For more than 500 years, St John’s has been removing financial barriers to realising academic potential, a mission we share with the collegiate University.
Studying for a degree is a serious personal and financial commitment. St John’s eases the financial burden for all our students, and we offer generous bursaries, scholarships and one-off grants for students whose circumstances are more challenging or who are dealing with unforeseen or exceptional events.
Our aim is not only to give constructive financial support to students who are in need, but also to develop every single student’s ability to realise their full potential.
We are especially proud to be the first UK institution to pay the full tuition and maintenance costs of home students who face the most challenging financial circumstances through our Free Places scheme, now in its pilot phase and, subject to ongoing fundraising, it is expected to be fully operational for undergraduate admissions in 2028/29.
All our support sits alongside the University’s student support schemes, which offer generous bursaries to ensure that students can meet the costs of their education, regardless of their background.
We ease the financial demands on our students in many ways so you can make the most of the life-changing opportunity of studying here.
Our undergraduates live in College rooms for their entire degree, and almost all our postgraduates choose to do the same. This offers high quality accommodation that’s great value for money in the historic heart of Cambridge, with easy access to our student facilities and all the advantages of collegiate life at John’s. We even have a free laundry.
St John’s is renowned for its excellent food offering. Students benefit from subsidised catering in our Buttery and Café, which provide a brilliant range of menus, including plenty of healthy options. Our brunches are a Cambridge legend, and Formal Hall at John’s is such a hot ticket that it’s offered five nights a week during Full Term.
Every student at St John’s can benefit from our Learning and Research Fund for help with purchasing the essentials for their course. Learning and Research Fund grants support the cost of books and computers, conferences and visits, subscriptions and other academic expenses, for example incurred for the purposes of a dissertation.
We have countless travel awards available for students, offer summer research grants, and support an incredible range of co-curricular activity, including sports awards for College and University representation, grants towards music and singing lessons, and financial backing for student clubs and societies.
Every year our students compete for a wide variety of open-entry academic prizes, from the Emanuel Miller Prize for the Philosophy of Science to the Constable Essay prize in physical sciences, the Douglas Adams Prize for humour writing to the Mansergh Prize in History, and for awards in photography, music, art and applied arts.
For students who are also parents, St John's provides grants to meet up to 50 per cent of the cost of childcare for children under school age or for children of any age for afterschool care, as well as up to 50 per cent of the cost for children of any age attending the University of Cambridge Holiday Playscheme (UCHP) during vacations.
In cases of great need, larger grants may be possible. Student parents can also claim 50 per cent of compulsory nursery registration fees. If two parents of the same child are both studying at St John’s they can make two separate applications for 50 per cent of the childcare costs.
