The University is offering a Digital Support Fund for students who are experiencing financial difficulty, to contribute to the costs of equipment required to support University studies, such as (but not limited to), laptops, headphones, and specialist IT equipment, where all other options have been exhausted, such as University equipment use on campus or loan.

The fund will take the form of an e-voucher of up to £350 to contribute to the purchase of digital equipment on the ASPIRE platform. In the event that the platform is not available, a monetary value of the amount awarded to you, will be transferred to your nominated bank account.

Terms and conditions

Eligibility

Below is a list of the full eligibility criteria for each element of the Digital Support Fund. You must meet all conditions to be considered for an award:

• You are an undergraduate or postgraduate (including postgraduate research) student and;
• You are studying a full-time course or substantial part time* course and;
• You are a registered student (home or overseas fee payer), including provisionally or conditionally registered, at the University of Essex for the current academic year.
• International students who hold a student visa are required to have enough money to pay for their course and support themselves while they are studying in the UK. This is a requirement of the student visa. International students can apply to the Digital Support Fund for support with one-off costs caused by an unexpected, exceptional change in circumstances that cannot be met from any other source.
• You made realistic provision for all digital-related costs, before starting your course but are now in demonstrable need of financial support because of an unexpected, exceptional change in circumstances.
• Your unexpected, exceptional change in circumstances must occur after the start of the course, and in the same academic year that you are applying for the fund.
• You are currently in financial difficulty, and can provide evidence to show that the cost of digital equipment would not be possible or that it would impact other outgoing immediate costs.
• You have accessed all funding opportunities and other forms of income available, including employment and welfare benefits that you may be entitled to. You have also accessed all personal savings available to you.
• You are fully engaged in the full range of academic activities and are attending and engaged with all timetabled teaching events and other scheduled activities.
• You must submit your Digital Support Fund application and evidence in line with the Digital Support Fund closing dates.

*Substantial part time refers to a student who is registered on a part-time programme that is at least 50% of the full-time equivalent programme.

Students who are not eligible

The following students are NOT eligible for this Fund regardless of meeting the above criteria:

• Students who do not fulfil the definitions and eligibility given above.
• Students whose financial difficulty is a result of high levels of non-essential expenditure associated with lifestyle choices, including sending funds to third parties that were intended to be used for university related costs, living costs and/or tuition fees.
• Students who are not in attendance, and on an assessment only programme.
• Students whose course is sponsored by an employer.
• Students who are on a distance learning programme.
• Students who are on unsubstantial part-time or short courses.
• Students who are studying through a University of Essex Partner (e.g. Kaplan, University of Essex Online, Tavistock, etc.).
• Students on Higher/Degree Apprenticeship courses.
• Students who submit their application after the applicable Digital Support Fund closing dates.
• Students with a continuously low or very low record of engagement with their studies (as recorded via LEAP) will not normally be considered for an award. If you can provide evidence that your low or very low engagement is the result of your short-term financial difficulty, this will be considered before making a decision on whether you are eligible for an award.
• Students who have access to suitable digital equipment.
• Students who have submitted an application for financial support from the university for any fund in the current academic year and who have been declined due to the provision of fraudulent, incorrect or false information or evidence.

Evidence

To support your Digital Support Fund application, you must provide accurate, up to date and relevant evidence to support your eligibility for an award. Some examples are provided below, though this list is not exhaustive. Please be aware that you may be asked to provide further evidence if it is necessary to assess your application.

Failure to provide the requested evidence after three requests, will result in your application being declined. All evidence provided must be clear enough to read, in accepted formats (pdf, jpg, doc, xlsx, png, txt) and in English. You must ensure that any evidence displayed in a language other than English, is translated before submitting it as part of your application.

You are required to provide the following evidence to support your application.