Free £5k for Birmingham students in university giveaway - and it doesn't have to be returned

A Birmingham university is offering new UK undergraduates £5,000 to study there. The Cost of Living Allowance is aimed at financially supporting students at University College Birmingham facing rising tuition fees and living expenses.

The money will be available to first year students starting courses in September 2025. They must be eligible for funding under the terms of Student Finance England and must also pay their fees via a UK student loan.

The allowance will be paid in eight monthly instalments of £250 between October and May in the first two years of the course. Another £1,000 will be paid in two instalments of £500 each in the final year. The university said "strong attendance, engagement, progression and successful completion of studies" would be needed to ensure repeated payments - but stressed it did not need to be repaid.

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UCB students who will be in their second and third years of study by next September can access a new hardship fund of up to £1 million. The university said it was for "genuine, significant cost pressures which could otherwise impact on their ability to complete their studies successfully".

Its core curriculum at undergraduate level includes engineering, construction, digital, cyber, computer science, health, sport, nursing, physiotherapy, paramedic science, psychology, tourism, hospitality, food, nutrition, culinary arts, aviation and airport management, education, creative studies and a vast range of business, marketing, leadership, accounting and finance courses.

Prof Michael Harkin, Vice-Chancellor and Principal, said: "We feel passionately that more must be done to ease pressure on students and to guarantee those with the ability and aptitude to succeed in higher education do not see the cost of entry as a barrier.

"To that end, we strongly endorse the Secretary of State for Education's recent comments around the need for universities to do more to expand access to higher education and to play a greater civic role in their communities, ensuring more is done to deliver the economic and social change that is needed.

"We have always recognised that students who are among the first in their family to go to university face other obstacles to navigate over the course of their studies. In addition to the Cost of Living Allowance, students will be comprehensively supported by our extensive student support and wellbeing services."

Students will not have to apply for the Cost of Living Allowance and it is not means-tested.

Read more about the scheme here