The Department for Education (DfE) has announced that students in higher and further education will benefit from an additional £50m funding to help them with financial pressures from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The £50m funding will allow universities to further support students impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, for example 'those facing additional costs for alternative accommodation, loss of employment, or extra costs to access their teaching online'. The funding will be provided by the Office for Students directly to universities, 'which are best placed to assess student hardship locally'. This announcement follows the decision from many universities and student accommodation providers to offer rent rebates for students who are away from their term-time address.