Overview
The University of Sunderland Away from Home Bursary recognises the additional costs incurred for students who do not live within north-east England and will need to travel from an eligible postcode to study at the University. Worth £2,450, this generous package offers the following to support with living away from home:
- £200 in Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3 of study for fuel/transport costs totalling £600.
- £1,000 discount on university-managed accommodation in Year 1 of study.
- £250 credit in Year 1 for the purchase of a kitchen and bedding pack.
- £100 in Year 1 and Year 2 for summer storage.
- £400 Graduation support package on graduation.
We have a strictly limited number of bursaries available.
Bursaries will be awarded on a first come, first served basis.
Who is eligible?
1. You must be a ‘Home’ student on an eligible course
The Government classes all students as ‘Home’ or ‘International’. This status determines which tuition fees you pay, and which scholarships and bursaries you may be eligible to receive.
EU students with a UK Settled Status at the time of application are eligible for this bursary.
International students are not eligible.
Students who already hold an undergraduate degree are not eligible.
If your course is funded by the Enhanced Learning Credits Administration Service (ELCAS), you are not eligible.
Students awarded the We Care Bursary are eligible to apply and receive the Away from Home Bursary in addition.
The Away from Home Bursary cannot be awarded in conjunction with any other university-funded scholarship or bursary (excluding the We Care Bursary).
2. You must apply for and meet the conditions of your offer, then successfully enrol onto an eligible course
You must be a first-year student applying to commence a three-year full-time undergraduate course in autumn 2025 based at City Campus, or Sir Tom Cowie at St Peter’s Campus.
Integrated Foundation Year applicants are not eligible to apply for the bursary.
You must successfully enrol onto one of the following eligible full-time courses in academic year 2025/26:
- BA (Hons) Business and Management
- BA (Hons) Business and Financial Management
- BA (Hons) Business and Marketing Management
- BA (Hons) Business and Human Resource Management
- BSc (Hons) Psychology
- BSc (Hons) Psychology with Counselling
- BSc (Hons) Clinical Psychology
- BSc (Hons) Forensic Psychology
- BA (Hons) Journalism
- BA (Hons) Sports Journalism
- BA (Hons) Fashion Journalism
- BSc (Hons) Computer Science
- BSc (Hons) Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics
- BSc (Hons) Game Development
- BA (Hons) Film Production
3. Your home address must be within an eligible postcode
- North-west England: CA, LA, BD, BB, PR, FY, L, WN, BL, OL, HX, HD, SK, M, CH, CW.
- Yorkshire and the Humber: YO, HG, LS, S, DN, HU, WF.
How to apply
If you are starting an eligible course in autumn 2025, you can apply from March 2025. The deadline for applications is Thursday 31 July 2025. Once the deadline has passed, we are not permitted to accept any further applications.
You can apply via your myApplication account.
Your username is your student number, which can be found on all correspondence you have received from the University. If you are unsure of your student number, please contact Student Administration at studentadmin@sunderland.ac.uk.
Assessment and awarding process
The Away from Home Bursary will be awarded following an application process.
We have a strictly limited number of bursaries available. They will be awarded on a first come, first served basis. All applications submitted by the deadline, that meet the eligibility criteria will undergo a checking and verification process after enrolment.
Successful applicants will be notified via email to inform them of their provisional award in August 2025.
Receiving the bursary
The Away from Home Bursary awards eligible students a support package worth £2,450. The bursary is awarded over three years.
Year 1
- A cash award of £100 in November 2025 and £100 in February 2026, paid to you via bank transfer on the fifth working day of November 2025 and February 2026.
- £250 StudyPlus credit for the purchase of a kitchen and bedding pack on enrolment.
- £1,000 university-managed accommodation discount applied across the academic year on enrolment.
- A cash award of £100 in May 2026, paid to you via bank transfer on the fifth working day of May 2026.
Year 2
- A cash award of £100 in November 2026 and £100 in February 2027, paid to you via bank transfer on the fifth working day of November 2026 and February 2027.
- A cash award of £100 in May 2027, paid to you via bank transfer on the fifth working day of May 2027.
Year 3
- A cash award of £100 in November 2027 and £100 in February 2028, paid to you via bank transfer on the fifth working day of November 2027 and February 2028.
- A cash award of £400 on confirmation of graduation.
The award of this bursary is subject to you (i) commencing your course in academic year 2025/26, (ii) enrolling as a full-time student at the University of Sunderland.
Additional information
If you have not registered on your course within three weeks of the course start date or provided sufficient evidence of eligibility, the scholarship or bursary will be withdrawn.
If you do not supply us with the required information to verify your eligibility, the scholarship or bursary provisional award will be withdrawn.
If you withdraw from your course before receiving a scholarship or bursary payment, the award will be withdrawn. If you withdraw after a payment is made, the University will not seek reimbursement however, you will not receive any further instalments.
The award is conditional on you maintaining satisfactory engagement and making academic progress on your course in the reasonable opinion of the programme team.
The University agrees to pay you, the student, all awards, and payments that are due to you while you are on your course of study. If a scholarship or bursary payment is made to you in error, the University reserves the right to recover any awards or overpayments from you, the student. This may result in you being asked to repay an award if it was paid to you in error. It is also your responsibility to ensure all awards and payments you receive are accurate. Any payment discrepancies will be rectified by the University of the student.
Any accommodation discount offered as part of an award, is non-transferable.
If you repeat a year of the same course, the award will not be paid in the repeated year.
If you transfer to another course and repeat a year, the award will not be paid in the repeated year.
If you are on a placement year or studying for a year and not paying full fees, the award will not be paid during that year.
If you take a leave of absence (LOAB), your payments will stop until you return and progress academically.
If you are in debt to the University to the value of £50 or more, you will not receive payment until the debt has been cleared.
All payments will be made into your UK bank account. It is your responsibility to enter your bank details and ensure these are kept up to date. If you fail to enter your bank details to enable payments to be made to you before your course end date (or the date of leaving your course if earlier), all scholarships, bursaries, and payments will be withdrawn.
As part of the admissions process, the University will verify various aspects of a UCAS or direct application to determine that you should be classed as ‘Home’. The following criteria will be verified:
- Declared nationality
- Country of birth
- Area of permanent residence
- Date of entry into the UK (if applicable)
- Location of previous education provider
Disclaimer
Every effort is made to ensure that all details included in these guidance notes are correct at the time of writing. They are intended to act as an information source only, and in no way should they be considered legally binding or guarantee an award.
The University will not be deemed to be in breach of any legal or contractual obligations due to changes to eligibility criteria beyond the reasonable control of the University. It should therefore be noted that these guidance notes are regularly reviewed and are naturally subject to change, sometimes without notice. The University’s decision is final.
Published: 11 November 2024