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The Trinity Maintenance Grant
At Trinity College we understand that having secure funding throughout your degree is important to help you enjoy your studies without concerns about money, and to take advantage of the many cultural, social and sporting opportunities that Cambridge has to offer.
Trinity College offers support to students in addition to funding available from the University of Cambridge, through the Trinity Maintenance Grant (TMG).
The Cambridge Bursary Scheme (CBS) is the University funding scheme for students from households with an income of up to £62,215 per year. Under this scheme, students receive up to £3,500 per year. Students who received free school meals will receive an additional £1,000 per year – this is called the ‘Educational Premium’.
If you come to Trinity and you are eligible for the CBS, the TMG provides an additional £3,000 per year.
This means that eligible students can receive up to £7,500 per year in total from the University of Cambridge and Trinity College. This funding is to help cover the costs of your accommodation, meals and other essentials.
You will receive this payment in each year of your undergraduate studies at Trinity, provided you remain eligible for the Cambridge Bursary Scheme. For most subjects, the maximum number of years you can receive this grant is for up to four years from commencing your studies, though in Medicine, it is for up to 6 years. It is paid to you by a third of the value being credited to your College bill at the start of each term.
If you are not eligible for the Cambridge Bursary Scheme, Trinity provides two other forms of support to its students through the TMG, paid at the rate of £1,500 per year:
- If you did your GCSEs and A-Levels at a non-fee-paying UK school, you will receive a £1,500 grant per year to help support your living costs.
- If are eligible for the CBS at the start of your degree, but lose eligibility during your time here (if household income increases), you will still receive the TMG, at the rate of £1,500 per year.
If you receive any other bursaries or scholarships from external sources, but qualify for the CBS, the value of those additional bursaries will be subtracted from the amount you receive from the TMG.
Trinity values applications from well-qualified, intellectually ambitious students of all backgrounds. The Trinity Maintenance Grant demonstrates the College’s strong desire to encourage applications from students from less advantaged backgrounds and to help ensure all our students can thrive intellectually and socially while they are here, regardless of financial status. In essence, we want to ensure that no one is discouraged from applying to Trinity College for financial reasons, and that all our students can participate fully in the College community’s life.
Below are answers to some questions you may have; but if you have further queries, please feel free to contact [email protected].
The Trinity Maintenance Grant will be paid in addition to CBS. If eligible, you will receive both payments and the Grant will not diminish the amount you are entitled to receive from CBS.
If you receive a bursary through the CBS scheme (see the CBS website for details of eligibility), you will receive the Trinity Maintenance Grant at the higher rate of £3,000 per year, minus any amount you receive from other bursaries or scholarships. Broadly speaking, to be eligible for the CBS, you need to have both Home Fees status and an annual household income below £62,215.
If you do not qualify for the CBS, but you are a UK student (by fee status) and your secondary education was at a UK school for which you did not have to pay fees, then you will qualify for the TMG at the rate of £1,500 per year, again minus the amount you receive from other bursaries or scholarships. We look at the school you were at for both your GCSEs and A-levels (or equivalents: Scottish Highers / Advanced Highers, International Baccalaureate, etc). If you were at a UK non-fee-paying school throughout your secondary education, then you are eligible.
No. This is a grant from Trinity College. You do not need to repay it. We do expect, however, that you will go on to have a successful and interesting career, and we very much hope that you will be able to find ways to utilise your future success to support the next generation of students at Trinity.
If you receive a bursary or scholarship from another institution, then this will be deducted from the amount you receive from the TMG. For instance, if you were to receive a grant of £1,000 from another public funding source, and are eligible for the CBS, you would receive the Cambridge Bursary and a Trinity Maintenance Grant of £2,000 (rather than £3,000). If you receive an additional scholarship or bursary of more than the value of the TMG, then you would not receive the TMG as well.
If you are studying at Trinity, once you have been assessed for eligibility under the CBS scheme, you will receive one-third of the annual amount credited to your College bill at the start of each term – no separate application is necessary. So you will receive £1,000 per term if you receive the full TMG, or £500 per term if you receive it at the lower rate.