Students with disabilities, health conditions or learning needs

If you have a disability, health condition or learning difficulty then you may be entitled to study-related support through the Disabled Students’ Allowance.   

The Allowance doesn’t need to be paid back and depends on your individual needs; it can help with the costs of: 

• specialist equipment; 
• non-medical helpers, such as an interpreter; 
• travel to your course. 

Outlining that you have a disability, health condition or learning difficulty on your UCAS form, means that the universities you apply to can start to make arrangements to have support in place for you.   

There is space on the UCAS form to indicate whether you require additional support due to a disability, health condition or learning difficulty. Including information about additional needs will not affect your university offer.  It means that the universities you apply to can start making arrangements to have support in place, should you begin studying with them.

Care leavers and estranged students

As a care leaver or an estranged student, you may be entitled to:

• the maximum maintenance and tuition fee loans through Student Finance. 
• the Manchester Bursary and the Undergraduate Access Scholarship from The University of Manchester.  

If you're starting university for the first time, you may also be entitled to a one-off £2,000 Higher Education Bursary from your local authority. 

Our care experienced and estranged young people page has information on contacts, programmes available and paid work opportunities. 

Parents and financial dependants

If you have children, you may be eligible for help with your childcare costs with a government Childcare Grant.

If you’re a full-time undergraduate student and an adult depends on you financially, you can apply for an Adult Dependants’ Grant .

The grants don’t need to be paid back and are paid on top of your student finance.

NHS courses

If you're studying an NHS course, you may be eligible for the NHS Learning Support Fund or NHS Bursary. 

Students who choose not to take out a student loan 

You may choose not to take out student loans.

If you’re a Muslim student, find out whether you’re eligible for financial support from the National Zakat Foundation.

If you opt not to take a student loan, remember:

• The University of Manchester bursaries are non-repayable.
• The government loan is not compulsory to receive the University’s scholarships and bursaries.
• When applying for student finance, select £0 in the student loan section. This will prompt a household income assessment by your Student Finance Agency (for example, Student Finance England).
• To give consent to share financial information with the Universities you’re applying to in the student finance application. This allows automatic allocation of bursaries and scholarships based on your household income.

Government proposal for Sharia-compliant student finance

This government briefing provides an overview of a consultation to launch a Sharia-compliant student finance system. The Government remains committed to delivering such a product as soon as possible after 2025.