About the Fund
In consultation with the Student Advisory Panel, the Student Opportunity Fund has been created to support students with low household income to access development opportunities both academic and extra-curricular to support your employability through professional and/or personal development.
You can apply for up to £500 towards an opportunity that will help you gain experience and skills to boost your employability.
Successful students will be required to submit a brief impact report to be uploaded to the website, reflecting on how they benefited from the funds towards their career and employability prospects, to demonstrate impact and encourage future applications.
This will include providing information such as:
- Why you applied for the fund?
- What you used the Student Opportunity Fund for
- What impact the opportunity has had on your professional and personal development
Eligibility
You are eligible to apply to the Student Opportunity Fund if you are a UK undergraduate student, eligible for the Student Loan, with a household income of under £25,000.
Students are not eligible if they are:
- International students
- Full-time members of staff are not eligible to apply.
- Apprentices
- Registered as students with our collaborative partners
- Distance learners
Prioritisation criteria
Funds are limited, so applications will be prioritised using the following characteristics, in line with the university’s Access and Participation Plan:
- Estranged from parents*
- Care Leaver*
- Student with a disclosed disability
- Black heritage
*You must be identified as a Care leaver or Estranged from your family by the Student Loans Company.
Students can be in receipt of the Cumbria Bursary and be eligible for this.
The fund is limited so applications will be encouraged early as once the fund is spent, the opportunity will be removed from communications.
How applications are assessed
A panel with representation from the Money Advice and Careers Teams will select successful applicants.
Application deadlines
Application deadlines for 2026/27 are as follows:
- Round one: 5pm Monday 9th November 2026
- Round two: 5pm Monday 29th March 2027
- Round three: 5pm Monday 24th May 2027
No further applications for the academic year will be considered after the Round 3 deadline or sooner if the fund is fully disbursed.
How to apply
Applications are open now.
Please read the terms and conditions before applying.
Apply to the fund using the online application: Student Opportunity Fund application 2026-27 – Fill in form.
Frequently Asked Questions
Student Opportunity Fund FAQ's
Appeals process
Students are scored against the prioritisation criteria to determine who receives an award. To maximise the beneficial impact of awards, and to maintain consistency, each student will be scored once only. Students may appeal if they believe the process of scoring for an award may have been adversely affected by errors or omissions in the scoring process. For example, if you have new information that you did not include in your original application. Please contact us by emailing moneyadvice@cumbria.ac.uk within 14 days of the original decision outlining your circumstances.
Spotlight on Catriona
Year one, BA (Hons) Wildlife and Media student
