Eligibility for a “discretionary fund” depends on which fund you mean and the country/region in question — but generally such funds target those in financial hardship, special circumstances, or who meet specific residency/benefit criteria. Below are some typical eligibility rules (with UK-based examples) to give you a good idea.
✅ Typical eligibility criteria
Examples include:
- For the Discretionary Assistance Fund (DAF) (Wales): you must be
- living in Wales, and over age 16. GOV.WALES+1
- experiencing extreme financial hardship (e.g., lost your job, awaiting benefit payments) or in a crisis such that you cannot afford essential items like food/energy. GOV.WALES
- In the “Individual Assistance Payment” category you must also be receiving one of a list of specified income-based benefits. GOV.WALES
- For the Discretionary Support (Northern Ireland): you must
- For a university‐based “Discretionary Fund” (for students at University of St Andrews): you must be
- a “home student” (not EU or international) in the UK. University of St Andrews
- an undergraduate or postgraduate student who has taken out their full entitlement of student loan or funding. University of St Andrews
- able to show that essential expenditure exceeds your income (“financial difficulty”). University of St Andrews
🎯 Key things to check
When assessing eligibility you’ll typically need to check:
- Residence: Are you resident in the region (Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, England) that the fund covers?
- Benefit or income status: Are you receiving particular benefits? Is your income below a threshold? Do you have savings?
- Financial hardship: Can you demonstrate a shortfall between income and essential expenses (or a crisis event)?
- Other conditions: Age, full entitlement of other funding (in student-fund cases), course type (for student funds), etc.
