16 to 19 education: financial support for students

16 to 19 financial support

This is ainformation high-levelfor institutions. It gives a summary of the financial support studentsyoung agedpeople 16may to 19 might be able to get to help them to take part in education and training.

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16 to 19 Bursary Fund

The 16 to 19 Bursary Fund provides financial support to help students overcome specific barriers to participation so they can remain in education.

InstitutionsThere are 2 types of 16 to 19 bursaries:

• bursaries for defined vulnerable groups

• discretionary bursaries which institutions award using policies they set, in line with national funding rules

Both types of bursary funding are designed to help students overcome the individual financial barriers to participation that they face, and institutions must followensure the rulesfunds setgo outto those who genuinely need them.

Free meals in ourfurther 16education

• provides meals for eligible young people if they or their parent get one of the qualifying benefits

Care to 19Learn

• provides support with the costs of childcare for young parents in education
• helps ensure young people who are parents are not prevented from taking part in education because of childcare costs

Residential Bursary Fund

• funding guidefor .institutions Thedelivering guidespecialist formsprovision
• helps partinstitutions contribute to the costs of institutions’ ESFA fundingaccommodation agreements.
  for students they assess as facing financial barriers to accessing their specialist provision

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Residential authoritiesSupport shouldScheme

• income-assessed readsupport ourto audithelp guide with the costs of accommodation for students who need to move away from home to study because the same or similar substantial level 2 or level 3 qualification within their study programme is not available locally to their home address

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• income-assessed help themwith gaintuition assurancefees thatand living costs at a small number of private dance and drama institutions arein administeringEngland
• this funding ensures that income is not a barrier to the most talented young people accessing this specialist provision

16 to 19 Bursary Fund

The correctly16 to 19 Bursary Fund is to support 16 to 19 year olds who are the most financially disadvantaged and those who most need help with the costs of staying in education.

Students aged over 19 can apply for the discretionary bursary if they have an Education, Health,Health and Care (EHC) plan or are continuing on a course they started aged between 16 and 18 (a ‘19+ continuer’).

Who can apply for a 16 to 19 Bursary Fund?

The 16 to 19 Bursary Fund provides 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:

• bursaries for defined vulnerable groups
• discretionary bursaries which institutions award using policies they set, in line with national funding rules

Both types of bursary funding are designed to help students overcome the individual financial barriers to participation that they face, and institutions must ensure the funds go to those who genuinely need them.

Bursaries for students in defined vulnerable groups

Students who meet the criteria, and who have a financial need, can apply for a bursary for vulnerable groups. TheseThe defined groups reflect that these students 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.

The defined vulnerable groups are students who are:

• in care
• care leavers
• receiving Income Support, or Universal Credit because they are financially supporting themselves or financially supporting themselves and someone who is dependent on them and living with them such as a child or partner
• receiving Disability Living Allowance or Personal Independence Payments in their own right as well as Employment and Support Allowance or Universal Credit in their own right

Institutions do not receive an allocation of funds for bursaries for vulnerable groups. They draw down the funds by submitting a funding claim form through the Student Bursary Support Service (SBSS) portal.

Institutions must verify that studentsyoung people meet the criteria infor fullthe bursary for vulnerable groups and assess how much bursary they need before submitting a funding claim.

Institutions may decide that although a young person may be eligible for a bursary because they are in one or more of the defined vulnerable groups, they do not have aany actual financial need. TheyThis shouldmight thenbe awardbecause eachtheir studentfinancial theneeds amountare ofalready supportmet and/or because they have no relevant costs. Institutions can refuse a student’s application on this basis. Similarly, students should only receive the amount they actually need basedto onparticipate theirand costs,institutions should not aautomatically fixedaward orstudents flat£1,200 rateif they do not need the full amount.

Funding claims for bursaries for vulnerable groups in the 2022 to 2023 academic year will be available online in September 2022 via the SBSS portal.

Discretionary bursary

Institutions make discretionary bursary awards to students to help them overcome individual barriers to participation. This means to help with the cost of travel, to buy essential books, equipment,equipment or specialist clothing (such as protective overalls, for example).

AsInstitutions withdecide thewhich students get a discretionary bursary forand definedhow vulnerablemuch groups,they institutionswill get. However, they should target students who cannot stay in education without financial help for things such as:

• transport
• meals
• books
• equipment

Institutions must base all decisions about which students receive a discretionary bursary and how much bursary they receive on each student’s individual circumstances, and their actual financial need. These will vary from student to student, depending on, for example, their household income, the distance they need to travel to the institution and the requirements of their study programme.

Information for institutions

We have published information to help institutions which includes:

• the 16 to 19 Bursary Fund guide for the 2022 to 2023 academic year. The guide sets out the funding rules for the bursary fund and forms part of institutions’ ESFA funding agreements. Institutions must comply with the rules when setting their discretionary bursary policies, assessing individual student eligibility and need, and making payments
• an audit guide to help local authorities gain assurance that institutions are administering the 16 to 19 Bursary Fund correctly

Free meals in further education

To be eligible for a free meal, students must have enrolled in further education provision funded via ESFA.

Institutionsvia mustESFA. followOnly the ruleseligible setinstitution outtypes listed in ourthe free meals guide receive free meals in further education fundedfunding. Other institutions guide.that Wehave onlyboth pre- and post-16 pupils such as school sixth forms, academies, free schools, non-maintained special schools (NMSS), UTCs and studio schools must provide free school meals in(FSM) furtherto educationall of their eligible pupils. They receive funding to theprovide eligiblebenefits-based institutionFSM typesto listedpupils inwho thisreceive guide.of one of the eligible benefits.

InstitutionsFree shouldmeals targetare freetargeted meals at disadvantaged students. For the purposes of free meals eligibility, the definition of disadvantage is students being in receipt of, or having parents who are in receipt of, one or more of the qualifying benefits listed in the free meals guide.benefits.

A student is only eligible to receive a free meal when they, or a parentparent/guardian or guardian on their behalf, hashave successfully applied to their institution.

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Institutions must provide a free meal to Learn

eligible students for each day that they attend their study programme, where this is appropriate.

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Care coststo ofLearn

Care childcareto forlearn (C2L) helps young parents under the age of 20 to continue inin, and return to education after the birth of a child. It does this by providing funding for childcare whilst the young parent is studying.

The scheme can provide up to a maximum total amount of support of £180£160 per child per week or up to a maximum of £195£175 per child per week in London.

The young parent’s study programme must have some direct public funding.

C2L will only fund childcare provision registered with Ofsted.

Young parents, their education institution and their childcare provider must all meet the eligibility criteria to receive C2L.

Young parents must complete and submit a new C2L application for each academic year. Childcare providers and education institutions also need to provide information for each young parent who applies. Students submit applications online via the Student Bursary Support Service (SBSS) online portal.

Applications for the 2022 to 2023 academic year open from May 2022.

Education institutions, childcare providers and providers of information, advice and guidance can call the SBSS provider helpline: 0330 303 8610.

Find out about call charges.

Information for institutions

• the Care to Learn guide for academic year 2022 to 2023 guide sets out the funding rules for C2L, as well as providing information about the application process and payments
• Student Bursary Support Service provider helpline: 0300 303 8610

Residential support

There are 2 schemes thatcurrently canoffering provide support with accommodation costs for students:

• the Residential Bursary Fund (RBF)(RBF) provides financial help for students attending an institution delivering specialist provisionprovision.
• the Residential Support Scheme (RSS)(RSS) provides financial help for students who need to live away from home to study because the same or similar substantial level 2 or level 3 qualification within their study programme is not available within daily travelling distancedistance.

To be eligible to apply for either scheme in the 20232022 to 20242023 academic year, students must be aged between 16 and 18 on 31 August 2023.2022. Students aged over 19 are eligible to apply if they have an EHCP oran EHCP or are continuing on a course they started aged between 16 and 18 (a ‘19+ continuer’).

Residential Bursary Fund

InstitutionsRBF mustprovides follow the rules set out in our guide. RBF provides:

• financial help towards the costs of accommodation for students attending aone of the designated institutioninstitutions delivering specialist provision. Specialist provision
• is not available locally and/or requires the student to attend at unsociable hours on a regular basis and consequently the student needs to live away from home.

  RBF enables young people to gain a substantial qualification in a specialist subject that they would not be able to get at a non-specialist institutioninstitution. forMostly, examplethis is land-based provision, such as agriculture or animal management

• contributesmanagement. RBF is not designed to enable a student to participate in general further education provision that is widely available or to enable them to participate in additional activity, for example, to take part in a specific sport.

  RBF provides a contribution towards residential costs for those students the institution identifies face the most significant financial barriers to participation

participation. It is not intended to provide support to all students on residentially delivered provision at an institution; or necessarily to cover the full costs for each student.

Institutions decide which students get RBF andget RBF and how much support they receive. Institutions must target funds towards those facing the most significant financial barriers to participation.

Students should contact their institution for more advice and to apply.

Information for institutions

The Residential Bursary Fund guide for 2022 to 2023 guide sets out the funding rules for RBF and forms part of institutions’ ESFA funding agreements. Institutions must comply with the rules, within the context of the RBF policies they set to manage the funds.

Residential Support Scheme (RSS)(RSS)

RSS isRSS is designed for the exceptional situations where the same or similar substantial level 2 or level 3 qualification the student wishes to study cannot be accessed locally. Most students supported by RSS tendby RSS tend to live in rural areas and have limited access to a wide range of 16 to 18 further education provision.

InstitutionsTo mustreceive followRSS, thestudents rules set out in our guide. They must verifymeet theall availability of each student’s substantial level 2 or level 3 qualification with us as part of the applicationeligibility process. Institutions must not make any RSS awards until we have confirmed whether the student is eligible.criteria.

RSS canRSS can provide annual support of up to £3,458 (up to £4,079 in the London area) towards accommodation costs. If the student is eligible, the amount they receive is based on their actual accommodation costs up to the maximum award thresholds.

Young people on apprenticeship programmes, or any education or training where they get a wage, are not eligible to apply for support.

Students should contact their institution for more advice and to apply.

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Verification andof Drama Awards

qualifications

Institutions must followverify the rulesavailability setof outeach instudent’s oursubstantial level 2 or level 3 qualification with us. Institutions must not make any RSS awards until we have confirmed whether the student is eligible.

Information for institutions

The Residential Support Scheme guide for 2022 to 2023. DaDA fundingsets out the funding rules for RSS and forms part of institutions’ ESFA funding agreements.

Dance and Drama Awards

DaDA funding offers income assessed support for tuition fees and living costs at a number of high-qualityhigh quality private dance and drama institutions in England. The intention of DaDA fundingof DaDA funding is to provide a contribution to the costs of participating for talented individuals who want to become professional actors and dancers.

Eligibility

To be eligible to receive DaDA fundingreceive DaDA funding in the 20232022 to 20242023 academic year, students must be aged between 16 and 23 years old at the start of the academic year (for a dance course) and between 18 and 23 years old at the start of the academic year (for an acting course).

Only students enrolled on the Trinity College London (TCL) Level 5 and 6 Professional Diplomas in Dance, Acting and Musical Theatre at one of the institutions that are part of the DaDA schemethe DaDA scheme are eligible to apply for funding.

StudentsThe most important criterion in allocating DaDA funding is for institutions to identify students with the most potential to succeed in the profession based on their talent as judged at audition. Institutions use nationally set household income bands to assess each student’s eligibility and the amount of support.

Information for institutions

• the DaDA scheme guide for the 2022 to 2023 academic year guide sets out the funding rules for DaDA and forms part on institutions’ ESFA funding agreements
• students should contact their DaDA institutiontheir DaDA institution for further advice and information.
  information

Published dataData

C2L is intended to help young parents (those aged under 20) to continue in education after the birth of a child. We provide funding towards childcare whilst the young parent is engaged in a study programme and is not able to provide care for their child. C2L can also help with travel costs involved in taking the child to the childcare provider.

The 16 to 19 Bursary Fund provides financial support to help students overcome specific barriers to participation so they can remain in education. Education institutions receive an allocation to provide discretionary bursary support to students. In addition, students who meet the criteria, and who have a financial need, can apply for a bursary for vulnerable groups.

We have published the aggregate payments made to childcare providers and education institutions infor both C2L and the 16 to 19 Bursary Fund bursary for vulnerable groups.

16 to 19 ESFA payments19 ESFA payments for Care to Learn and Bursary Fund for students in defined vulnerable groups schemes guidance.

Enquiries

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