16 to 19 Financial Support
The 16-19 Bursary Fund is a scheme to help students facing financial hardship to continue in full time education after year 11. A student must be aged 16 or over but under 19 at 31 August 2023 to be eligible for help from the bursary fund in the 2023 to 2024 academic year. This support covers a number of schemes, often described as student support schemes:
- 16 to 19 Bursary Fund
- Free Meals in Further Education
- Care to Learn
Each support scheme is outlined below:
Bursary
Description
Who can apply
16 to 19 Bursary Fund
Bursaries for defined vulnerable groups: these students are unlikely to be receiving financial assistance from parents or carers. This bursary can pay up to £1,200 per year to a student on a study programme that lasts for 30 weeks or more.
- Students living in care
- Students who are care leavers
- Students receiving income support, or universal credit 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
- Students 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
16 to 19 Bursary Fund (cont.)
Discretionary bursaries: to help students overcome the individual barriers to participation they face. This means to help with the cost of travel, to buy essential books, equipment or specialist clothing.
The Academy will decide which students receive a discretionary bursary and how much they receive based on each student’s individual circumstances, and their actual financial need. These will vary from student to student and depending on the following criteria:
- Household income is below £25 000
- Travel distance to school exceeds 10 miles
- Specialist requirements in order to complete study
- Have an EHCP
Items that can be claimed for include clothing, books and other equipment for your course. Transport and lunch on days you study. UCAS fees and university visits/trips.
Free meals in further education
The Academy will make a free meal available for all eligible students for each day the student attends their study programme, where this is appropriate. (This will be in line with Academy meal costs of £4.05 per day
Students being in receipt of, or having parents who are in receipt of, one or more of the following benefits:
- Income Support
- Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- Support under part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- The guarantee element of State Pension Credit
- Child Tax Credit (provided they are not entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190, as assessed by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC)
- Working Tax Credit run-on – paid for 4 weeks after someone stops qualifying for Working Tax Credit
- Universal Credit with net earnings not exceeding the equivalent of £7,400 pa (after tax and not including any benefits you get).
Care to Learn
Care to learn (C2L) helps young parents under the age of 20 by providing funding for childcare whilst the young parent is studying. The scheme can provide up to a maximum total amount of support of £160 per child per week or up to a maximum of £175 per child per week in London.
Young parents under the age of 20.
Students submit applications online via the Student Bursary Support Service (SBSS) online portal.
C2L will only fund childcare provision registered with Ofsted.
For further information please visit https://www.gov.uk/1619-bursary-fund
Appropriate evidence will be required to support your application. Some examples might include:
- A letter referring to the benefit to which the young person is entitled.
- Written confirmation from the Local Authority of the young person’s current or previous looked-after status.
- Evidence of specialist equipment needed for educational purposes