds to pay for their fees and living expenses. However, students may find themselves in critical financial difficulty for a variety of reasons, and the college will help students to seek further support.
College Critical Financial Assistance Fund
The college has limited funds each year to help current students who are experiencing hardship, which is defined as unexpected financial difficulties with living costs. Awards do not normally exceed £1,400 for full-time students, £700 for students on a part-time programme. Students applying to the Critical Financial Assistance Fund will be required to demonstrate that their financial difficulties are as a result of unexpected changes to their financial circumstances, rather than the result of insufficient funding from the outset. Unfortunately, we are unable provide any financial support towards tuition and College fees, continuation fees or visas.
Short-term, interest-free ‘bridging’ loans of up to £500, or temporary adjustments to a fee-payment schedule, may be considered for students experiencing delays to their funding.
The College Financial Assistance Panel will consider all cases of financial difficulties, including applications to the Critical Financial Assistance Fund. This is chaired by the Senior Tutor and meets on Wednesday of weeks 1, 4 and 8 of Full Term, at a minimum.
GTC students experiencing financial difficulties can apply to the College Critical Financial Assistance Fund in the first instance, but should also explore alternative avenues of support through their department and/or including at external funding opportunities.
Students may also be eligible to apply to the Oxford Assistance Fund (OAF) but are required to make an application to the College Financial Assistance Fund before their application to the OAF will be considered. If applying for College and University funds concurrently, students may use their OAF application form and supporting materials to apply for the GTC Critical Financial Assistance Fund in order to avoid duplication. Please ask for further information.
Application forms and enquiries for the College Critical Financial Assistance Fund should be sent in the first instance to Lucy Turnill-Phillips at student.admin@gtc.ox.ac.uk
Support
If you would like to discuss your situation before submitting an application, please contact Academic Registrar Alison Franklin at alison.franklin@gtc.ox.ac.uk
GTC Critical Financial Assistance Fund Policy
- The aim of the GTC Critical Financial Assistance Fund is to help current students who experience genuine financial difficulties with their living costs and excludes any support towards tuition fees, continuation fees or visas.
- The Critical Financial Assistance Fund support is defined as: short-term financial support for students experiencing unexpected and unforeseeable financial difficulties with living costs.
- We follow the university’s definition of ‘unexpected’.
- Applicants must be able to demonstrate that their financial difficulties are a result of unexpected changes in their financial circumstances, rather than a result of insufficient funding being available from the outset of the course.
- All enrolled GTC students are eligible (including DPhil students in their first year, students on one-year or 9-month courses and part-time students). However, those on short courses (one year or less) are unlikely to receive financial assistance unless it will clearly relieve a temporary difficulty with cash-flow.
- The expectation is that incoming students will have made reasonable provisions for themselves and any dependants before beginning their Oxford course, therefore any Critical Financial Assistance Fund applications in Michaelmas Term for students in their first year of study will not normally be considered and priority will be given to returning students.
- GTC Critical Financial Assistance Fund awards are not normally made for more than £1,400 for full-time students, £700 for students on a part-time programme.
- Applicants to the GTC Critical Financial Assistance Fund must currently be in financial difficulty – speculative applications will not be considered. There must be evidence of a financial shortfall at the point of application.
- The GTC Financial Assistance Panel will need to consider whether a student’s long-term financial situation is unsustainable. If the Panel is concerned that a student does not have sufficient funding for the remainder of their course then we may not be able to support a student in the short-term and may suggest other courses of action, for example an application to suspend.
- Adjusted payment plans to support difficulties with payment of fees may exceptionally be agreed as part of any package of support for temporary financial difficulties.
- The Financial Assistance Panel, chaired by the Senior Tutor, meets during weeks 1, 4 and 8 of Full Term to consider new applications.
