Preparing your finances

Securing your student finance

Check your student finance online account regularly to see if Student Finance need extra information or evidence from you. Remember to only upload any evidence that has been requested.

Use the student finance calculator to estimate how much Maintenance Loan you could be eligible for. If this figure is different when you receive your entitlement letter, check that you have been assessed on your household income (if applicable). Don't forget to use the application tracker for any updates. 

The easiest and quickest way to provide evidence is by uploading a digital copy of it to your online student finance account. If you send any evidence by post, we recommend that you send by tracked delivery.

For further information, you can watch the following Student Finance England videos on YouTube.

• How to check the status of your application
• How to upload evidence

If your circumstances change

Make sure you let Student Finance know as soon as you can if your circumstance change. This includes if you are changing your course, or the university you have chosen. Go to your online student finance account to make these changes.

For information on how to change your student finance application, you can watch the following Student Finance England video on YouTube.

• How to change your student finance application

Once your course has started, we will need to make any changes for you. To request this, please email studentrecords@yorksj.ac.uk.

Please make sure you have the correct university on your student finance application, or your funding may be delayed at the start of your course.

York St John Scholarships

One of our missions at York St John University is to make university as accessible as possible for students from every background. We offer scholarships to provide financial support to students during their studies.

To find out more about all the scholarships we offer, and how you could be eligible for this extra support, visit our scholarships page.

Scholarships for home students

Prepare your budget

To help you with preparing you budget, the University offers an award-winning online tool called Blackbullion. This platform enhances financial confidence and decision making skills. It covers topics from student finance and budgeting to pensions and investing, focusing on lifelong financial skills. The platform features short, self-paced videos and is free to use even before you arrive on campus.

Additionally, the Blackbullion money manager app helps you manage your finances, create budgets, and provides spending insights with tips for saving. You earn rewards, called bullions, which can be exchanged for prizes the more you use the app.

Register for Blackbullion

Student bank accounts

You can open a student bank account with an interest-free overdraft to help manage living costs until your first loan instalment arrives. We advise shopping around as banks often offer incentives for opening an account with them. A useful resource for comparing student bank accounts is the Money Saving Expert website, which provides dedicated information for students.

Compare student accounts

Working part time while studying

To help increase your income, we do advise students to work part-time if they are able to. The Careers team can help you with this. They have links with businesses in York and advertise jobs all year-round. You can find these jobs on our online careers portal, Handshake.

The following resources will help you to enhance your chances of securing a job:

• Application Theory (YouTube): Watch this video to develop your CV, cover letter and application writing skills. These will increase your chance at securing an interview.
• Career planner (Prospects website): If you are unsure about what kind of jobs you should apply for, input your skills, motivations and desires to find out which roles are most suited to you.
• Log in to Handshake: You can also send your CV to careers@yorksj.ac.uk to get feedback or book a careers appointment with our Careers Advisers to discuss your CV.

It is recommended that you do not work more than 15 hours per week during term-time so that it does not impact on your studies. 

Help with your finances

Our Student Funding Advice team provide advice and guidance on student finance as well as the funding that is available from York St John. The team run a number of campaigns throughout the year to provide money saving tips and to help you become more money confident.

We have a dedicated page with useful information about the team as well as what support the University offers.