The Opportunities Fund is an award of up to £500 to help students who would otherwise be unable, for financial reasons, to access extracurricular professional development opportunities offered by the University or external organisations, including but not limited to: travel, unpaid internship stipends, conference or course attendance costs, smart clothing, etc.
Opportunities Fund Eligibility
To be eligible, you must meet all the following criteria:
- You are a Home/UK student enrolled on a full-time undergraduate course at the University of Northampton for the 2025-26 academic year and paying tuition fees of £9,535. (This fund is not available to part-time students, International students or those studying a course at a partner institution.)
- You began studying your course with the University of Northampton from September 2025 (students who started their course with UON prior to September 2025 are not eligible to apply for this fund).
- You are studying level 5 (year 2) or level 6 (year 3) of your degree course.
- You also identify as one of our APP target groups experiencing barriers to equality of opportunity:
- A student from an area of high-socio economic deprivation (IMD Q1/2)
- GEM student – you may have heard of the term BAME, meaning Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic. We use GEM (Global Ethnic Majority) instead and include students with a mixed GEM heritage.
- Male student
- A student with a declared disability
- A care leaver (previously named Looked After Child)
- A student who has been assessed as estranged from their family
How to apply for the Opportunities Fund
To apply, you must complete the Opportunities Fund application form which is available on the Funds and Loans page of the Student Hub [Student log-in required], which you can access once you have completed enrolment.
The maximum award available is £500 per student for the academic year (subject to funds being available).
If you are eligible to receive the award, it will usually be paid as one instalment directly to the bank account details provided in the application form.
Application Deadline and Further Information
The deadline for the Opportunities Fund for the 2025/26 academic year is 10 April 2026 (subject to funds remaining).
As part of your application, you are asked to provide further details of the opportunity, including a breakdown of the anticipated/actual costs.
The purpose of this fund is to allow students access to activities which may enhance their employability or be related to their field of study or desired career. This fund cannot be used to support the cost of tuition fees or course books/materials.
Students will be asked to complete an impact statement, providing further details of the impact of this opportunity. Students will also be able to take part in additional research to improve our Opportunities Fund.
If you have any queries, please contact the Financial Guidance Team at money@northampton.ac.uk.