Fund your studies

Welcome to our quick guide to finding a part-time job while studying at the University of Edinburgh. Let's just start by considering the benefits of part-time work. One obvious benefit and a core reason students undertake part-time work is to earn money. But part-time work offers you so much more which can benefit you in both the short and longer term. Part-time work offers you the chance to build experience to support future career goals or to demonstrate to employers your capability of working in a professional setting. There is an example of this in the top picture where a student is working for the University's Centre for Research Collections, and this provides a great basis for a career in archives. While your part-time job may not directly relate to your future ambitions, the transferable skills you develop will be hugely valuable in your graduate career and very appealing to graduate employers. We see here a student working in a cafe. The communication skills and provision of excellent customer service provides a great demonstration of skills required in client-focused roles such as consultancy. For those with English as an additional language, this experience can offer a really great way to develop your English language skills outside of an academic environment. 

There can also be strong social benefits of having a part-time job. It can allow you to get to know students from outside of your course and friendship groups and also enable you to meet people from the wider Edinburgh city community. Edinburgh is a major city with a wide range of employers offering part time work. This graphic gives you just a few examples of the roles that we see regularly advertised to students. The Careers Service has a vacancy database called MyCareerHub, which students can use to search for part-time work. In some cases, using other sources such as local job sites, recruitment agencies, and a proactive approach can be successful. There's more detail on this on the Careers Service website. From there, you can also access application support, details on your rights at work, and specific advice for international students. Staying informed is important. These are a few points I wanted to highlight to you. If you are able to work during your studies, the University advises that you do not work for more than 15 hours if you are a full-time undergraduate or postgraduate student. PhD students are recommended to work for 9 hours or less per week. 

This is advised to ensure you are able to balance study with work, but everyone will differ in what they are able to manage. Do what's right for you. Ensure you are informed about your rights at work. Where you need additional help, the University can support and advocate for you. While the majority of students undertake part-time work without issue, we strongly advise that you take sensible precautions to safeguard yourself at work and to be alert to potential scam employers. Our online advice provides more detail on how to stay safe. A National Insurance number is required if you will be working in the UK. The Careers Service website provides more detail on how to apply for this. Finally, please do use our resources and ask for help from our friendly team.

Hello and welcome to this session on funding for UK students. My name is Rona. I'm from the Advice Place. We are a free impartial and confidential advice service and are part of Edinburgh University Students' Association. We provide a  range of advice on topics such as money and housing, as well as University processes like complaints  and appeals. 

In this session we will briefly cover the government funding available from the national governments of the UK and the scholarships and other funding opportunities you might be entitled to. Finally, I'll go through the types of students who may be able to claim benefits while studying. 

In Scotland, students can apply to SAAS to have their tuition fee paid and may be eligible for a bursary. All full time students can apply for living cost loan and  the amount you receive is dependent on your household income. Similarly, England, Wales  and Northern Ireland provide maintenance  loans to students, but a tuition fee loan is given rather than a grant. In order to get the most funding available to you it's important to  allow them to assess your  household income. Your household will normally be the income of your parents or parents that you live with, and they will be asked to complete a form to declare  their income. Usually from the last complete tax year, which is 2021-2022. If you're over 25, don't have parents, are estranged from your parents, care experienced, or have a partner or children, the way they assess your household income will be different. The Advice Place can answer any questions you have about funding you may be able to receive. If you have submitted your income to SAAS or  Student Finance then you could be eligible to receive the access scholarship from the University. When you complete your application, you need to tick  the box which states 'share information with the University for bursary purposes' so that the University are made aware of your household income. If your household income falls below the figures in this table, you should receive a scholarship. The University will normally send you an email around the end of September to let you know when  they will make payment and how much you've been awarded. You can also search for other scholarships on the University website but the deadline for many of these may have passed. As well as this the Advice Place website has an extra funding  page which lists further places to search for support. For those students who experience financial difficulty during their course the University has a financial assistance fund. When you apply,  you'll need to provide bank statements and evidence of your rent and funding to be assessed for an award. It can't pay  for fees or future expenses or be your only source of income, but it can assist you if you can show you don't have enough to cover your reasonable costs. The application process is online and fairly straightforward. You can apply via the link below when it opens in a few weeks into the new semester and the Advice Place can help with any questions you have about the process. Some student groups may also be able to apply for benefits such as Universal Credit, which can top up your income even if you do work or receive student funding. The main groups that can apply for these benefits are those who start their studies part time, students who  have children, students who have a non-student partner, students who have been assessed as having limited capability  for work before starting  their studies, and also receive personal independence payment.

 If you think you might be eligible for benefits, the Advice Place  can help answer any questions you have about applying. I hope you find this video useful. Please do get in touch with the Advice Place if you have any money worries during your studies.