Fund your studies

Research how you will support yourself financially before starting university.

You may be eligible for financial support whilst studying, including scholarships, bursaries, grants and student loans. You may also wish to undertake part-time work alongside your studies.

Working part-time

Working while studying is a great way to boost your income, learn new skills, and take time out of university to meet others. 

Working Hours

Part-time work should not interfere with your academic priorities. If you are a full-time student, the University recommends you do not work more than 15 hours per week. 

The University will not employ full-time postgraduate research students for more than an average of 9 hours per week across the academic year and recommends that postgraduate research students apply this limit to employment outside the University. PhD students should discuss any proposed employment within the University or with any other employer with their principal supervisor. 

How many hours you should work as a student

Finding part-time work

The Careers Service regularly advertises hundreds of part-time jobs throughout the year on MyCareerHub. You will be able to access MyCareerHub when your student record has been generated - this is usually before the start of your studies. 

Find out more about working part-time

Find a part-time job on MyCareerHub

Find out more about the Careers Service

A quick guide for all students who want to work part-time while studying at the University of Edinburgh.

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.

Student Loans

Scottish students: SAAS (Student Awards Agency Scotland)

If you live in Scotland and choose to study your first degree full-time at a Scottish university or college, you will usually have your tuition fees covered by SAAS. However, you will need to apply to SAAS, as this is not automatic.

Student Finance in Scotland (UCAS website)

Apply for SAAS funding (SAAS website)

Students from the rest of the UK

You should apply for student funding as early as possible and there are different options depending on where you live in the UK.

Student Finance England

Student Finance Wales

Student Finance Northern Ireland

International students

Depending on your country of residence and your programme of study, you may be eligible for student loans.

International student loans

Financial support when you start

Hardship funding

The University has a number of funds available to help students in financial difficulty. You should speak to your Student Adviser or support staff in your School about any financial difficulties that could affect your studies.

Hardship funding

Emergencies and Hardship funding (Advice Place website)

This video will cover the government funding available from the national governments of the UK, and the scholarships and other funding opportunities you might be entitled to if you are an undergraduate student from the UK.

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.

Scholarships and Funding

You may be eligible for a bursary, scholarship or other funding opportunities. You can use the University's Scholarship Search tool to find out what's available for prospective students.

Scholarship Search

Undergraduate funding

There is a range of funding specifically for undergraduate students available through the University. 

Funding options for undergraduate UK students

Postgraduate funding

For postgraduate students, although there may be funding available through the University for your degree, you can also access financial support from a range of sources. 

Funding options for postgraduate UK students

International Students

Funding

Depending on your country of residence and your programme of study, you may be eligible for student loans.

International student loans

The University also offers a number of general and subject-specific funding schemes to both undergraduate and postgraduate international students.

Funding for undergraduate international students

Funding for postgraduate international students

Part-time employment

Most international students who are studying in the UK for a year or more are eligible to work part-time. You should always check your visa to see what your individual situation is.

The Student Immigration Service offers clear and detailed advice on working during your studies, including information about:

  • the type of work Tier 4 visa holders are allowed to do, and not allowed to do
  • the number of hours Tier 4 visa holders can work

Working in the UK during studies (Student Immigration Service)