Discretionary Bursary & Free College Meals
The fund is used to assist students who may be benefit from financial assistance to complete their course. Any such contributions will only be made towards costs incurred for attending College. (The 16-19 bursary does not provide childcare funding - please refer to the Care to Learn website for under-20 childcare funding.) The bursary fund is limited and allocations will be based on financial need.

Financial assistance will mainly be in the form of weekly credits on students’ ID cards for the purchase of meals and resources in College. Further assistance may be available for items such as; participation in trips and visits, UCAS application and the purchase of other resources required for College activities. Allocations will not be made until a student is enrolled and fully engages with their studies.

Bursaries and Free College Meals will be issued during term-time only.

To be eligible:

• You must be an enrolled student on a full time course
• You must be aged under 19 on 31 August 2026
• You or your parents/carers must be receipt of one or more of the following benefits;

1. Universal Credit
2. Income Support (IS).
3. Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance (IBJSA).
4. An income-related employment and support allowance.
5. Support under part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.
6. The guaranteed element of State Pension Credit.
7. Working Tax Credit during the 4 weeks immediately after your employment finished.

 

Vulnerable Bursary
Young people in the defined vulnerable groups are eligible for a bursary of up to £1,200 a year, which equates to approximately £30 per week during term time.

The defined vulnerable groups are students who are:

• In care
• Care leavers
• Receiving income support or universal credit (UC) because they are financially supporting themselves or financially supporting themselves and someone who is dependent on them and living with them such as a child or partner
• Receiving disability living allowance or personal independence payments in their own right as well as employment and support allowance or universal credit in their own right
  

The college operates a cashless catering system (ParentPay) where all parents/carers have the ability to put credit on the student ID card. Any free meal allowance will be credited in the same way.

Checklist

Your application will take around 10-15 minutes in total to complete.  You can save your progress at any time by hitting the save button at the bottom of each page.  The system will save your application and email you a link which you can click to resume your application.

To support your application, there is some evidence we will need you to upload to check you are eligible.  Before starting your application, we recommend downloading or taking photos of all the relevant documentation listed below to make your application as easy as possible.

Application for the Discretionary Bursary and Free College Meals

You will need to provide evidence for the below;

n Evidence showing that your parent/carer are in receipt of one or more of the following benefits. This should be ANY ONE of the following;

4 Universal Credit - Copy of 3 most recent monthly award statements
4 JSA/ESA/Income support letter/notice
4 Evidence of support under part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.
4 Evidence of the guaranteed element of State Pension Credit.
4 Evidence of working Tax Credit during the 4 weeks immediately after your employment finished.

Application for the Vulnerable Bursary

You will need to provide evidence for each of the 2 areas below;

n If you are in care/have previously been in care you will need;

4 A copy of a letter from the local authority issued within the last 3 months stating your current care status and living arrangements. Your social worker should be able to provide this easily on request.

OR

n If you are in receipt of a qualifying benefit in your own (student) name.  You will need ANY ONE of the following;

4 Disability living allowance/personal independence payment & employment support allowance - please provide your most recent letter issued within the last 3 months showing that YOU receive this benefit
4 Universal Credit - 3 most recent monthly award statements
4 Income Support - 3 most recent monthly award statements

AND

n Evidence of your (student) personal bank account information. This MUST clearly show your account name, sort code and account number. This should be ANY ONE of the following;

4 Photo of bank card
4 Screenshot of Online banking
4 Photo/PDF of recent bank statement

Based on your answers to the questions on the previous page, we think you should be applying for the vulnerable bursary.  If you think this is not correct, please hit the back button at the bottom of this page and amend your answer.

Thanks for submitting all of your evidence.  If your application is approved, payment of bursary will be made directly the into the students' bank account.  Please provide us with the name, account number and sort code below as well as evidence to support this.  This must be in the STUDENTS name and applications will not be approved where the parent's bank account is provided.

PART B - TO BE COMPLETED BY PARENT/CARER

Based on your answers to the questions on the previous page, we think you should be applying for the discretionary bursary and free college meals.  If you think this is not correct, please hit the back button at the bottom of this page and amend your answer.