Bursary Information FAQs

You can apply online via Bedford College Group website:

https://bedfordcollegegroup.ac.uk/student-life/financial-support/

You could get up to 75% towards essential course costs such as hairdressing kits, uniforms, books or trips. Your bursary will be paid directly to you, and you will be required to pay the difference. This is not available to students on the second year of a two-year course unless essential course costs are specified for the second year. Course costs are not normally paid until you have started the course.

No, a bursary does not continue automatically. Students need to reapply each year. Normally the bursary portal for the next academic year opens in June and continuing learners are advised to apply early in order to ensure payments are made before the start of the new academic year.

Depending on your personal circumstances, you will be required to provide evidence accordingly. When completing your application, it is important that you tick all boxes that are relevant to your financial situation as this will prompt you to upload the relevant evidence.

Examples of evidence you may be prompted to provide, but is not limited to:

• your last three Universal Credit statements. We need to see the whole statements for the last three months, down to where they say ‘if your circumstances change…’
• a letter of proof to say you received Free School Meals stating your full name and date of birth. This can be obtained from your previous school or local authority
• a letter from the Home Office if you are an Asylum Seeker. If you are in Care/Care Leaver who is seeking asylum you will also need to show evidence of a letter from the local authority or a social worker.
• the three most recent wage slips for every employed member of the household aged 18+.
• all pages of your Tax Credit letter.
• a benefit letter dated within the last three months, including your parent/guardian’s or your name and address. These could be letters for benefits such as Income Support Allowance, Employment Support Allowance and Job Seeker’s Allowance.
• self-assessment tax calculation or certified accounts for those who are self-employed.
• a Pension statement, showing all pages.

We would need to see your last three Universal Credit payments. If you have a recent claim and are unable to provide 3 statements, then we will accept less.

We need you to click into each month payment on your Universal Credit account and send us a full statement from each month. You can generally do this by clicking the ‘print’ button and selecting ‘print to pdf’ under the printer option. This allows you to save them to your documents to attach to your application.

No, unfortunately not. The bursary application requires you to submit evidence before we can process your application. If you do not submit the correct evidence at the time of the application, this will delay your application being processed as the Bursary team will contact you to provide the correct evidence.

We recommend opening a bank account in your own name in preparation for a bursary, as well as any future endeavours, but you can still apply for a bursary as normal. You will however be required to have a bank account in your own name before any direct awards can be made to you.

A bursary tends to stay the same unless your course costs change. If you are in college for fewer or more days, you will need to contact the Bursary team so that they can change your funding accordingly.

It is important to apply as soon as possible to guarantee a prompt first payment before your course starts. If you apply during mid-August onwards, your first payment will be paid as soon as possible, but this may not be before your course start date. If you are eligible for monthly travel payments, this is normally paid on the first Friday of a calendar month, dependent on you meeting attendance requirements.

In order to receive support with travel payments, you must live more than 3 miles walking distance away from college. The travel bursary does not cover all the costs of your travel but provides support towards the cost of travel.

If you are studying a T Level course and require support to get to placement, please contact the Student Services team to see what support is available.

Yes, you can still apply for a bursary. We will need to see an approved learner loan letter from Student Finance England as evidence before any awards will be made to you.

No, we will only need to see a document confirming that you are in care/a care leaver. It can be in the form of an official letter from your local authority, or a letter from your social worker confirming you are in care / care leaver. We still need you to apply for the bursary, but this would be the only evidence that we require from you.

If you are in receipt of Universal Credit and are either living independently and/or support a child, you will qualify for the vulnerable learner bursary. You will be asked to provide documentation to evidence your circumstances in addition to evidence of Universal Credit e.g. tenancy agreement, child benefit letter etc.

Students who are aged 19 and over are required to provide evidence of income even if they are a Care leaver. If you are in receipt of Universal Credit, this is normally your 3 most recent Universal Credit statements. If you are on a waged income, this would be your 3 most recent payslips. If you still receive support from the local authority, e.g. have an assigned Personal Adviser, please do share their details with us.

The Childcare bursary does not provide full cost of childcare, it is a contribution towards this, and you will have to pay the remaining balance to your Childcare Provider.

On your application, select the option asking for assistance with childcare fees. You will need to fill out the childcare provider form which can be found on our financial page on the website at the bottom under Downloads. This needs to be with an Ofsted registered provider.

You MUST use your free government hours before claiming funding for childcare. Our funding will work as a ‘top up’ for these hours. We can only provide support towards the days that you are timetabled to attend College.

If you are a parent aged 16-19, you can apply to the Care to Learn scheme by completing an additional form on our student bursary portal. If eligible, you can receive a maximum of £180 towards the cost of your childcare and travel costs whilst you study. This needs to be with an Ofsted registered provider.

Each month varies in length, according to the academic calendar and dependant on your timetable in college. Because of this, your first payment may be more or less than your second payment etc. Attendance must be 90% or above to ensure bursary payments are made every month.

If you have been awarded meals bursary then you will be entitled to £5.50 each day you attend College. If you are on placement, the meals bursary amount can be paid into your account during this period. Please contact the bursary team to let them know when you are on placement so these payments can be made.

Alternatively, please contact your campus Student Services team who will be able to give you more information.

Due to the high volume of applications we receive, please allow for 35 working days for your application to be processed. If you have missing evidence, this will delay your application and funding. We will only begin to assess your application once the complete form and correct evidence is received.

You will receive an award email to the email address you provided on your enrolment form.

Please ensure that you provide us with the correct email address at enrolment so that we are able to communicate with you.

Applications take up to 35 working days to be processed once we have all the correct evidence.

If it has passed 35 working days and you have not received any confirmation, please email the Bursary Team at bursaries@bedford.ac.uk and request an update on your application.