Fees & Funding

What does it cost and how do I pay for it?

• Accommodation and Living Expenses
• Tuition Fees
• Paying for it
• EU and Overseas Students
• Extras

Accommodation and living expenses

Student budgets and lifestyles vary quite widely, so it is difficult to be accurate about exactly how much money you will need. Rents at Newnham will be £131 per week in 2012.13 (plus kitchen fixed charge - see below); you can choose whether to pay rent only for 30 weeks a year or to pay for 39 weeks so that you do not have to store your things during the Christmas and Easter vacations.

Unlike some colleges, we charge the same rent for every room, so that everybody, whatever their circumstances, has the same chance of living in the most beautiful rooms in the College. For undergraduates tne rent is fixed for the first three years of the course (and those staying for a fourth year pay the same as those in the year below). This means that our students know from the beginning exactly how much they will need to pay each year and can plan their finances better.

The levy for the running costs of the Newnham kitchens is about £232 per term (or £267 for 13 weeks); meals in the buttery (student cafeteria) are heavily subsidised, costing approximately £2.50 - £3.50 for lunch or dinner. On average, students find they need an average of £6,000 - £8,000 a year for living costs while they are in Cambridge. This includes everything from rent and food to stationery, books, entertainment, insurance and travel between Cambridge and home. It is certainly possible to manage on less if you are economical.

At Newnham you will have next to no travel expenses; everything is within walking or cycling distance.

Tuition fees

Like most other English universities, Cambridge will charge tuition fees of £9,000 per year (with a slight annual increase) for all undergraduate courses starting in 2012. These fees do not have to be paid up front; they can be paid in instalments after you have graduated and are earning £21,000 a year or more. 

Paying for it

The following sources are available for help towards your costs:

• Government Grants and Loans (Home students only): new full-time students from lower income households will be eligible for a non-repayable maintenance grant of up to £3,250 in 2012-13. The amount you will receive is dependent on your family's income, assessed by Student Finance England or other award agency. There are also grants available for certain groups of students with additional costs, such as student parents and those with a disability. As a student you will also be able to borrow money to cover your living costs each year, in the form of a Student Loan. The money you borrow has to be paid back in instalments once you have graduated and are earning a minimum salary of £21,000 per year.
  
  
• If your residual household income is below £25,000, you may be eligible for a National Scholarship Award. For more information about eligibility for the National Scholarship Programme and about other institutional support that might be available to you, please click here. The link is to the University website, which also indicates how you apply and will be assessed for a scholarship. Please also note that only English and non-UK EU students are eligible; students from Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland should not apply.

• Cambridge Bursaries: worth up to £10,500 over three years or £14,000 over four years. The value of each bursary will be based on parental income, and calculated on a sliding scale up to a maximum of £3,500 per year.
  
  For new students in 2012, please click here for further information on how to apply for a bursary once you arrive in Cambridge.
  

• Access to Learning Fund (formerly University Hardship Fund): for Home students only.

• Newnham College bursaries and emergency funds: (all students).

• Newnham book grants: (all students) typically cover 40-50% of your expenditure on academic books

Funding for EU and overseas applicants

Overseas students pay the full University Tuition Fee (details can be found here) and also the College Fee (£5,883 in 2012-13). EU students pay the same tuition fee as UK students (see above).

Many overseas and EU students get their funding from a mixture of sources: parents, Government or commercial sponsorship from their home country, the University (via the Cambridge Trusts), and the Colleges. Overseas students have to cover University and College fees as well as rent and living expenses. EU students can borrow from the Student Loan Company for their tuition fees, and therefore only have to cover rent and living expenses.

All overseas or EU students are eligible to apply to the Cambridge Trusts (the Overseas Trust, the Commonwealth Trust and the Isaac Newton Trust) for help with their funding.

If you receive a conditional offer from us, you will be invited to make an application to the Trusts, by filling in a form giving details of how you expect to fund your course, and of any possible shortfall. Your application will then go to the Trusts for consideration. If you decide not to apply to the Trusts, you will be asked to provide guarantees that you can cover the costs of your tuition and living expenses.

Form for Overseas students - Word version
Form for Overseas students - pdf version
Information for EU students

The College has a number of bursaries for overseas/EU students, which can be combined with money from the Trusts. You do not have to apply separately for these; anybody applying to the Trusts will automatically be considered for College money. The Trusts and the College together will not be able to cover the full cost of an overseas student's course - you will have to provide some funding from other sources - but they can often make a very significant contribution.

You need to apply for these awards, and to satisfy the College that you will be able to fund your course, before you arrive; it is not normally possible to apply later.

Overseas and EU students are eligible for almost all College funds (book grants, travel grants, hardship grants etc.) on the same basis as Home students.

Extras (available to all students)

• Newnham travel grants: usually £130 to £350 but a few larger grants are made.
  

• University travel scholarships and subject-specific departmental travel grants

• Newnham prizes and scholarships awarded on examination results, up to £500

Due to the short terms and the intense nature of the Cambridge courses, students are actively discouraged from working outside the College during term time, though there is a small amount of casual work available within the College both in term and during vacations. In addition, the long vacations (six weeks at Christmas and Easter, more than three months in the summer) allow Cambridge students to gain valuable work experience. The Cambridge University Careers service can help with vacation placements.

Many students receive money from their parents over and above the amount they are assessed to pay by Student Finance, but if your parents are unable to help you in this way, don't worry: Cambridge, and Newnham, are very well provided with sources of extra financial help, and we have never yet had a student withdraw from her course because of money problems.