As well as cheaper living costs, both the University and Christ’s College make money available to students in financial support to aid your time here. Some of this is paid on the basis of financial need, some as a result of achievement while at Cambridge. Christ's is committed to providing financial support to our students so that they do not have to worry unduly about money and can concentrate on getting the most out of their time at Cambridge.
This page sets out the financial support for Home students. If you have overseas fee status, please see the international financial support page instead.
- UK Government Student Finance
- Cambridge Bursaries
- Christ's top-up bursaries for students from Scotland
- Christ's top-up bursaries for students from Northern Ireland
- Other sources of financial support for UK Home students
- Christ's Awards
UK Government Student Finance
Home students can take out a government loan to completely cover the cost of tuition fees, and students from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland can also get a loan to help with living costs (the amount you can borrow for living costs is income-assessed).
At the moment, if you take out a loan, it is repaid in instalments once you leave university and are earning a minimum salary (the details of which vary for students from England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland). You will need to refer to the appropriate student finance award website for details of tuition fee support for 2025 entry, once available:
- Student Finance England
- Student Finance Northern Ireland
- Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS)
- Student Finance Wales
Cambridge Bursaries
The University offers one of the most generous bursary schemes in the country. Eligibility is based on your household income, and there is a sliding scale so that those who are not eligible for the full amount, may nonetheless qualify for a partial bursary. The amount you receive is worked out on a sliding scale but is a grant that you do not ever have to pay back.
Currently a full Cambridge Bursary is worth £3,500 a year, which is awarded to students with a household income of up to £25,000. Students with a household income between £25,000 and £62,215 also receive a Cambridge Bursary, the value of which is calculated on a sliding scale (scroll down page for details). The Cambridge Bursary is, of course, reviewed each year and full details for 2025 entry will be published on the Cambridge Bursary Scheme website, once available.
In addition, students who have been eligible for free school meals (funded by their local authority) will receive the Educational Premium which is an additional non-repayable bursary of £1000 per year.
To receive the Cambridge Bursary, you need to apply for student finance from the UK government.
Christ’s Awards
Christ’s offers all undergraduates a flexible grant of £1,200 which can be used throughout your degree. Whilst there is a spending limit of £400 per academic year, it can be used across a range of activities including
- Study aids
- Academic activities
- Vacation study
- Language courses
- Extra-curricular activities such as sports, music, theatre, art
We advise students to discuss how best to use the grant each year with their Tutor and/or Director of Studies. It can't be transferred to anything else so students are encouraged to use it.
There are also separate small grants for specific activities / help such as
- Travel
- Summer research projects
- Sports participation
- Hardship
- Humanities and creative arts
Further information, including how to apply, will be made available after you have started your course at Christ's.
Christ's top-up bursaries for students from Scotland
Here at Christ's College, we are pleased to offer a top-up bursary of £1,000 a year to our undergraduate students from Scotland who are eligible for a Cambridge Bursary, that is students with Home fee status and a residual household income under £62,215.
We have created this top-up bursary because student finance arrangements are different in Scotland to those in place for students from England. You may be aware that the maximum maintenance loan available via the Student Awards Agency Scotland comes to less than students from England are eligible for. We hope that the top-up bursary will ensure that our students from Scotland can take advantage of the opportunities at Christ's and at Cambridge without disadvantage. See our section for students from Scotland.
Christ's top-up bursaries for students from Northern Ireland
We also offer a top-up bursary of £1,800 a year to Christ's undergraduate students from Northern Ireland who are eligible for a Cambridge Bursary, that is students with Home fee status and a residual household income under £62,215.
The Christ's Northern Ireland top-up bursary aims to address the difference between the maximum maintenance loan available via Student Finance Northern Ireland and the amount that students from England are eligible for, in order to ensure that our Cambridge Bursary-eligible undergraduates from Northern Ireland are not discadvantaged during their time in the Christ's community.
Other sources of financial support for UK Home students
- OCR West Midlands Bursaries open to students who attended schools and Colleges in the Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Herefordshire, Sandwell, Shropshire, Solihull, Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent, Telford and Wrekin, Walsall, Warwickshire, Wolverhampton and Worcestershire Local Education Authorities.
- University Outreach Scholarships open to UK students from underrepresented groups
- Additional Government Financial Support may be available for particular circumstances, for example if you have a disability or are supporting a child.
- Support for students with a disability - see the Accessibility and Disability Resource Centre (ADRC) page here
