Hello Student,

We know that many people are struggling with finances right now as budgets are being hit hard by the cost-of-living crisis.

This includes many of our students and staff - and we want to do what we can to help those most in need this winter.

That’s why we’re spending an additional £3.5m to support our community, including extra help for over 3,000 students to help ease the burden of rising bills.

Financial support

Additional funds will be paid through our existing Warwick Bursary scheme – meaning students will receive the money automatically without having to apply for it.

This 10% increase in payment will directly benefit the one in ten students (3,200) who currently receive a bursary from the University, with payments being made from December 2022.

You can see more detail here, and those of you who are eligible will receive a direct notification of this additional entitlement.

Postgraduate research students receiving the minimum stipend have also been supported with an increase of 10% in their allowance which has already been paid. See more information here.

The new funding will take the overall financial support available to Warwick students through grants, scholarships and funds to more than £45 million a year for 2022/23.

Please remember, if you’re struggling to meet your essential living costs, you can reach out to the Student Funding team to talk about your options. There is support available for other individual circumstances and courses, all of which are clearly outlined on this page.

Warm hubs

We are inviting our whole community, as well as local residents, to use our Arts Centre, which offers a friendly space for people to meet and stay warm during the day – with a programme of activities planned for later this year. There are spaces across campus open to you to use and we are also looking to dedicate additional spaces on campus to be ‘warm hubs’ for you to sit in and relax (in addition to our cafés and restaurants across campus).

We will keep this page up to date with information about these spaces. We are planning to add the spaces to the interactive campus map so that you can identify where they are. We will be speaking to students regularly in our student feedback panels this term to make sure the spaces are working for you.

Other support

Concerns around money and finances can feel stressful, not just for out student body but for our whole community. This may impact different parts of your life including your mental health and emotional wellbeing. Please contact the Wellbeing team if you need any support in these areas. The Students’ Union Advice Centre also offer advice and guidance on a different areas including around student funding.

We know it may also be a difficult time for staff members so we’re looking at ways we can support staff too. As part of our initial package of support, staff members on lower salary bands will receive a cost of living payment to provide additional support over the winter months.

Let’s keep the dialogue going

As I’ve mentioned, this is our initial support package. Listening to you and hearing the ways we can better support you and improve your experience, sits at the heart of all we do. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be speaking to you to understand what more we can do, and to get your feedback on our ideas. We will do this through our student research panel and working with your Students’ Union.

You can see more information on the student hub, and we’ll keep in touch throughout this term.