A bursary is financial support that you can use to support your education while studying at college. Depending upon what level of support you may be eligible for, we may be able to support you with transport, meals, and a weekly payment to cover other educational costs. Bursaries are reviewed each academic year and may change due to college funding.

You can apply for a bursary once you have enrolled at Notre Dame Catholic Sixth Form College. We recommend that you get your information ready in advance so that you can apply as soon as our system is live.

Enrolment dates are 22nd-28th August 2024. Most systems go live in the period up to and including Induction days, once student ID, login, badge and email account records have been generated. This may take a few days from enrolment so please bear with us at this busy time.

Please note:

• You will need to have an electronic copy of your Universal Credit (UC) award or other benefits or proof of your household income e.g. a P60 as part of your application
• If you were in receipt of Free School Meals in secondary school - you will need a letter to stating your eligibility from secondary school or local authority
• You will be able to upload this information onto our PayMyStudent platform shortly after enrolment
• You will find the link to PayMyStudent on our website in the section on financial support for students

If your household circumstances change during the year, then you can still apply to us for bursary or free school meals at any time.

It could take a few days from you submitting your bursary application to your receiving an outcome of your application (particularly at the start of the academic year). However, we will back date any bursary entitlement.

Your award will last for two years provided you circumstances do not change and as long as college funding remains the same. You will however have to submit a new application in your second/third year. We will write to you in the summer term of Year 12 to ask you to re-apply for Year 13. We will assess your application based on need in one of the following categories. Please see below for further information.

This is only available to specific vulnerable students.

What you may receive

Based upon need, you may qualify for travel support, a weekly payment and for free college meals (£5 per day)

Who is eligible?

To qualify, as a student, you must be:

• In care or a care leaver
• Receiving Income Support or Universal Credit (UC) in your own right as a student
• Receiving Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or Personal Independence Payment (PIP) as well as UC or Employment and Support Allowance in your own right as a student
• You will need to upload proof of your benefits, as a student, onto PayMyStudent shortly after enrolment

This is only available if your family are in receipt of one of the qualifying benefits listed below or if you were in receipt of Free School Meals in your High School.

What you may receive

Based upon need, you may qualify for travel costs, textbooks and equipment, trips (not Summer Enhancement Trips) and travel support linked of University Visits. You are also entitled to free college meals (£5 per day).

Who is eligible?

Students or their parents must be in receipt of one of the following benefits to qualify for guaranteed free college meals:

• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseeker's 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 students and parents are not entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190, as assessed by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC))
• Working tax Credit run-on - paid for 4 weeks after someone stops qualifying for Working Tax Credit
• Universal Credit (UC) with net earnings not exceeding the equivalent of £7,400 for each year (after tax and not including any benefits they get)

This is only available if your family has a total household income, of £30,000 or below.

What you may receive

Based upon need, you may qualify for travel costs, textbooks and equipment, trips (not Summer Enhancement Trips) and travel costs linked of University Visits. 

Care to Learn can help you with childcare costs while you study.

Students may be eligible for support for childcare costs through the Care to Learn scheme and could receive funding up to £180 per child per week paid directly to the chosen childcare provider. Students are entitled to help if:

• They are under the age of 20 and have a young child
• Are studying at college
• Have an Ofsted registered child carer

Further information on Care to Learn is available from:
Tel: 0800 121 8989
Website: https://www.gov.uk/care-to-learn 

If you are not in receipt of the Student Bursary, you can apply for some emergency support. College understands that your circumstances may change throughout the year. We do keep a contingency for changes in circumstances and Emergency support. Please note, funds are limited. You can make a request for Emergency Short Term Support and provide details. You will be asked to provide paper evidence of this based on your circumstances.

This is available to all Students who are not currently in receipt of the Student Bursary providing they have an emergency in the short term or a change in circumstances.

Additional Requirements

To apply you must:

• Be enrolled on a full-time programme of study at Notre Dame Catholic Sixth Form College
• Be under 19 years of age on 31st August 
• Satisfy residency criteria
• Have your own current bank account (not savings) to receive any eligible bursary payments

Online applications can be completed through the College website. All required evidence must be uploaded to support your application. Incomplete applications with lack of or incorrect evidence uploads will not be accepted and will result in your application being declined.

Applications will open Enrolment week (usually the last week in August) for all students including those who are NEW to the College for the academic year. Bursary applications can be submitted providing the student is fully enrolled.

Students NEW to College will additionally receive support/information during their tutorials throughout September.

Once your application has been submitted in full, College will assess and look at your evidence. If approved, College will determine the amount of bursary support to be awarded. This will be based on individual need, number of applications and funds available.

When your application has been assessed, you will be advised on the outcome in writing. If approved, details of what support is available will be included in the approval letter.

• No application will be accepted without the correct evidence supplied and the application must be fully completed and signed
• No application will be assessed until the student is fully enrolled at Notre Dame Catholic Sixth Form College
• Students must apply for bursary support each academic year

You will be contacted by email with the outcome of your application and should contact us via email if they have any questions.

In you receive Universal Credit (UC), we will need a copy of your 3 most recent award statements. You can access these using an online service provided by the UK Government.

• Login to the Universal Credit online service here: https://www.universal-credit.service.gov.uk/sign-in
• Under Payments, it shows a list of months and how much you have received. You need to click on the most recent 3 months and show us each of the award statements
• Click on Print This Statement at the top of the Award Statement – From here you should be able to save the file as a PDF
  • Computer: Change the printer to “Save as PDF” You can then save a copy of the document
  • iPhone: On the print preview, swipe on the UC statement out like you are zooming into a picture. The share button should then appear in the top right corner, and you can save to files
  • Android: On the print preview, select the three dots, select printer, and save as PDF. You can then save to files
• If you aren’t able to download the PDF copies, you can also screenshot each page and send those to us

Example -

You must provide all pages of your award document.

Example -

You must provide all pages of your claim document.

Example -

You must provide all pages of your benefit document.

Example -

You must provide all pages of your award document.

Example - 

You must provide all pages of your benefit document.

Example -

Example -

2x Monthly or 4x weekly within the last 3 months

Example -

You must provide a suitable example of your income while self-employed e.g. a Tax Return or Income Statement

Examples -  

You must provide all pages of your benefit document.