What happens in the assessment

The advisor will use the information you have provided to complete a standard assessment as a starting point.

Essentially we will look at the weekly income  against the weekly expenditure that we consider to be essential for you as a university student over the agreed assessment period to see whether or not you have enough money to live on.

We use set figures for some expenditure such as food, utilities and socialising to ensure all students are treated in a fair and equitable manner. These are based on extensive research of costs in the local area.These may differ from what you have listed in your application and may be areas which you could review.

We also use caps. These are maximum amounts that we include which we believe to be appropriate to the area. If the figures in your personal budget exceeds theses caps this may be an area which you could review.

We do not include everything that you spend money on. Our role is to look at what funding you need to attend university and as such we do not include lifestyle choices, however, these are areas where you may be able to budget your spending. 

Below is a table of the income and expenditure that we will include in the assessment process and the documentation you will need to submit.

You will only need to submit documentation that is relevant to your situation, but every applicant will be required to submit the most recent 3 months consecutive bank statements for all account they have access to. This will include savings, ISA, Investment accounts, Joint accounts (excluding bills accounts for shared properties) , stocks and shares, bitcoin, cryptocurrency and non-UK accounts.

If you submit a non-UK bank account then we may need you to provide a translation, (If this incurs a cost then we may be able to provide support with this)

Figures are quoted in weekly amounts.

Income

Type of Income	How it is used in the assessment	Documentation to be submitted
Statutory funding	Included in full	A copy of your Student Finance/NHS bursary notification
Studentship/sponsorship	Included in full	If this is not through the university a copy of the confirmation letter
University of Southampton bursary	Included in full	Not required
Care leavers bursary	Not included (but shown on the assessment for demonstration purposes only)	Not required
Postgraduate/study loan	Any tuition fee element is not included	A copy of your Student Finance notification
Means tested benefits (housing, tax credits etc.)	Included in full	A copy of the notification of your benefit entitlement
Child benefit	Not included (but shown on the assessment for demonstration purposes only)	Not required
Net earnings	Not included for statutory funded students, (but shown on the assessment for demonstration purposes only),however will be included in full for self-funding students	3 months wage slips/highlight on the bank statement
Savings/investments	Included in full excluding any element that is a result of current statutory funding	A copy of your savings account statement from the 21 September 2021 onwards
Parental/ third party contribution	Included in full and including where accommodation has been paid by a third party	Highlight on the bank statement
Received child support	Included in full	Highlight on the bank statement
Partner’s income	Included in full	3 months wage slips/highlight on the bank statement

Expenditure

Type of Expenditure	How it is used in the assessment	Documentation to be submitted
Food	£35 set figure	Not required
Incidentals	£8 set figure	Not required
Insurance	£6 set figure	Not required
Socialising	£5 set figure	Not required
Mobile phone	£8 set figure	Not required
Gas	£6.25 set figure	Not required
Electricity	£6.25 set figure	Not required
Water	£5 set figure	Not required
TV Licence	£3 set figure	Not required
Internet	£3.50 set figure	Not required
The above are combined to give a standard set expenditure for all students	£86 set figure
Child(ren)	£67 set figure for the first child then £33.50 for each child thereafter
Accommodation	£100 cap on private rented for a single student excluding utilities  1st year student’s in Southampton University accommodation capped at £148 per week including utilities £124 cap including utilities for continuing students in Southampton University Halls. These caps increase for couples No cap for student’s with a mortgage No cap for student’s with a child(ren)	A copy of the tenancy agreement/mortgage statement unless you are in university Halls of Residence
Travel to university	Only included if further than 1.5 miles from the university Calculated on attending university for 3 days per week	Not required
Course costs	£10 set figure except for: £12 for Health Science students £15 for year 2 WSA and music students £25 for year 3 WSA and music students	Not required
OFSTED-registered child care	Included in full (we will take into consideration whether the number of sessions is appropriate for the number of study hours)	Where possible 3 months invoices
Vehicle costs (mot, insurance, wear and tear, etc.)	This is not included for the majority of students. Where it has been agreed we will use £25 set figure	A copy of an up to date insurance certificate
Travel Home	We will use set zones to identify the cost of travel. We will use 3 trips per year for travel in the UK. We use zones to identify the cost of travel to non UK countries and will include 1 trip as standard.	Not required
Glasses/Prescription	Any reasonable amount will be included in full	A copy of the purchase receipt or prescription if needed but not yet purchased.
Prescriptions	£2.08 set figure	Not required
Debts	Only debts that have been reviewed and are part of a payment plan will be included (we do not include credit cards and overdrafts. If these are a concern then you may wish to discuss this with the Advice Centre)	A copy of the loan agreement form
Partner’s expenditure	Set figures applied where appropriate	As above where included

You will be required to submit the most recent  3 months consecutive bank statements for all accounts you have access to. This will include savings accounts, stocks and shares, bitcoin and cryptocurrency. We would ask that these are in their original format, (not copied onto Word or Excel). We would also like you to provide details of any entry over £100. The bank statement can either be annotated or a separate breakdown can be included, whichever is easiest.

Part-time students will be assessed over actual time at university.

The assessment period may be altered at the discretion of the advisor depending on individual circumstances.

Individual circumstances are always considered when agreeing the outcome of an assessment.

If you are seeking support toward the purchase/repair of essential IT equipment please include this in your personal statement.

Click here to review the possible outcomes of an application