Chamberlain Award 2014 to 2019 entry

Care Leavers are eligible to receive the Enhanced Chamberlain Award as an alternative to the standard Chamberlain Award. For 2020 entry this is offered as either a £6,443 accommodation fee waiver if living in University-owned halls of residence or, if living elsewhere, students can choose a £3,000 tuition fee waiver or cash bursary. These awards apply to all years of study. Care Leavers must complete an application form for each year of study before 31 May. Please note that if we do not receive an application form from you, you will be automatically assessed for the standard Chamberlain Award based on your household income. You cannot hold both an Enhanced Chamberlain Award and a standard one. 

In order to remain eligible in continuing years of study you must:

• be a UK-resident student continuing to undertake a first undergraduate degree at the University of Birmingham’s UK campus in September 2020
• be deemed eligible for maintenance support by the Student Loans Company (SLC)
• be means tested by the SLC and agree to share your household income information with the University (please note that whilst you do need to apply for a Maintenance Loan from the SLC to be considered for a Chamberlain Award, you do not need to take any Maintenance Loan offered to you by the SLC)
• be liable for the full standard undergraduate fee
• not be eligible to receive NHS funding
• not be on an Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programme
• not be transferring from another institution
• have a household income of £36,000 or less (as verified by the relevant SLC agency)
• have academically progressed onto the next year of study of your course.

If you are a continuing student on the BA Social Work programme and have not been successful in obtaining the Social Work bursary, you may be eligible for the Chamberlain Award. Please contact the Funding, Graduation & Awards team and attach a copy of your correspondence from either the School of Social Policy or the NHS confirming your ineligibility.

The Chamberlain Award will be subject to annual and in-year reassessment to determine eligibility. We strongly recommend reading the Terms and Conditions for the Chamberlain Award.

 View the Terms and Conditions for the Chamberlain Award (PDF - 46.8KB).

You will not need to make an application for the standard Chamberlain Award. However, in order for us to be able to assess you based on your household income, you will need to apply for a means-tested maintenance loan with the Student Loans Company. Please note, you do not need to take out the loan, but you must go through the loan application process, and be reported to us as being eligible for maintenance support by the 31 May deadline, in order for the University to be able to assess you for the Chamberlain Award. 

Provided you and your parents/guardians have not opted out of sharing your information on your Student Finance application, we will then assess you based on your household income. You will then be sent an email confirming that your entitlement notification letter is available to view online.

You will need to login to your student finance account to view your letter.

Please note, Student Finance England's secure sites start with 'https' and a small padlock icon appears at the bottom of the browser window. This padlock will confirm the certificate of the website and ensure you are not on a fraudulent site.

Awards are subject to annual and in-year reassessment; all awards will be finalised on 31 May for the previous year of academic study (e.g. 31 May 2020 for academic year 2019/20). If you have not been means tested by the SLC and had your eligibility for maintenance support confirmed to us by them before 31 May you will not be eligible for an award. Please see the notification section, below, for further details.  

We will commence approving Chamberlain Awards for continuing students for the 2020/21 academic year in late October 2020. You should receive notification if you are eligible for the award by 7 December 2019. If this has not been received by 7 December and you believe you may be eligible, please contact the Funding, Graduation & Awards team. Please wait until the 7 December 2020 before contacting us as not all notifications will have been sent before this date. You will need to get in touch with us to report your issue before the 31 May in order for your case to be considered.  

Once confirmed, you will be sent an email confirming that your entitlement notification letter is available to view online. You will need to login to your student finance account to view your letter. Notifications of entitlement are provisional and may be withdrawn if your circumstances change and you become ineligible for an award. 

Please note, Student Finance England's secure sites start with 'https' and a small padlock icon appears at the bottom of the browser window. This padlock will confirm the certificate of the website and ensure you are not on a fraudulent site.

If you qualify for an award, payment will be made in two equal instalments: one in late January 2020 and one in early May 2020. Payment will be made directly into the bank account you have nominated for your Maintenance Loan, unless you have opted to divert your cash award to tuition fees or University-owned accommodation fees (you cannot have both a cash award and a fee reduction). More information regarding this option can be found on your Chamberlain Award entitlement letter.