Overview
This is a bursary for students that fit a set criteria. It will always be conditional on your attendance at college. Payments will be stopped if your attendance goes below 90% the previous week.
Whilst we recognise that students face financial pressures, the funding you are applying for is not a right and Buckinghamshire College Group has a duty to make sure the funds are awarded fairly and to the students most in need.
The funding available to the college is to help you with the cost of studying and comes from a government body called ESFA (Education and Skills Funding Agency) and is public money.
What happens next?
Once the form has been submitted, it can take up to three weeks to process.
During this time the Safeguarding Officer will talk to the relevant people and discuss what is reasonably needed to complete your course. We ask you not to contact us as we are processing many applications.
Once the application has been assessed, the student will be informed by email of any funds that have been awarded.
Evidence
- If you are in care or a care leaver - The Local Authority will provide you with a letter confirming this. Alternatively we can accept an email from you Social Worker.
- If you are receiving Income Support or Universal Credit, Please provide a copy of the letter from the department of Work and Pensions (DWP) confirming this, along with 3 months consecutive full statements.
- If you are you in receipt of Personal Independent Payment (PIP), Employment Support Allowance (ESA) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA). Please provide a letter from the department of Work and Pensions (DWP) confirming this.
Please upload documents to your application in the Online Bursary Portal
NOTE: Benefits must be paid to you directly not to your parents/carers.
How to Apply
Firstly, visit our new Online Bursary Portal. (Please only apply once you have enrolled.)
You will need to register using your eight digit student reference number/ID number and date of birth, if you are a new student and do yet have an ID badge, your student reference number can be found on any letters or e-mails that you have received from the College.Once you have registered and activated your account, you will be able to log in to complete a bursary application.
- Please make sure to choose the academic year Sep 2023 / Aug 2024 option.
- Please complete all questions
- Please make sure you upload the correct evidence, for example; if you have selected Universal Credit we will need the full statement for 3 consecutive months
- You will need a parent to sign the declaration if you are completing a 16-18 Bursary form
Once you have submitted your application it will be submitted to Student Bursaries. We aim to complete the initial assessment within 3 weeks and if there is any missing information this will extend the time the assessments take to complete.If you have any questions please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Bursary applications for September 2024 are not currently open. Please come back once you have completed enrolment.
Go to the Online Bursary Portal
Eligibility
You must:
- be at least 16 and under 19 on 31 August of the applicable year
- study at a publicly funded school or college, or be on an unpaid training course
- meet the residency requirements - your school or college can check this
Vulnerable student bursary
You could get up to £1,200 if at least one of the following applies:
- you’re in or recently left local authority care
- you’re disabled and you get Income Support in your name
- you’re disabled and you get Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and either Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or Personal Independence Payment (PIP) in your name
- you’re disabled and you get Universal Credit in your name in place of Income Support or ESA
You may get the full amount if you have expenses and study full-time on a course of at least 30 weeks.
You’ll usually get less than the full amount, or no bursary, if one of the following apply:
- your course is shorter than 30 weeks
- you study part time
- you have few expenses
Payments
In general most course related payments will be sent directly to the relevant departments. However, occasionally students may be paid directly, so where appropriate; course costs will be transferred to your department or the assigned bank account.
Where appropriate travel costs will be regularly transferred to the assigned bank account.
If you are unhappy with the decision please complete this Funding Appeal Form.
Appeals will not be reviewed until after 31st October 2023 as this will enable us to give everybody an opportunity to initially apply for financial support.
