When money runs out halfway through a semester, most students do nothing. They wait, hope the next instalment stretches, and quietly stop eating properly. That is a shame, because almost every college and university in Scotland holds a separate pot of money for exactly this situation, and it has a name most people never hear until it is too late in the year to be useful.

It is called the discretionary fund. Some institutions call it the hardship fund, the financial support fund, or the student support fund. Same idea. This page explains what it is, who tends to get it, what you will be asked to prove, and the one thing you need to understand before you pin your hopes on it.

What a discretionary fund actually is

The Scottish Government gives colleges and universities a budget each year to help students who are struggling with living costs. Colleges receive theirs alongside bursary, childcare and Education Maintenance Allowance money. Note a recent change that most college websites have not caught up with: from 1 August 2026 further education student support funding is administered by the Student Awards Agency Scotland rather than the Scottish Funding Council, and the guidance now sits with Student Information Scotland. The money still reaches you through your college, and your college still decides your award, so nothing changes about how you apply. Universities receive theirs too. The institution then decides who gets what.

That last sentence is the whole thing in miniature. SAAS does not run this. Your student finance award is calculated by a formula in an office in Edinburgh. Discretionary money is decided by a person in your own institution reading your bank statements.

The honest bit: this is not an entitlement

You have a right to apply. You do not have a right to an award. Two things follow from that, and they matter more than anything else on this page.

• The pot is cash limited. When the budget is spent, the fund closes. The University of the West of Scotland puts it bluntly on its own funding pages: the funds are limited, awarded on a first come first served basis, and the fund can close with little or no notice once the budget is exhausted.
• The award is a judgement, not a calculation. Staff assess your evidence of need against the money they have left. Two students in similar situations can get different answers, in different years, at different institutions.

So apply early. Not when the rent is already two months behind. Early in the academic year, as soon as you can see the gap coming.

Who can usually apply

Rules are set locally, so check your own institution’s page rather than trusting a general summary, including this one. That said, a pattern repeats across Scotland.

• You normally need to be enrolled and attending, and to have taken the maximum student support you are entitled to. If you turned down part of your loan, most funds will tell you to take that first.
• Full-time students on funded courses are the core group. The University of Glasgow, for example, asks that you are UK domiciled, fully registered, receiving your full loan entitlement, and in genuine financial difficulty.
• Part-time students are sometimes included on different terms. UWS runs a part-time route with an income limit and a flat payment per module, which is a very different scheme from the full-time one.
• International students are often excluded from the general discretionary fund, though some institutions let them apply for childcare help only.
• Asylum seekers and students on specific bursaries may have their own route. Ask.

Because the detail is local, please do not read a figure on one college’s website and assume it applies nationally. Caps and maximum awards genuinely differ. One university may publish a ceiling for childcare help while another publishes none at all.

What the money can pay for

Discretionary funds are aimed at basic living costs and study costs. Rent, energy, food, travel to placement, essential course materials, sometimes a laptop. Childcare is usually handled through a separate childcare fund, which is covered on our page for student parents in Scotland.

Tuition fees are almost always excluded. So are debts you built up before the course, in most cases. Awards can arrive as a single payment or as monthly instalments running to the end of the academic year, and they do not have to be paid back.

What you will be asked to prove

This is where applications stall. Assessors cannot award money on a description of your situation, only on documents. Gather these before you start and you will save yourself weeks.

Evidence	Why they want it
Bank statements for the last 30 days, every account in your name	To see income in and money out. Missing accounts is the most common reason for a delay.
Your SAAS or student finance award letter	To confirm you have taken your full entitlement.
Tenancy agreement or accommodation contract	To evidence your rent.
Benefit award notices, for example Universal Credit statements	To count all household income.
Birth certificates for any children	Needed for dependant and childcare elements.
A form completed by your registered childcare provider	Childcare is paid against real, registered costs.

Screenshots of a banking app are often rejected. Ask your bank for proper PDF statements, or download them from online banking rather than photographing your phone.

How to apply without losing weeks

• Search your institution’s site for “discretionary fund” or “hardship fund”, or email student funding directly. Do not go through SAAS.
• Submit everything at once. A part-finished application usually sits in a queue rather than being assessed.
• Give the assessor a short, factual note of what changed: hours cut at work, a benefit stopped, a placement with travel costs you cannot cover.
• Expect a wait. Around four weeks is normal at busy times, and longer at the start of the year.
• If you cannot last four weeks, say so in writing and ask specifically about an emergency or crisis payment. Many institutions can release a small amount quickly while the full application is assessed.

If you are refused

National guidance for these funds says institutions should have an appeals procedure in place for unsuccessful applications, and that students should be told about their right to appeal. If you were not told, ask. An appeal is worth making when something material was missed, for example an expense you could not evidence at the time or a change in your circumstances since you applied.

Also ask your students’ association. Advice services at many Scottish institutions will help you write the appeal and sometimes know about small trust funds, foodbank vouchers or emergency grants that are not advertised.

Questions people actually ask

Does it affect my SAAS funding?

No. A discretionary award is not counted as part of your SAAS assessment. Your household income assessment is a separate thing, and you can sanity check your main award with our SAAS funding calculator.

Do I pay it back?

Discretionary awards are normally grants, not loans. Some institutions also offer short term loans from a separate pot, so read carefully which one you are applying to.

How much will I get?

There is no national figure, because there is no national award. The amount depends on the gap between your income and your assessed costs, and on how much is left in the fund. Anyone quoting you a single Scotland-wide number is guessing.

Will it affect my benefits?

It can depend on what the payment is for. If you claim Universal Credit, tell your work coach and keep the award letter, which should state what the money covers.

I am care experienced or estranged from my family. Is there something better?

Very possibly, and it is not discretionary. Read our page on funding for care experienced and estranged students first, then use the hardship fund on top if you still have a gap.

Before you apply, it helps to have a real number for the shortfall. Our student budget calculator will give you one, and the rest of our tools are on the calculators page.

Sources: mygov.scot guidance on extra financial support for students and discretionary funding; Scottish Funding Council college student support funding pages; University of Glasgow Discretionary and Childcare Funds; University of the West of Scotland Discretionary and Childcare Funds. Award amounts and eligibility rules are set by each institution, so always check your own college or university’s funding pages. Last checked August 2026.