About the Bursary
For the 2025-26 academic year, The University of Manchester will offer 150 accommodation bursaries of £2,050.
This Bursary is designed to support first-year students from lower-income backgrounds by helping to cover the cost of living in University accommodation.
It will be applied as a discount on accommodation fees and is open to students living in the following halls of residence:
- Standard self-catered rooms in: Whitworth Park
- En suite self-catered rooms in: Burkhardt House and Richmond Park
- Standard catered rooms in: Ashburne Hall and Dalton Ellis Hall
Who can apply?
Essential eligibility criteria
You must meet all the following conditions to be eligible:
- have home fee status;
- be starting your first year of undergraduate study at The University of Manchester;
- be holding a firm offer at the University by Sunday, 20 July 2025;
- have applied for accommodation and selected one (or more) of the eligible halls, by Sunday, 20 July 2025.
Priority criteria
Applications will be prioritised based on the following criteria:
- you’re eligible for a WP or WP+ Flag under our Contextual Admissions Process
Eligibility Checker; - you were eligible for free school meals in secondary school or college/sixth form (this includes students who opted not to have them);
- you live in an area of relative deprivation;
- you live in a postcode of low progression to higher education;
- you went to a low attaining secondary school;
- you go to a low attaining sixth form/college.
- you’re a care leaver or care-experienced student;
- you’re an estranged student;
- you’re a young carer;
- you’re a refugee or asylum seeker;
- you’re disabled.
Application and selection process
- Applications open on Friday, 7 March and close Sunday, 20 July.
- You’ll receive a decision by Friday, 15 August.
We use a points-based system to score applications and award bursaries.
Please note, you must upload all supporting evidence with your application before the closing date as we cannot accept late documents or documents submitted separately.
Frequently asked questions
The Bursary is funded by The University of Manchester and generously supported by alumni, friends and donors to the university.
The Bursary is designed to support students who may struggle to afford accommodation. It further reduces the cost of select University halls that already offer the best value.
These include catered, self-catered and en suite options across all three residential campuses:
|
Hall |
Campus |
Catering |
Bathrooms |
Rooms in hall |
|
City Campus |
Self-catered |
Shared |
1,245 |
|
|
Victoria Park |
Self-catered |
En suite |
129 |
|
|
Fallowfield |
Self-catered |
En suite |
503 |
|
|
Fallowfield |
Catered |
Shared |
142 |
|
|
Victoria Park |
Catered |
Shared* |
185 |
Please use the links for more information on each Hall.
*Dalton Ellis Hall includes both standard rooms with shared bathrooms and en suite rooms but the Bursary can only be used for the standard bedrooms.
You can make changes via the online application form.
Please visit the Accommodation website for more information.
All decisions will be communicated by Friday, 15 August.
Applications will be reviewed during the confirmation and clearing period in mid-August. Decisions will be communicated a few days after A-level results are released, alongside your accommodation offer (so you can choose whether to accept the offer based on your bursary outcome).
The Bursary won’t be paid to you directly but will be used to reduce your accommodation fees.
Accommodation fees are paid in three instalments throughout the academic year: October, January and April.
Payments will be evenly distributed, reducing each payment by £683.
The Bursary aims to make our most cost-effective halls even more affordable.
If you choose to move to a more expensive hall not covered by the scheme, the bursary will not apply to your new accommodation fees.
However, any fees for your original room will be reduced on a pro-rata basis for the time you lived there.
You’re still welcome to apply for the Bursary. If successful, the Accommodation Office will help you find the most suitable Hall of Residence.
You won’t be limited to the five halls listed above, your options will include the full range of available bedrooms.
To ensure a smooth process, provide all required information when applying for both your accommodation and the Bursary.
No. The Bursary is for students in their first year of study at the University, regardless of entry level.
This means foundation year students starting at the University this year are eligible but those progressing from a foundation year to Year 1 of their degree are not.
Contact us
Queries about applying for the bursary can be directed to uom-accommodation-bursary@manchester.ac.uk.
Students are able to apply for multiple bursaries/scholarships, including the Article 26 Scholarship, the Cowrie Scholarship, the Education Matters Scholarship, the Elizabeth Moley Scholarship, the Raheem Sterling Scholarship and the Sadler Bursary (if eligible).
However, if you successfully receive one of the above, you'll not be able to get the Accommodation Bursary, too.