Scholarships, Bank Accounts & Part-time Jobs

Scholarships and Grants

There is a wide range of scholarships and grants available to home and international students. Whether you are eligible for certain scholarships will be contingent on a number of factors such as your course and your level of study. Every scholarship will have different requirements for students to apply, such as nationality, academic achievement or non-academic achievements. However, it is guaranteed that you will be supported in numerous different ways by the university, so always seek help from an advisor if you are struggling with your finances and they will be able to provide up-to-date information. To search for available scholarships, you may use the following tools:

Undergraduate Funding Database:

This database allows you to search for scholarships available to undergraduate students. You should utilise the filter function and find out what scholarships may be available to you and be mindful of the deadlines to apply.

https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/funding/undergraduate

Postgraduate Funding Database:

Similarly, the postgraduate funding database allows you to search for scholarships available to postgraduate students including master, doctorate, and PhD. You should utilise the filter function and find out what scholarships may be available to you and be mindful of the deadlines to apply. Please note if you are UK or Ireland students looking for Postgraduate Masters or Doctoral Loans, you should visit the guidance pages.

https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/funding/postgraduate

Scholarships Available to International Students by Region:

https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/study/international/fees/scholarships

If you are from Canada or the United States, you may be able to apply for loans, please visit this website:

https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/study/international/fees

I'd suggest you to apply as soon as possible and making sure that you have fulfilled the requirements before you apply. As you know, scholarships are highly competitive so we should always be prepared and have a budget plan ready.

Opening a Bank Account

Opening a bank account is highly recommended from my personal experience as an international student in the UK. Some students may consider using their debit or credit card from their home country, this can be wise if you are here for an exchange and will only be staying for a short period of time. This is because for most of the banks, there will be service fees when we use our debit or credit card overseas, and it is usually few percent's, so if you are going to study in the UK for few years, the service fees and the differences between the currency can be a burden for you. Whereas, if you are only here for exchange, it is okay to not open a bank account if you would like to avoid the paperwork.

Opening a bank account in the UK is actually not as hard as you imagine. To open a bank account, you usually need a bank letter from the university. A bank letter is used to verify your student status. When you are enrolled into a course at the university, you will have access to your bank letter. You can access this letter online on this website:

https://verify.bham.ac.uk/

You should always look at the bank's website and see if there's additional documents required. There are a number of banks in the UK, the most commonly used are HSBC, Lloyds, Barclays, NatWest etc. Make sure you also do your own research and choose the one that suits your needs.

Finding a Part-time Job at University

There are a variety of part-time jobs available to both home and international students. If you are an international student, please make sure that you check the number of working hours your are allowed, as specified on your visa (usually 20 hours per week). Some roles may only be open to students from a particular school and they will usually be shared with you by email. You should also keep an eye on these websites as most jobs will be posting on here.

Worklink:

https://intranet.birmingham.ac.uk/campus-services/worklink/student-casual-workers/index.aspx

Guild of Students:

https://www.guildofstudents.com/vacancies/

If you are looking for careers support or careers related news, please visit the Careers Network website for up-to-date information.

https://intranet.birmingham.ac.uk/as/employability/careers/cvs-applications-interviews-assessment-centres.aspx

In any case if you failed to secure a role within the university, you may also want to consider external employers. You could visit websites such as Indeed to search for different part-time jobs and apply.

Conclusion

I hope this article has provided you with a snapshot of scholarships, bank accounts and part-time jobs available at the university and has helped you to get prepared for the start of your academic journey at the University of Birmingham. Please feel free to reach out if you still have any questions, I'll be more than happy to help you.