TERMSPRING ACCESS
Good study tools shouldn’t depend on what you can pay.
Termspring and Nullshift believe in social mobility for all. If paying for Plus would be hard for you, apply. A person reads every application, and if we say yes, Plus is free for as long as you use Termspring.
- FREE PLUS, NO END DATE
- A PERSON DECIDES
- A REPLY WITHIN 14 DAYS
Why we run it
The students who gain most from a good plan, spaced review and honest feedback are often the ones least able to pay for them.
Being the first in your family at university, working shifts through term, caring for someone at home, or living on a loan that runs out before the month does shouldn’t decide who gets the better tools.
We can’t change what university costs. We can make sure Termspring isn’t one more thing you go without.
LOUIS MCKENZIE · NULLSHIFT DEVELOPMENT LTD
WHAT YOU GET
Everything in Plus, the same as students who pay.
- The memory map, Stats and the FSRS optimiser
- Sound for focus sessions
- Louis’s marking method on seminar sheets
- Larger AI allowances each month
It doesn’t end with the academic year and you don’t reapply. Nothing on your account says how you got Plus, and nobody else is told.
Who can apply
Any student at a UK university or college, undergraduate or postgraduate, full-time or part-time, who would find Plus hard to afford. There’s no checklist. We pay particular attention if you:
- are the first in your family at university
- had free school meals
- are care-experienced
- are estranged from your family
- are a young adult carer
- have a low household income
- get an income-based bursary
None of these is required, and none of them guarantees a place.
How it works
- 01
Make a free account
Use your university email, or add it when you apply. We send a code to check it.
- 02
Answer five questions
Why it would help, a little about you, and whether your parents went to university. About five minutes.
- 03
Hear back within 14 days
Louis reads every application and replies by email and in Termspring. If it’s a yes, Plus switches on straight away.
YOUR ANSWERS
- Used only to decide your application. Never for marketing, never sent to an AI or used to train one, never shared or sold.
- Read only by the person deciding. Today, that’s Louis. They’re stored encrypted.
- Deleted 30 days after we decide. Withdraw before then and they’re deleted straight away.
BEING STRAIGHT WITH YOU
- Each Plus account costs us real money, mostly in AI, so places depend on what we can afford.
- If we can’t offer you a place, we’ll say why, and you can apply again after 90 days.
- If we ever have to close the scheme, everyone on it keeps Plus for at least another 12 months.
The full details: what we keep, why, and for how long
If you apply for Termspring Access, we keep what you tell us: why you’re applying, what you say about your background, whether your parents went to university, how used to AI tools you are if you say, any optional circumstances you choose, your household income band if you give it, and the university email address you checked.
Why and on what basis. We use it only to decide your application. The lawful basis is your consent, which you give when you send the application. If you choose to tell us something more sensitive, such as about your health, we rely on your explicit consent for that too, though you never need to.
Who sees it. Only the person at Nullshift Development Ltd who decides applications, who is Louis McKenzie today. It is stored encrypted. It is never sent to Anthropic or any other AI service, never used to train AI, never used for marketing, never shared or sold, and never sent to PostHog. A person makes every decision. Nothing is decided automatically.
How long. Your answers and your university address are deleted 30 days after we decide. After that we keep only that you applied, the decision and its date, the reason if we declined, and a one-way fingerprint of the address so it can’t back a second application. That record is deleted when your account is. We also keep anonymous monthly counts, such as how many students who are first in their family we approved. Those counts can’t be linked to you.
Changing your mind. You can withdraw in Termspring at any time. Before we decide, your whole application is deleted at once. After we decide, your answers are deleted at once. If you leave the scheme or close your account, everything about your application is deleted. Questions go to hello@termspring.com. The rest of how Termspring handles data is in our privacy notice.
Questions
Do I need to prove anything?
No documents. We check you’re a student through your university email, and we trust what you tell us. If something turns out not to be true, the place ends.
Is an AI used to judge my application?
No. A person reads every one, and your answers are never sent to an AI service.
I already pay for Plus. Can I apply?
Yes. If we say yes, we stop your subscription and refund the month you’re in.
What if my university doesn’t give me an ac.uk address?
Apply anyway and tell us where you study. It may take a little longer while we check.
Can I apply from outside the UK?
Not yet. Termspring Access is for students at UK universities and colleges for now.