16 to 19 Bursary Fund Information for Parents / Carers of St Benedict’s students

St Benedict’s has produced this brief synopsis for the benefit of pupils, parents and carers. If you would like the full Bursary Fund Guide, please follow this link to the Government website: 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/16-to-19-bursary-fund-guide-2024-to-2025-academic-year

The purpose of the 16 to 19 Bursary Fund is to provide financial support to help students overcome specific barriers to participation, so they can remain in education.

There are 2 types of 16 to 19 bursaries:

A Vulnerable Person’s Bursary of up to £1,200 each year, for young people in one of the defined vulnerable groups.

A Discretionary Bursary which institutions award to meet individual needs, for example, to help with the cost of transport, meals, books and equipment.

To be eligible for the Vulnerable Person’s Bursary, students must be in one of the following defined vulnerable groups:

• In care (including a young person placed with a foster carer by the local authority)
• Care leavers
• In receipt of Income Support, or Universal Credit in place of Income Support, in their own right
• In receipt of Employment and Support Allowance or Universal Credit and Disability Living or Personal Independence Payments, in their own right

To be eligible for Discretionary Bursary, the following must apply:

• There must be a total household income of less than £30,000 a year and provide evidence of certain criteria set out on the application form.
• You must be continuing a course you started aged 16 to 18 (known as being a ‘19+ continuer’)
• Or you have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP)

Age:

To be eligible to receive a bursary in the 2024 to 2025 academic year, the student must be aged over 16 and under 19 on 31 August 2024. If a student turns 19 during their programme of study, they can continue to receive the bursary until the end of the academic year in which they turn 19, or to the end of the programme of study, whichever is sooner.

The impact of bursaries on DWP benefits:

We wish to highlight to students and parents that any receipt of the 16 to 19 Bursary Funds will not affect their entitlement to DWP income-related benefits.

Receipt of bursary funding does not affect receipt of other means-tested benefits paid to families, such as IS, Jobseeker’s Allowance, Child Benefit, Working Tax Credit, Housing Benefit or, generally, UC (the UC section of this document contains more detail).

If a student is in receipt of DLA (or PIP) and ESA, parents can no longer receive certain household/family benefits for that child, such as child benefit.

16 to 19 Bursary Fund payments to students are not taken into account, in other words, they are not treated as income, in the calculation of Universal Credit (UC) for students who are claiming UC in their own right, under Reg 68(7) of The Universal Credit Regulations 2013.

In addition, it is only income that is received by the claimant/partner which is considered when determining an award of UC - as provided under section 5 of Welfare Reform Act 2012 - any earnings/income received by a student in further education aged 16 to 19 living with a UC claimant and/or their partner, is ignored.’

For 16 to 24 year olds with an EHC Plan, for UC purposes bursary fund payments will still be disregarded because the 16 to 19 Bursary falls outside the definition of a ‘grant’ under reg 68(7) of The Universal Credit Regulations 2013 by virtue of it being a scheme which is primarily to “enable persons under the age of 21 to complete courses of education or training that are not advanced education".

Bursaries cannot be made as regular payments towards living costs.

St Benedict’s will follow the guidelines of good practice set out by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) to pay in-kind bursaries wherever possible, rather than cash. This helps ensure that the bursaries are spent for the reason it was awarded and helps students to participate. There are restrictions on what in-kind payments can be however, they may include support for travel, vouchers, credits for meals, books and equipment. Again, following ESFA guidelines, St Benedict’s specifies that students must return books and equipment at the end of their study programme, to be used again by other students where appropriate.

If IT equipment is required and the student cannot complete the study programme without it, it can be bought with bursary funds and returned to school at the end of their course.

How to Apply:

St Benedict’s will apply directly for the 16 – 19 Vulnerable Person’s Bursary for our students currently in care, through the Student Bursary Support Service (SBSS), upon receiving the completed application form.

All requests for funding will need to be made by completing the 16-19 Bursary application form provided on the school website.  Please submit the application as soon as possible – the earlier this application is submitted within the academic year, the better.