Financial Assistance

Page updated 5 August 2024
 
16-19 Bursary Fund
 
16- 19 Bursary Fund and Free Meals in Education         2024-2025
 
A Bursary Fund is available to students who may need financial support to enable them to study at the College. Any student enrolled at Woodhouse College can apply for the Bursary, providing they satisfy the eligibility criteria.The 16-19 Bursary Fund provides financial support to help students overcome specific financial barriers to participation, so they can remain in further education.   
Awards will be made based on each student's individual circumstances and their actual financial needs. 
 
Types of Bursaries 
 
There are two types of bursaries available: 
1. Bursaries for students in defined vulnerable groups – The defined groups reflect students who are unlikely to be receiving financial assistance from parents or carers, so may need a greater level of support to enable them to continue to participate in their education. 
 
2. Discretionary bursaries – Students who are not eligible for the vulnerable group bursary and can apply for the College’s discretionary bursary. This bursary helps lower income students who might otherwise not stay in education without financial help.  Most applications will fit into this bursary category. 

If your household income is below £28,000 per year (gross), you may well be eligible for a bursary. 

A bursary can cover a range of needs and resources such as: 
• Travel 
•     Meals
•    Essential educational trips / activities linked to any of the A Level courses studying
• Student learning resources
•    Support with travel to universities for open days
• Essential equipment such as a scientific calculator, laptop loan 
 
These are just a few examples where the bursary can assist with a student's participation in education.

The amount of financial support will depend on the money available to the College and the number of students applying.  
 
Please click here for our current guidelines which provides further details about student eligibility, how and when to apply and the costs that can be supported. 
 
Free Meals in Education
 
The College receives funding to provide a free meal to all eligible students for each day the student attends their study programme in College. More information about free meals can be found on the government website    https://www.gov.uk/apply-free-school-meals 
 
Free meals are offered to support economically disadvantaged students. The Education and Skills Funding agency defines ‘economically disadvantaged’ as students or parents/carers who are in receipt of, ONE or more of the following benefits:
 
• income Support
• income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• the guaranteed element of Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit (provided you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
• Working Tax Credit run-on - paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
• Universal Credit - if you apply on or after 1 April 2018 your household income must be less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including any benefits you receive)
 
Students already receiving free school meals after 1st April 2018, can continue to be eligible to receive free meals until the end of their education, even if their household earnings rise above the new threshold during this time.
 
Please just let us know on the application form, if you were in receipt of Free School meals during secondary school.
 
If eligible, the Free Meal allowance of £5.00 is added to the students ID card daily in confidence via our canteen system.Students can access this allowance at any time (subject to canteen opening times). Students can of course top up their account with their own funds.
The system will always use the Free Meals allowance before it takes money from their personal top-up.
 
Please apply for either the bursary or / and meals in education online, once you have enrolled at Woodhouse College, and you have your student ID number and student email address. See the guidelines PDF document (link above) that explains the process and how to apply.
 
If you have any queries please contact us by emailing bursary@woodhouse.ac.uk