Please submit confirmation with your funding application that you have been/are care experienced, e.g. a social worker letter.

“Care experienced” can include care leavers, foster care, residential care, kinship care, compulsory supervision orders etc. Please check with the college if you are not sure.

Applicants do not have to submit proof of parental income but must provide confirmation that they are care experienced and proof of identity such as a birth certificate or passport or driving licence or Young Scot Card.

The Care Experienced rate is £225 a week. In addition, allowances such as travel and course expenses are paid, as applicable. Please either contact Student Services to discuss your circumstances in more detail, or the Student Funding Team studentfunding@edinburghcollege.ac.uk for assistance.

If you have children, you can apply for assistance towards registered childcare costs for the times you attend college. The fund is income assessed and is available for full-time and part-time further education students, and full-time higher education students.

What is the fund for?

Costs for registered childcare provision. This includes costs for:

• Nursery care
• Childminder
• Breakfast clubs and after school care

Please note your childcare provider must be registered with the Care Inspectorate.

Awards will only be made for childcare provision for periods of timetabled classes or periods on mandatory work placement. Periods of self-directed study or self-practice are not included. Awards can also include costs incurred during college holiday periods – these vary from provider to provider.

The childcare fund does not cover:

• Deposits
• Payments for notice periods
• Provision out with college term time
• Periods of self-directed study or self-practice periods are not included
• Nanny services (Medical and disability related exceptions apply, please speak to Student Services)
• Duplicate funding i.e. where funding has been claimed from an alternative source

e.g. Working Tax Credit (Childcare Element), Universal Credit (Childcare element) and Local Council partnership funding.

How does the fund work?

The level of assistance will be based on the amount of the household income. Household income is calculated using the student’s own income for the current tax year plus, if appropriate partner/spouse income for the previous tax year. 

If your net household income is £27,000 or less, you will receive 100% of eligible costs. (Please note, this may not cover the entire fee your Childcare Provider is charging). 

If your net household income is above £27,000 you will be asked to complete an Income and Expenditure form, and the amount awarded towards childcare costs will be based on an affordability test.

If you have care, financial or legal responsibility for an adult dependant, you can apply for a dependant’s allowance of up to £67.55. To be eligible to receive this allowance, you must provide evidence to confirm you have responsibility for an adult dependant, and the adult dependant’s income must be lower than £67.55 per week.

The Student Discretionary Fund can assist students who experience financial difficulty while at college. You can apply to the college for help with a grant, not a loan, towards some of the costs of:

• Travel expenses
• Disability related costs
• Books and equipment
• Living costs
• Accommodation
• Emergency situations

Before applying you should have taken up your maximum entitlement to all other funding, such as bursary, student loan or any other grants. More information on other funding options can be found in the brochure. Students must satisfy residence requirements set out by the Scottish Funding Council to apply to the Discretionary Fund. You must provide evidence to support your application. Student Services staff will let you know what evidence we need from you, as it will differ depending on your reason for applying.

Student Services run virtual drop-ins and face to face drop-ins. You can speak to a Student Advisor about the Discretionary Fund or any other financial issues you are having. All drop-ins are confidential.

Please note that the Discretionary Fund often cannot help to fully cover a student’s expenses while at college, and it is the student’s responsibility to cover any shortfall between income and expenses. Also, the college only receives a limited amount of Discretionary funding and this money may run out at any time.

Students may qualify for an EMA up to the age of 20 for full or part-time study. Please note that students who are 18 or over on the course start date and on a full-time further education course will normally be assessed for Further Education Bursary maintenance allowances rather than an EMA. Students under 18 will normally be considered for an EMA and travel and course expenses from the bursary fund.

Students who qualify for an EMA will receive an allowance of £30 per week. This allowance is means-tested against household income and the following thresholds apply:

Students studying on full-time further education courses can apply to the college for a bursary. Part-time courses are not funded by the College through the bursary fund but application can be made to the discretionary fund for assistance. A bursary award is typically made up of three elements:

Students on full-time further education courses who live out with a reasonable travel distance of their college campus may be eligible for bursary assistance towards accredited halls of residence costs up to £140.13 per week. This allowance is means-tested against parental income.

If you are awarded assistance towards halls of residence costs, you would not be eligible to receive the full bursary maintenance advised above. You will however be considered for a personal allowance of up to £36.70 per week, or EMA of £30.00 per week, depending on your age/circumstances.

If you are 25 years old or above on the start date of the course you will be considered as a self-supporting student. If you are not yet 25 years old on the start date of the course, you may qualify as a self-supporting student if you fulfil one of the following criteria:

• Are married or living in an established relationship for at least 3 months prior to your course start date.
• Have supported yourself from earnings or benefits for any 3 years prior to your course start date (other than periods spent in full-time education).
• Have no living parents.
• Have a child who is dependent on you.
• Are estranged from your parents.

This list is not exhaustive. You will be required to provide relevant supporting evidence.

If you are single, your eligibility will be assessed for a maximum maintenance award of £125.55 per week. Please note, this amount may be reduced based on your own personal income. If you are in receipt of Universal Credit, a maximum of £28 a week maintenance allowance is payable as anything above this amount will be deducted on a pound for pound basis from your Universal Credit claim. If you are receiving other benefits such as Income Support or ESA, we can only pay allowances toward your course and travel expenses.

If you are in receipt of benefits and are not required to be available for work, you may be able to study full-time and continue to receive benefits. For students who are in receipt of Universal Credit, you may be eligible to receive a bursary maintenance payment of £28 per week. Students in receipt of other benefits, such as Income Support or ESA, will not be eligible to receive any bursary maintenance. Please note that PIP is not taken into account in award assessments.

All students entitled to remain on benefits may be eligible for assistance towards travel and course expenses.

Part-time students currently in receipt of JSA may be entitled to continue to receive benefits while studying up to 16 hours per week. You may then be eligible to receive assistance from the discretionary fund towards travel and essential course expenses.

Please contact DWP directly for further information and advice.

Students on benefits may be considered for 

• EMA (up to 20th birthday only
• Students in receipt of Universal Credit may receive a bursary maintenance allowance of up to £28 a week
• Travel expenses
• Study expenses
• Childcare costs (covering timetabled
  classes/placements)

Types of information/documents required when you apply
for funding.

Information required

• Personal details (including nationality)
• Course details
• Bank details
• Education and
• Employment details
• Household income details
• Residency details

Documents required (not exhaustive)

• Proof of identity, e.g. birth certificate or passport
• Proof of UK immigration permission (if applicable), e.g. Biometric Residence Permit
• Complete Tax Credit Award Notice
• Benefit letter detailing benefits received, e.g. Income Support,
  Employment Support Allowance or scans of all the elements of a Universal Credit Award.
• Council Tax Notice

Income from employment will not impact your award. Please note that unearned income is included in the assessment, such as working tax credits, pension income, income from property etc. The first £24.19 of any unearned weekly income will be disregarded when your award is calculated.

Students studying on full-time courses can apply to the bursary fund for assistance with travel and course expenses such as books, equipment, clothing, kit etc. You do not need to be eligible to receive bursary maintenance to apply for assistance with these costs. Eligibility for travel and course expenses will be considered automatically as part of an assessment for bursary maintenance or EMA funding.

Assistance with travel costs can only be considered for students who live out with a 2 mile radius (as the crow flies) of their college campus. The amount awarded is based on the cheapest form of travel, usually a monthly bus pass and is paid fortnightly in arrears.

Young Person’s Free Bus Travel Scheme

Children and young people aged 5-21 years old are entitled to apply for a National Entitlement Card giving them free travel on commercial bus services throughout Scotland. 

You can find out more information about the scheme on the Transport Scotland website, and you can apply for your card either directly through your Local Council, or online at getyournec.scot

Students who are eligible for the Young Person’s Free Bus Travel scheme are expected to apply and have their card before the course starts. Students who qualify for the scheme will not receive the travel element of bursary unless they are unable to travel to college using the bus network. 

If you turn 22 during your course, you will be assessed for the travel element of bursary from your 22^nd birthday.

Travel and course expenses are also subject to mean-testing against parent’s/guardian’s/ partner’s/student’s income. If you are under 18 years old on the start date of your course, you can apply for travel and course expenses without providing income details.