Access and additional support

Digital support

We recognise some students will need additional digital support to access learning and therefore offer a Digital Support Scheme which provides a long-term laptop loan (for the duration of your course) and a one-off WiFi grant of up to £150 for new entrants who meet the following eligibility criteria:

• You are a student at Kingston University for the 2021/22 academic year, enrolled on a foundation, foundation year, undergraduate degree or postgraduate taught programme delivered at one of the main KU campuses (Kingston Hill, Kingston Hill/St George's, Knights Park, Penrhyn Road, Roehampton Vale and Kingston College)

We hope to provide support to all students who qualify based on the above criteria. In the event that applications exceed the number of devices available, priority will be given to applicants who also meet one or more of the following criteria:

• Your household income, as assessed by Student Finance England, is £25,000 or less. You must apply for student finance through Student Finance England (or equivalent) and be income assessed before we can assess your application for a loan.
• A commuter student (travel time to campus from your term-time address is 50 minutes or more, as calculated by Google's Distance Matrix API2).
• From a disadvantaged area or background (as defined by standard measure for areas of deprivation (IMD), low socio-economic position based on occupation (NS-SEC) and areas where participation in higher education is low (POLAR4)).
• A declared learning difference or mental health condition (as self-declared at the time of enrolment/re-enrolment).

If you have any questions about the scheme, please contact the team on DSS@kingston.ac.uk

Current students can read more about the scheme and apply on our intranet page MyKingston.

Head Start

Head Start aims to support the access, transition and success of individuals from groups under-represented in higher education. Head Start is an orientation programme which has been designed to help individuals prepare for life as an undergraduate student. We offer a series of events taking place between July to September. In order to attend Head Start you must be a Home/EU student holding a firm offer for an undergraduate course at Kingston University and meet at least one of the following criteria:

• You are the first generation in your family to progress to higher education (ie. your parents have not been to university; but if a brother or sister has, you are still eligible for the scheme).
• You are a mature student (aged 21 or over on 1 September before you start your course) who does not currently hold a bachelors degree.

• Your family household income is less than £25,000 per year.
• You identify as being disabled or have a specific learning difference.
• You are under the age of 25 and have spent time in care in the UK, been placed in a foyer or are estranged from your family.
• You are recognised by social services as a young adult carer.
• You are in receipt of the Sanctuary Scholarship.
• You are entering Higher Education with a BTEC as your main qualification.

However, if you do not meet any of the above criteria, but would like to attend Head Start, then we recommend that you still complete the booking form. We will then place you on a waiting list and inform you if a place becomes available.

If you have any questions about our eligibility criteria then please contact us for more information.

Learn more about Head Start >