Money Matters

Financial support for 16-18 year olds

 

South Staffordshire College Bursary Fund

If you are aged 16-19 and about to enrol onto a full-time course in September, you may be eligible for assistance of up to £1,200 from the South Staffordshire College Bursary Fund. The maximum annual allocation of £1,200 will be allocated to learners who:

-       are in receipt of income support (e.g. children in care, care leavers, teenage parents and teenagers living away from their parents);

-       or are in receipt of Employment Support Allowance and Disability Living Allowance.

 

If you do not qualify for the maximum bursary, you may be eligible for support in covering the costs of college materials – e.g. kit and uniforms – and college transport if your household income is below £16,180 (which would have qualified you for free school meals in 2011).

 

The Bursary Fund will be allocated to learners upon receipt of application and necessary proof of eligibility. If you think that you may be eligible for this bursary, please contact us at learnerfinance@southstaffs.ac.uk so that we can guide you on applying straight away.

 

EMA

If you were in full time study in 2009/10 and successfully applied for EMA and are not eligible for the maximum allowance from the South Staffordshire College Bursary Fund, then you may be eligible for up to £20 per week in 2011/12. The YPLA will be writing to those learners who are eligible in summer 2011.

 

Care to Learn

If you are a father, mother or carer for young children, one of the first things you will be considering is finding and funding childcare, whilst you are studying. Not only is funding available to support full-time and part-time learners with the cost of registered childcare and travel expenses, but South Staffordshire College has excellent nurseries at both Tamworth and Cannock Campuses, which operate flexible hours and are very reasonably priced.  

 

 

Financial support for those aged 19 and over

 

Professional Career Development Loan

If you are looking to change career direction, you may need to consider a full time course which stretches over one-two years. This might even be one of the higher education courses that we run in partnership with Staffordshire University. As you may be aware tuition fees are rising, but there is help available. If you want to get onto a full-time course that will help to progress your career, you can apply for a loan of between £300 and £10,000 to spread the cost of course fees and other related course costs.

 

Exemptions from tuition fees

You may be eligible to have your tuition fees fully waived if you receive one of a number of benefits* and are studying on one of the following courses designed to support future employment:

- basic literacy and numeracy for adults of all ages

 

- your first full Level 2 qualification, or Level 1 or entry qualification where you do not already hold a full level 2 qualification

 

- your first full level 3 qualification (if aged19-24)

 

-  an ESOL course.

 

*Benefits which confer eligibility for this help with tuition fees include:

 

- Job Seekers Allowance (contribution or income-based)

- Employment Support Allowance (income-based)

- Working Tax Credits (house hold income must be under £15,276)

- Income Support

- Housing Benefit

- Council Tax Benefit (excludes the 25% single occupancy discount)

 

Please note. If the course you wish to join has ‘SF’ in the title, the course is self-financing. This means that fee remission is not applicable and you will have to pay full fees regardless of your personal circumstances.

 

For all courses, learners over 19+ are responsible for exam fees and the costs of essential materials or kit for their course.