£100 million in bursaries for Cambridge students under financial pressure

Students at Formal Hall

The University of Cambridge is launching a new bursary scheme, with £100 million in bursaries over the next ten years, to support students experiencing financial pressures. Students at Newnham, along with other Colleges, will benefit from this enhanced support, plus our own College rent bursary scheme. 

The additional funding, to help with living costs, will enable students to enjoy all the benefits a Cambridge education offers. In addition to this bursary, every recipient at Newnham College will also receive a further £20 per week automatic rent bursary to set against their cost of College accommodation. This is worth up to a further £760 per year based on a 38-week room license.

We anticipate that 25-30% of students across the University will be eligible for the enhanced support on a sliding scale. 

“These enhanced bursaries means that our students can not only research and learn, but can take part in all the other activities Cambridge has to offer, from sports to social activism. We are all the richer for these bursaries”

Newnham’s Principal, Alison Rose, said, “It means a great deal to me to see students from all backgrounds at Newnham. These enhanced bursaries means that our students can not only research and learn, but can take part in all the other activities Cambridge has to offer, from sports to social activism. We are all the richer for these bursaries.”

This new scheme follows a pilot bursary programme, in which Newnham was delighted to take part. Students who received these bursaries said they were able to participate more fully in the academic and wider student activities Cambridge has to offer. The awards also had a positive impact on their mental well-being, reducing the anxieties they had about finances.

The bursaries aims to support the ‘squeezed middle’ as well as those with low household incomes. Research conducted by the University suggests that many parents can’t afford to contribute to their child’s living expenses to the extent that the Student Loans Company’s means-tested formula assumes they will. The result is that many students struggle to meet all their expenses. It’s these financial gaps that the new bursary scheme will help to alleviate.

Newnham College thanks all our donors, over many years, for their generosity, which means we can support excellent students from all backgrounds.”

Vice-Chancellor, Professor Stephen Toope, said, “This new enhanced bursary scheme, which wouldn’t be possible without the generosity of donors, will help to ease some of our students’ financial worries. The scheme’s launch means far more students will be eligible for support. This is particularly relevant now, at a time when many families’ incomes have been affected adversely by the Covid-19 pandemic.”

The enhanced bursaries are being made possible through the generosity of philanthropic donations to the Colleges and the University, including the Harding Challenge, which doubles the value of gifts from new givers towards student support. Newnham College thanks all our donors, over many years, for their generosity, which means we can support excellent students from all backgrounds.