Money Advice

LIPA does not have its own money advice team. However, all LIPA students can access free money advice via LJMU Money Advice Service

To arrange an appointment or for any queries in relation to money advice, you can email moneyadvice@ljmu.ac.uk or phone 0151 231 3153 or 0151 231 3154.

Alternatively, you can visit the LJMU Money Advice Service in person. Drop-in sessions are available at the LJMU Student Life Building Monday to Friday between 10am-4pm. 

Students who are experiencing hardship can access the LIPA Hardship Fund through LJMU Money Advice Service if they find themselves in need of extra financial assistance.

Your individual circumstances are considered, but you may, for example, be able to get help:

• for course or living costs that are not already covered by other forms of financial help - these could be everyday living costs, childcare costs or support over the summer vacation if you have no one else to turn to
• for emergency payments to cover unexpected financial crises or exceptional costs - such as repairs to essential household equipment
• if you are thinking of giving up your course because of financial problems and need extra support to help you keep studying

The LIPA Hardship Fund is managed by LJMU Money Advice. To apply, visit the MyLJMU website and then My Services and scroll down near to the bottom until you get to LJMU Student Support Fund. You will need to LJMU card/ID to be able to log in.

The application form will ask you to enter your income and expenditure for the year. It also asks you to let LJMU know of anything specific to you, explaining why you need extra financial support. This is where you should let them know about anything you need help with (such a broken heating system). The LJMU team will check your application, so please don’t worry about getting things wrong.

You will also need to attach a few documents to the application, such as details of your student funding and your bank statements. This could include:

• a copy of the letter from your funding body (e.g. Student Finance England) showing how much you currently receive
• Tenancy Agreement
• 90 days of bank statements
• any other documents showing your financial situation or individual circumstances

All universities decide how money from their hardship fund is paid out locally. Once you have submitted the form, a student money adviser from LJMU will look at your documents and apply the LJMU policy to your application. LJMU Money Advice Service will look at your individual circumstances, usually assessing whether there is a shortfall between your income and your outgoings. In order to minimise errors and ensure applications are assessed correctly, at least two members of staff will assess the form.

LJMU may get in touch with you when assessing your application to suggest other funding options. This is not because they do not want to help you, but they may be able to suggest other options that may be more appropriate.

LJMU will email you to your LIPA email address to say if you have been successful or not, and if you have been given award it will say how much you have been awarded and when you will receive it. Most awards are paid in instalments to help you with budgeting.

Money from the fund is usually paid out as a grant that you don't have to pay back.  Any money you get through the LIPA Hardship Fund won't usually be counted as income when working out your entitlement to benefits or tax credits, unless it is for day-to-day living costs

Money from the LIPA Hardship Fund is paid on top of the standard student finance package. This funding is discretionary, and you'll be expected to have applied for any student loans, grants and bursaries you're entitled to before applying for help from the LIPA Hardship Fund.

The following groups are priorities for hardship support:

• Students with children - especially lone parents
• Mature students - especially those with existing financial commitments
• Students from low-income families (as determined by institutions)
• Care leavers
• Students who are homeless or who are living in 'Foyers' (these provide accommodation, guidance and support for homeless young people)
• Final-year students
• Disabled students.

Applications can take up to four weeks, but the LJMU team aims to process them as quickly as possible. If your financial need is more urgent then please contact LJMU Money Advice on 0151 231 3153 or 0151 231 3154.

If you need support with completing your application, email moneyadvice@ljmu.ac.uk or visit the LJMU Money Advice Service drop-in sessions, available at the LJMU Student Life Building, Monday to Friday between 10am-4pm. 

(Information above has been adapted from the LJMU website)

The LIPA Bursary provides a cash award in each year that eligible students study with us.

In 2024 we plan to offer a LIPA bursary of £560 (annual cash award) to all of our students from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland who can demonstrate to us that they are in receipt of the full maintenance loan allowance. Anyone who can demonstrate this, should receive a bursary of £560 in February of each year of their studies, provided they are still in attendance.

The LIPA bursary is administered by the Student Loan Company (SLC) on behalf of LIPA. Eligible students do not need to apply, as this is an automatic process.

LIPA offers an annual £1,000 Care Leaver bursary to students who are under 25 and who can demonstrate that they have been in care prior to their 16th birthday for a period of six months or more. This bursary is offered in recognition that care leavers may need assistance towards their accommodation costs for vacation periods.

Bursaries are awarded, in two payments, to qualifying full-time UK undergraduates, for each year of their course of study with us subject to satisfactory academic progress.

Young people who have a permanent lack of contact with their parents may have additional considerations when applying and studying in higher education. The Student Wellbeing and Disability Service can assist in a range of issues, either prior to enrolling with us or as an enrolled LIPA student.

When applying for funding from Student Finance England, it is possible to claim independent status due to estrangement from parents. This means that your personal household income will be taken in to consideration for the means-tested elements, instead of your parent's income. To do this you will need to submit evidence to support the claim. Examples of proof you could provide are:

• A letter from a social worker (if you have one)
• If you have claimed Income Support when you were under 18 years, a letter from your local Job Centre Plus office showing that you received benefits because of your situation
• If your relationship with your parents broke down while you were at school or college, a letter from an advice worker, personal tutor or teacher, confirming your circumstances
• If you have visited your doctor because of problems relating to your broken relationship with your parents, a letter to confirm your circumstances

If you need help proving estrangement, you can contact wellbeing.disability@lipa.ac.uk

If you are interested in enquiring about job opportunities at LIPA, please see contact details below:

Please note, if you would like to apply for a role within the Widening Participation team, you will have ideally worked (for at least a year) as a general LIPA student ambassador first. This means you will have already completed basic training and gained some experience of LIPA’s key messages. However, if you have other previous experience of workshop delivery with young people, we may consider you earlier. The Widening Participation team also runs a ‘Back to School’ initiative where students are recruited to go back to their old school or college and share their experiences of studying at LIPA with relevant groups. This activity typically happens in the summer. Students interested in this should contact: backtoschool@lipa.ac.uk. All Widening Participation roles are subject to a satisfactory DBS check.

You can also contact recruit@lipa.ac.uk where a member of staff can direct you to the best contact, depending on the time of year, when work will be busy.

LIPA understands that most students find themselves on a tight budget, so managing your money is really important to cover everything you need. UCAS has developed Budgeting Advice to help you to learn how to budget properly and save money at university.

We know that students may find it difficult to manage the challenges of the rising cost of living. Students can access support from LJMU Money Advice Service if they are struggling to budget for the cost of living.

Financial challenges can be a significant cause of anxiety, affecting your mental health, ability to focus on study and general wellbeing. If financial challenges are affecting you, you can make an appointment with a member of the Wellbeing and Disability Service, and we can discuss support we can put in place to support your wellbeing. 

Your local foodbank can provide at least three days' emergency food and support to people in crisis. If you do need to use food banks, they are here to help and they are accessible to all.

To access a foodbank, you first need a foodbank voucher. You can get a voucher from your:

• health visitor
• social worker
• local citizens advice or charity organisation

You then need to take your foodbank voucher to your closest foodbank. Please see below for further details:

• South Liverpool Foodbank Locations - the nearest location to LIPA is based in Deeper Life Bible Church, Solway St East off Lodge Lane, Toxteth, L8 0QL
• North Liverpool Foodbank Locations

You can also find out more information about Liverpool Foodbanks on the Liverpool City Council website.

If you need further help, please call or email the foodbank directly to discuss how you can access a referral.

Please note, foodbanks are only able to offer short-term, emergency support. Going forward, why not visit your local food pantry or community supermarket? Here you can shop at significantly reduced prices. Please see some helpful links below

• Map of Community Food Spaces in Liverpool
• Live Well’s directory of food pantry schemes in Liverpool
• The Queen of Greens Bus - bringing affordable fresh fruit and vegetables to communities across Liverpool

The cost of food has risen significantly. Below are some useful tips on how to reduce your costs.

• Batch cook where possible. Having meals prepared for the week can also help reduce convenience food purchases when you are busy with your studies.
• Consider sharing your food shopping bill with housemates to avoid duplication and waste. You could share the cost of key items such as milk, bread, butter, eggs and pasta for example.
• Shop at the end of the day when certain foods are more likely to be reduced.

There are also useful websites and apps that help reduce food bills:

• Save the Student has 54 tips to save money on food
• You can find supermarket shopping tips, tools & tricks to slash food bills on Money Saving Expert
• Too Good To Go app is the world’s biggest marketplace for surplus leftover food

You can find further signposting for money advice on the Wellbeing and Disability Resource Hub