Overseas Emergency Access Fund

The Bath Spa University Overseas Emergency Access Fund provides limited discretionary financial support for full-time international and EU (pre-settled) students who are experiencing financial difficulty and in need of some emergency funding.

Students must have made realistic provision at the start of the course to fund both their tuition fees and living costs for the full duration of their course before they came to University and these arrangements have been affected by unforeseen circumstances or events beyond their control which have occurred after they started University.

If you are repeating your course then there must be extenuating circumstances

The Bath Spa University Overseas Emergency Access Fund is intended to support a temporary financial difficulty rather than be a main source of income. Awards are discretionary and are paid in the form of a non-repayable grant.

The size of the fund is limited and we may not be able to meet your need in full or guarantee that funds will be available, especially towards the end of an academic year.

Eligibility is based on:

• Completing registration
• EU (including pre-settled status) or international student
• In attendance on an undergraduate or postgraduate programme
• Studying full-time.
• Demonstrating you meet the criteria on the application form.

The fund is open for continuing students from Semester one, however new students are not expected to apply until Semester two onwards. Contact funding@bathspa.ac.uk for an application form with a brief explanation why you want to apply.

Further information about applying

• When making your application, please ensure you answer all relevant questions on the application form, including ticking the appropriate boxes.

Your living arrangements

• Please provide details of your current living arrangements. If you have dependants, please give details. We're able to factor the costs of supporting dependent children up to the age of 18 (where they remain in full-time education). 

Disability/Special medical needs

• This may include a long-term health condition, mental health condition or specific learning difficulty.

Income

• Please include all sources of income available to you for the current academic year. It's vital that you complete this section as accurately as possible.
• You should enter the amount of overdraft that's available for you to use since the start of the academic year. You should total your overdraft amount available, received income and your expected income to give a total income for the academic year.
• If you have a partner who is living with you, please indicate any income they receive, since you will be assessed as a family unit.

Expenditure

• Please include your typical monthly expenditure for the academic year. We'll work out your annual expenditure based on your period of attendance.
• You may include expenditure relating to a partner, provided their income has been included in your application, and dependent children up to the age of 18, as long as they are in full-time education.
• Where you are living in any other form of shared accommodation, you should include only your personal contribution towards household bills.
• We can only include priority debt repayments. This may NOT include loan or credit card repayments unless you have a special agreement. We may include repeat prescriptions. 
• Expenditure which is not considered essential, such as gym membership or excessive visits home, will be discounted.
• Students using informal childcare may provide proof of the costs incurred, but we cannot guarantee it can be considered.

Further information

• This section is an opportunity for you to explain why you're experiencing financial difficulty.
• You're advised to explain any unusual or exceptional costs appearing under your expenditure. If you're not undertaking any part-time work, you should also explain why.

Supporting documentation checklist

• This section is intended to ensure you've submitted all relevant supporting documentation with your application. Applications submitted without all the necessary supporting documentation will take longer to process.

Declaration

• You need to sign and date your form to confirm that the information you've given is true and accurate. You should make a copy of your application for your own records.

Supporting documentation is required in all cases. The documentation required will vary depending on the circumstances of your case and must be supplied by email. Only use attachments, do not link to any documents.

Photos of supporting documentation are acceptable. In certain circumstances, you may be contacted separately and asked to supply relevant original documents.

All students must submit:

• At least one full, recent bank statement. Ideally this will be the most recent online statement you have available, but you don't need to wait for your latest statement. Please submit the most recent statement you have available. 
• For any credit/debit over £100, please note beside it what this was for.
• Evidence of rent/mortgage (for example, a copy of a tenancy agreement). If you do not have a formal tenancy agreement, please provide a photo of a signed letter from the person you pay rent to confirming the amount and frequency. Proof must also be annotated on your bank statement.
• If you're in receipt of statutory support from your government, you must submit evidence of the monetary amount and dates you'll receive each instalment.
• If you're in receipt of any other income, evidence should be supplied. 
• If you're requesting funding for costs or tuition fees.
• You should provide evidence of any exceptional costs you'd like to be considered.

If you're applying for assistance with unexpected financial difficulties, you must provide relevant evidence relating to the nature of the problem. This will depend upon individual circumstances but some examples are as follows:

• Medical certificates, if the financial difficulties relate to illness.
• A death certificate;
• Original scholarship/sponsorship letter and evidence of non-continuation;
• A letter from your parents if they're no longer able to provide funding. This must cover how much they were originally going to provide, how much they are now able to give you, and the reason for the change;
• An employer's redundancy letter, if you have been made redundant. 

In response to the coronavirus situation, Bath Spa University's Student Funding Team are currently working remotely, and can be contacted at funding@bathspa.ac.uk. Scanned applications can be submitted to the same email.

If your application is not complete, or further information or documents are needed, you should be contacted by email within five working days. This may extend the time taken to make a decision on your application.

We'll send you the decision by email with the outcome of your application. If you're made an award, we'll provide full details on how you'll receive it. We do not give out decisions over the phone, so it's important that you check your Bath Spa email.

You're able to appeal an unsuccessful application. We'll provide details of how to make an appeal in your decision email.