Complete the financial funding tool and calculate household income
Use this guide to complete the financial funding tool and prepare the correct evidence when applying for means-tested scholarships based on financial need.
Current students seeking in-year funding should check individual scholarship pages or contact the Money Advice team by emailing moneyadvice@st-andrews.ac.uk.
After submitting your course application, you will be emailed login details for the My Application portal within two working days. You must have these details before you can apply for scholarships.
If you are applying for a scholarship based on financial need, complete the financial funding tool first. This will automatically populate the "annual household income" section of all your scholarship applications. You only need to complete it once unless your circumstances change.
How to complete the financial funding tool
Select either young student or independent student.
If you are a postgraduate student, you will usually select independent student.
Your status determines whose income you must provide.
Young students
Meet all of the following:
- Under 25 before your course start date
- Live in the family home and are financially dependent on parents or guardians
- Have no dependent children
- Have not supported yourself through work or benefits for 3 years
- Are not married, in a civil partnership or living with a partner
Independent students
Meet any of the following:
- Are 25 or over on your course start date
- Have supported yourself through work or benefits for 3 years
- Have a dependent child living with you
- Have no living parents
- Were married, in a civil partnership or living with a partner before your course start date
- Have not communicated with either of your biological or adoptive parents for 12 months before your course begins and the situation is irreconcilable
- Have care experience or custodial care
How to calculate household income
Your household income is the gross annual income of the people financially responsible for you.
Young students
Provide the combined income of:
- Your parents or guardians
- Their partner or spouse, if applicable
Independent students
Provide the combined income of:
- Yourself
- Your spouse or civil partner, if applicable
What counts as income and what evidence to upload
| Income type | What we count | Evidence required |
|---|---|---|
| Salary or earnings | Total gross income (before tax), including bonuses or overtime | P60, final payslip, Annual Tax Summary |
| Self-employment, business, trusts, dividends, investments | Taxable profit | Self-Assessment return, accountant statement, investment statements |
| Disability allowances or income-replacement benefits | Any benefit replacing earnings | DWP or government letters showing full amount or 3 months of statements |
| Student loans, bursaries, maintenance | Maintenance only (not tuition payments) | SAAS or SFE or equivalent award letters |
| Private or state pensions | Total pension income | Annual pension statement |
| Care experience | Confirmation of care status | Local authority letter |
| Asylum seeker with no income | Confirmation of status | Home Office documentation |
If you cannot provide the above, you may upload three months of bank statements with income clearly highlighted and explained.
All documents should be in PDF or similar small file format and in English.
Benefits to include
Provide evidence for the following. If a benefit is not listed here, you do not need to include it:
- Carer’s Allowance or Carer Support Payment
- Employment and Support Allowance
- Income Support
- Incapacity Benefit
- Jobseeker's Allowance
- Maternity Allowance
- Pension Credit
- State Retirement Pension
- Universal Credit (standard allowance only)
- Working Tax Credits (not Child Tax Credits)
- War Widow or War Disablement pensions
- Industrial Injuries benefits
- Other income-replacement benefits listed by SAAS