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Fees and Finances

Financial Support for Young People Starting College in September 2012

Fees

If you're starting a course at City and Islington College in September, you may be able to get help to cover some of the costs of coming to college.

There are two types of financial support that are likely to be available from September and depending on your circumstances you may be eligible for a bursary of up to £1,200.00 to cover the costs of travel, course equipment, materials as well as trips and visits. 

To be eligible for financial support you must be aged 18 or under on the 31st August 2012, be enrolled on a course at City and Islington College and you must qualify as a home student.

Mandatory Bursary 

The Mandatory Bursary is available to you if you meet the criteria below and are enrolled on a course lasting 30 weeks or over (Bursary payments for courses running for less than 30 weeks will be reduced pro-rata).

You must also meet one of the following criteria.

  • You are currently in the care of a local authority OR
  • You have recently left the care of a local authority OR
  • You (not another family member) are in receipt of income support OR
  • You are a disabled young person and in receipt of both the Employment Support Allowance (ESA) and the Disability Living Allowance (DLA).

If you are eligible for the mandatory bursary you could receive up to £1,200.00 per year.

Alternative Bursary

If you do not meet the criteria for the Mandatory Bursary but feel that because of your personal circumstances you may struggle with the cost of studying at college there is an alternative bursary available for students from families with low incomes.

The details of the scheme for September 2012 have yet to be confirmed but they are likely to be similar to last year. These bursary funds have been used by students to support the cost of travel and to make direct cash awards of up to £250.00 to individual students to help with the cost of coming to college.

Bursaries are paid direct to you, normally into your bank account, over a number of instalments throughout the year.  The payments are made subject to you continuing to be enrolled at City and Islington College and meeting our standards for attendance, punctuality and behaviour.  Failure to meet these standards could result in your bursary payments being stopped and possibly reclaimed.   

Other Financial Support Available

If you are aged 19 or over on the 31st August 2012 there are a number of other financial support options available to you.  Contact our Student Financial Support team or speak to an advisor in one of our centres for more details.

Your local authority may operate a scheme to support young people in learning.  Contact your local authority for further details of any schemes that you may be eligible for.

A number of charities and other organisations operate financial support schemes to support young people in learning.  For more details, contact our Student Financial Support team within the college or visit www.direct.gov.uk and look under Education and Learning.

Who is a 'Home student'?

To qualify as a Home student you must meet one of the following criteria.

  • Be a resident in the UK for 3 years prior to the start of your course, and a British citizen or with the right of abode in the UK, or
  • be a resident in the European Economic Area (EEA) and/or Switzerland for 3 years before the start of your course, and a national of the EU or EEA, or
  • be the spouse or civil partner of a person with settled status, who has been married and resident in the UK for one year and over.
  • Be a learner with recently settled status: indefinite leave to enter or remain (ILR/ILE), right of abode or British citizenship within the three years prior to the start of the course or
  • be a learner with exceptional leave to enter or to remain (ELE/ELR) or humanitarian protection (HP) or  discretionary leave (DL)