A recent survey of UK students found a monthly shortfall of £439 between the average student’s maintenance loan and living costs. 10% of students recorded having used a food bank in the last academic year and 37% said the cost of living crisis might prevent them from continuing their studies altogether.

It’s against this backdrop that Kent Giving Week 2023 will be supporting our student community by raising £25,000 to provide 10,000 meals for individuals who need them most.

From volunteering your time, fundraising or simply attending an event, there are plenty of ways to get involved, including:

• On Tuesday 21 March, watch local chefs cook low-cost meals at the ‘In the Kitchen Cooking Show’. There will be opportunities to try the food and the first 100 students to register get to go for free! 
• On Thursday 23 March, walk, dance, scoot or run ‘5k Your Way’ for free with a student ticket. Register now.

If you are facing financial hardship, please see support available to you and contacts on our cost of living web pages.

Do you want to be part of creating a memorable student experience for students living on campus at the University of Kent? Join the Residential Life Assistant team, gain invaluable work experience and get a massive 50% discount on your on-campus accommodation for the 2023/24 academic year! Our Residential Life Assistants (RLAs) are part of the College and Community Life team and are at the heart of our College Communities.

You will build relationships both on and off campus, to develop the sense of belonging and community, whilst working together to create exciting events for your peers. This is an great opportunity to get flexible work experience alongside your studies for 8 hours per week, and is open to both postgraduates and undergraduates in their 2nd, 3rd and 4th years of study.

Claire, who is an RLA this academic year says:

“I have really enjoyed being a Residential Life Assistant during my masters degree. It has encouraged me to take breaks when organising fun events rather than just studying, helping to make my degree experience more balanced. I have got to know so many students throughout the year, and I have particularly enjoyed helping students to have fun and get more involved with our events, as well as other events the at the university”.

To apply for the position, read the full job description and email hccl@kent.ac.uk with a statement of no more than 500 words expressing why you’d like to be considered for an RLA post and how your experience makes you the best candidate for the role. Applications must be received by Monday 3 April and interviews are expected to take place in mid-late April.

We look forward to receiving your application, and hearing about how you would like to contributing to a fantastic student experience for everyone at Kent.

Written by Natalia Crisanti, Student Services, 14.03.23

There are 100 free student tickets to see Kent Giving Week’s ‘In The Kitchen Cooking Show’ on Tuesday 21 March at 12:00-13:00 in Darwin Conference Suite.

The show includes free tasters but you will have to be quick before all the free tickets go!

Get your free ticket now!

Professional chefs will provide a masterclass on how to cook their trademark dishes on a budget. What’s more, our fabulous in-house caterers will recreate them for the audience.

Find out more about Kent Giving Week and how you can get involved!

Photo by Jason Briscoe on Unsplash

Come participate or volunteer for 5k Your Way which is a sponsored 5km route around the campus on Thursday 23 March from 12:00-14:00

You can come along as a group to walk (or run!) to help us reach the goal of providing 10,000 meals for students facing extreme financial hardship. Students can register for free. 

Find out more about Kent Giving Week and how you can get involved.

If you are facing financial hardship, please see support available to you and contacts on our cost of living webpages.

The University is looking to create new content with students who came to Kent via Clearing. This can be video content, written profiles or social posts for use on Kent’s channels.

If you came to Kent through Clearing and would like to tell your story, to help others in a similar position this year, then please contact Sam Charman – Digital Content Officer at s.t.charman@kent.ac.uk for more information.

Students will be able to earn credit on their KentOne card for taking part.

Apply for 1 of 5,000 places on ‘Santander Scholarships Skills: Excel for All’, a FREE, flexible, online programme delivered by Udemy.

You can choose either Complete or Advanced Excel – which, once completed, will help you to become more confident in one of the most widely used professional tools.

Applications close 16 May 2023, apply today!

#NeverStopLearning #Excelforall

The Santander Universities Scholars Programme is a new flagship initiative aimed at breaking down barriers for students who are most likely to face challenges when attending higher education.

The initiative provides funding to support them through to graduation, alongside training opportunities to develop their potential and help them build brighter futures.

The programme will support 100 full-time current undergraduate students, due to graduate in 2025, throughout the duration of their studies. They will receive £30k of funding over three academic years, a series of employability training and development sessions and a dedicated mentor to guide them through the programme.

This flagship, multi-million-pound scholars programme, was developed in collaboration with our partner universities, including the University of Kent, and is aimed at providing more structured and holistic higher education support that is ongoing, combats a range of challenges and is not just a stamp in time.

Am I eligible?
In order to be eligible to apply, you must meet the following criteria:

• Applicants must be aged 18 or older.
• Applicants must be current full-time undergraduate students at the University of Kent, completing their undergraduate course in 2025. Any degree discipline is welcome.
• Applicants must qualify as a Home Fee Status student.
• Applicants must not be receiving more than £1,500 per year in external sponsorship
  for their degree, for example, from other sources such as industry bodies/employers
  (University Core Bursaries and Government grants do not affect your eligibility).
• Applicants must self-identify as part of at least one of the following under-represented
  groups (guidance has been taken from the Office for Students’ existing list of underrepresented groups).– Students from areas of low higher education participation, low household income
  or low socioeconomic status.
  – Black, Asian and minority ethic students.
  – Mature students.
  – Disabled students.
  – Care experienced students.
  – Carers.
  – Students estranged from their families.
  – Students from Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.
  – Refugees.
  – Students from military families.

Apply now:

Applications are now open and will close at 23:00 on 31 of January 2023.

Apply and learn more about the Santander Universities Scholars Programme >

Watch the video to find out more: