This is a guest blog by current student Jakub Benek, studying BSc (Hons) Computing.

When I initially applied to Bournemouth University, I hadn’t really looked  into the financial side of things too much. I know Universities have scholarships but many of them you apply for and I hadn’t looked or thought to do that. When I confirmed my place, I got sent an email about the Undergraduate Academic Excellence Scholarship. Thanks to my performance at college, I had been successful for the £1,000 worth of non-repayable scholarship in my first year!!! I’ve never been so excited opening an email. Instead of discounting the tuition, BU pays the money directly to the students, which I think is very effective and useful. The payment system is pretty straight-forward. You get a prepaid VISA card, which is topped up in nine equal installments, and you can use it in shops and online – but not to withdraw as cash. You can check the balance of the card online to keep on top of your finances too. The card can be used for specific purposes, such as food, textbooks, stationery or online shopping, which makes it is a good budgeting tool when used cleverly. It’s like pocket money that you can use to
treat yourself and support your studies, or a good financial aid if you are struggling with money in general. The university doesn’t dictate what items you can or cannot buy, but I am pretty sure you will find yourself using it for course-related materials in many instances.
To claim the scholarship, you need to meet the academic achievement standards, which you’ll find on the website. It is not income-assessed, and it gets processed automatically based on your grades – very easy!