Chamberlain Award instalment due this month

A reminder to students who have been approved for the Chamberlain Award, a means-tested bursary offered to UK undergraduate students, that the first instalment will be paid on Friday 31 January.

This non-repayable award is provided by the University of Birmingham to students from lower income families to support cost of living pressures and involvement in University life. The Chamberlain Award benefits around 5,000 undergraduate students each year.

Although the payment is made by the University, it’s paid via the Student Loans Company into your bank account associated with your student finance. It will usually appear on your bank statement as ‘HEI Bursary payment’.

If you’re unsure whether you have been approved for the Chamberlain Award, you can log into your Student Finance portal where you should be able to see a copy of the formal Chamberlain Award correspondence. This annual award is worth up to £2,000 in total, with the second instalment due in May 2025.

The deadline for approving Chamberlain Awards is 31 December each academic year. There is no direct application to the Chamberlain Award, however it’s important that Student Finance means-test you by the deadline each year to be considered for the award. Although the deadline has passed for us to process awards this academic year, you can find out more about the Chamberlain Award on our funding pages.

Cost of Living support for all students

From advice and tips to cut down costs to financial support, the University of Birmingham, along with the Guild of Students, is committed to supporting our student community with rising costs.

Explore what support is available to help make your student experience more affordable at UoB on our Cost of Living pages. New initiatives will be added to the intranet pages as further support is developed, so do check it regularly.