Financial Support for College Students

If your household income is below £27,000 or your household is in receipt of the benefits below you may be eligible for financial support:

• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• Tax Credits
• Universal Credit
• Pension Credit

To be eligible students must also be studying on a full time course and be attending a minimum of 2 days per week.

Travel Support

If you are eligible for funding and live in the West Midlands travel area, a minimum of 1.5 miles away we can provide you with a travel pass from NXBus to help support with your travel to and from College.

If you live out of the West Midlands travel area and your household income is below £31,000 we can still support you with travel. Where possible, this will be through a termly travel pass issued by West Midlands Railway. If not, we may be able to support with a monthly travel support payment of up to £100, as a contribution to your travel costs.

Meal Support

If you are not eligible for Free College Meals (please see below), we may also be able to support with the cost of meals with up to £3.50 a day (allowance to be used in our college food outlets and café).

Free College Meals

Free college meals will be offered to learners aged between who meet the below government criteria and are; 16 -18 on the 31st of August at the start of the academic year,
or they are 19+ continuing on a study programme they began aged 16 to 18 (19+ continuers),
or have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).

• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• Support under part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• The guarantee element of State Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit (provided they are not entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190, as assessed by His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC))
• Working Tax Credit run-on – paid for 4 weeks after someone stops qualifying for Working Tax Credit
• Universal Credit with net earnings not exceeding the equivalent of £7,400 pa (after tax and not including any benefits you get)

Free Meal Transitional Protection Arrangements

If you had Free Meals at school or College last academic year, then you can continue to receive these, you will need to provide us with evidence from your previous provider.

Please note you are required to apply for free college meals via the bursary.

16 – 19 Childcare 

Learners aged under 20 on the 31st of August at the start of the academic year who have a child that needs childcare while they attend college can receive assistance through Care to Learn via the Government. For more information on the Government's Care to Learn scheme, click here.

The college is able to offer an additional scheme called the Vulnerable Learner Bursary for those students who meet the specific criteria.

You may be entitled to a bursary of up to £1,200. This is to support with the costs required to attend College such as support with a travel pass, college meals and uniform and equipment costs. The amount awarded is dependent on financial need and looked at on a case-by-case basis.

To be eligible for 16–19 Vulnerable Learner Bursary, you will define as one of the below vulnerable groups:

• you’re in or you recently left local authority care
• you (the student) gets Income Support or Universal Credit because you’re financially supporting yourself 
• you (the student) gets Disability Living Allowance (DLA) in your name and either Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) or Universal Credit 
• you (the student) gets Personal Independence Payment (PIP) in your name and either ESA or Universal Credit.

You will need to provide evidence of your eligibility.

If you are a student aged 19 and up you can access support for travel, childcare and uniform and equipment.

You may be able to access support if your household income is below £31,000 per annum (this is for a household with one or no children, this increases by £1000 for up to a maximum of four children) or you are in receipt of one of the benefits below:

• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• Tax Credits
• Universal Credit
• Pension Credit

We offer a range of support for those eligible including:

Travel Support

If you are eligible for funding and live in the West Midlands travel area, a minimum of 1.5 miles away, we can provide you with a travel pass from NXBus to help support with your travel to and from College.

If you live out of the West Midlands travel area, we can still support you with travel. Where possible this will be through a termly travel pass issued by West Midlands Railway. If not, we may be able to support with a monthly travel support payment of up to £100, as a contribution to your travel costs.

Childcare

Students aged 20 and over are able to apply for help with their childcare costs whilst studying here at UCB. If you are eligible, we can support you with childcare costs of up to £100 a week for a maximum of 2 children.

Funding is limited and allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Students who make a successful application are expected to maintain an excellent attendance record for the duration of their course.

You will need to provide evidence of your eligibility.