Funding & Finance
Tuition fees are charged by universities and colleges to cover key elements of your course and academic life, as well as core services related to students’ wellbeing and experience on campus.
If you are aged 18 or under on the 31st of August of the same year you intend to start your course, you do not have to pay tuition fees subject to residency criteria.
If you are aged 19 years or over on the 31st August of the same year you intend to start your course, whether you have to pay or not depends on criteria such as age, eligibility for discounts, and whether you live in the UK, European Union (EU) or overseas.
Click here to find out if tuition fees apply to you or alternatively, email the enrolment team who will be happy to advise you on whether tuition fees will apply for the course you are looking to study
E: FE-FinanceAndFees@blc.ac.uk
If you are advised by the Fees team that there are no loans, tuition fee remission or discount schemes available – please refer to our 19+ Discretionary Learner Support Fund section below – this is a separate area to Tuition Fees.
Eligibility for the 19+ Discretionary Learner Support Fund will depend on your age, what course you are studying, your household income, your residency criteria, meeting the minimum College standards for behaviour and attendance and having course costs for which you require support.
Course costs can include but are not limited to: Transport, books, equipment, kit, uniform, field trips, childcare for dependents, professional memberships, DBS, meals onsite, UCAS application and tuition fees.
Where possible payments will be made in kind therefore learners may receive no payments directly.
If no course costs can be evidenced, Buxton and Leek College has the right to refuse a Bursary.
A bursary is financial support that will not need to be paid back.
Buxton and Leek College are granted limited funding from the Government each academic year to issue out as Bursaries towards additional course costs that may be a barrier to financially disadvantaged learners.
To help make it simple, we use a universal name for all our Bursaries which is ‘The Financial Support Fund’.
The 16 – 19 Bursary fund is a discretionary and limited source of financial help.
Eligibility for the 16-19 Bursary Fund will depend on your age, what course you are studying, your household income, your residency criteria, meeting the minimum College standards for behaviour and attendance and having course costs for which you require support.
Course costs can include but are not limited to: Transport, books, equipment, kit, uniform, field trips, childcare for dependents, professional memberships, DBS, meals onsite, UCAS application and tuition fees.
Where possible payments will be made in kind therefore learners may receive no payments directly.
If no course costs can be evidenced, Buxton and Leek College has the right to refuse a Bursary.
TO BE ELIGIBLE TO APPLY FOR THE FUND (IN ACADEMIC YEAR 2022/23), STUDENTS MUST:
- be enrolled on a Government funded course of further education at the College
- be aged 16-19 on 31 August 2022
- be aged 19-25 and in receipt of an EHCP
- be aged 19 and continuing on a study programme they began aged 16-18
- Be a British Citizen or meet the residency criteria set out by the Government
- Meet the household income of £40,000.00 or less per annum
Bursary payments issued will be dependent on 85% attendance and behaviour monitoring.
Students on apprenticeship programmes, or any waged training, are unfortunately not eligible for the 16 – 19 Bursary Fund, please click here to find out what funding may be available to you if you are looking at or doing an apprenticeship.
WHAT ADDITIONAL COURSE COSTS CAN I APPLY FOR?
For learners with a household income of less than £28,000.00 per annum, you may be entitled to support with:
- Bus Pass
- External Travel (beyond 1 mile from campus – receipts must be included)
- Books / equipment
- Kit
- Uniform
- Essential field trips
- Other extras i.e. DBS Check, UCAS application
For learners with a household income between £28,000.01 and £35,000.00 per annum you may be entitled to support with the following:
- Bus Pass
- External Travel (beyond 1 mile from campus – receipts must be included)
If we have funds remaining after each term – the Household Income threshold will be reviewed and may be increased. Notification to cover
Students that are most in need and unlikely to be receiving financial assistance from parents or carers may be eligible to receive a bursary of up-to £1,200 a year depending on financial need.
The defined vulnerable groups are students who are:
aged 16 – 18 years of age and
- 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
Students who meet the criteria of the Vulnerable Bursary will not automatically be entitled to an award, an assessment of their course and financial need will be carried out by the Financial Support Fund Panel and if a financial need can be evidenced, then an award of up-to £1200.00 for the year may be made.
Where no financial need can be evidenced i.e. no course costs – a Bursary may not be awarded.
If you are a College student studying at Buxton and Leek College you may be eligible for Free College Meals. If eligible, an allowance will be provided for the days that you are in college and on placement.
This allowance can be redeemed in the Balcony Cafe at Buxton and the Gallery at Leek.
TO BE ELIGIBLE TO APPLY FOR FREE COLLEGE MEALS, STUDENTS MUST:
- be aged between 16 and 18 years old (as at 31 August 2022)
- be aged between 19 and 25 and in receipt of an Educational Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan)
- be aged 19 and continuing a study programme you began aged 16-18
YOU OR YOUR PARENTS MUST BE IN RECEIPT OF ONE OF THE FOLLOWING BENEFITS:
- 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 Guaranteed element of the 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 Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs
- 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
Eligibility for the 19+ Discretionary Learner Support Fund will depend on your age, what course you are studying, your household income, your residency criteria, meeting the minimum College standards for behaviour and attendance and having course costs for which you require support.
Course costs can include but are not limited to: Transport, books, equipment, kit, uniform, field trips, childcare for dependents, professional memberships, DBS, meals onsite, UCAS application and tuition fees.
Where possible payments will be made in kind therefore learners may receive no payments directly.
If no course costs can be evidenced, Buxton and Leek College has the right to refuse a Bursary.
TO BE ELIGIBLE TO APPLY FOR THE FUND (IN ACADEMIC YEAR 2022/23), STUDENTS MUST:
- be enrolled on a Government funded course of further education at the College
- be aged 19+ on 31 August 2022
- Be a British Citizen or meet the residency criteria set out by the Government
- Be in receipt of tuition fee remission or paying your tuition fees yourself
- Meet the household income of £40,000.00 or less
Bursary payments issued will be dependent on 85% attendance and behaviour monitoring.
Students on apprenticeship programmes, or any waged training, are unfortunately not eligible for the Fund, please click here to find out what funding may be available to you if you are looking at or doing an apprenticeship.
WHAT ADDITIONAL COURSE COSTS CAN I APPLY FOR?
The 19+ Learner Support Fund will help students towards the essential costs of their course including:
- Travel
- Books / equipment
- Professional memberships i.e. AAT
- Kit
- Uniform
- Essential field trips
- Childcare (90% contribution, learners will be expected to pay 10%)
- Other extras i.e. DBS Check
- Tuition Fees (subject to all other avenues being exhausted)
Eligibility for the Advanced Learner Loan Bursary will depend on your age, what course you are studying, your household income, your residency criteria, meeting the minimum College standards for behaviour and attendance and having course costs for which you require support.
Learners who have been advised that they must take out an Advanced Learner Loan to pay for tuition fees will need this approving before they are entitled to a Bursary.
Course costs can include but are not limited to: Transport, books, equipment, kit, uniform, field trips, childcare for dependents, professional memberships, DBS, meals onsite, UCAS application and tuition fees.
Where possible payments will be made in kind therefore learners may receive no payments directly.
If no course costs can be evidenced, Buxton and Leek College has the right to refuse a Bursary.
TO BE ELIGIBLE TO APPLY FOR THE FUND (IN ACADEMIC YEAR 2022/23), STUDENTS MUST:
- be enrolled on a Government funded course of further education at the College
- be aged 19+ on 31 August 2022
- Be a British Citizen or meet the residency criteria set out by the Government
- Successfully be in receipt of an Advanced Learner Loan
- Meet the household income as stated on the funding checker
Bursary payments issued will be dependent on 85% attendance and behaviour monitoring.
Students on apprenticeship programmes, or any waged training, are unfortunately not eligible for the Fund, please click here to find out what funding may be available to you if you are looking at or doing an apprenticeship.
WHAT ADDITIONAL COURSE COSTS CAN I APPLY FOR?
The Advanced Learner Loan Bursary Fund will help students towards the essential costs of their course including:
- Travel
- Books / equipment
- Professional memberships i.e. AAT
- Kit
- Uniform
- Essential field trips
- Childcare (90% contribution, learners will be expected to pay 10%)
- Other extras i.e. DBS Check
If you are 20 years of age or older and need assistance with the cost of childcare you will need to apply for funding through the Financial Support Fund, see the information above.
You can apply before enrolment or during the academic year.
Important Information: The College can only pay a contribution towards the cost of childcare during the weeks and sessions when you are timetabled to be at College and during the College term-time. The College does not pay for Christmas, Easter or Summer Holidays. Costs incurred above the support granted are the responsibility of the parent to fund.
For the points above, the following detail applies:
You must be using an OFSTED registered provider which may be a Nursery, pre-school setting or childminder.
If you need support looking for the right childcare for your son or daughter, we have a list of Registered Childcare Providers
*Please also note 2 – 4 year olds may be entitled to 15/30 hours of free nursery education – this entitlement must be used before making a claim for assistance with childcare
This funding can not be used in conjunction with the childcare funding provided by Universal Credit, further information regarding this can be found here.
Are you a student, parent, carer or even a member of staff and want to know how the Financial Support Fund works?
Download our policy below which will tells you all about the Funds and how we process them as a college.
Financial Support Fund Policy BLC
Should you require support with anything mentioned on these pages, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I offer drop ins and appointments for students across both campuses and work alongside the Learner Journey Team to help ensure funding is not a barrier to participation whilst studying with us.
Name: Eleanor Ives
T: 0800 074 0099 (request a call back)
£1,000 BURSARY FOR YOUR DEGREE AT UNIVERSITY OF DERBY
Buxton & Leek College is part of the University of Derby. Eligible students who choose to continue their studies by moving into higher education at the University of Derby will receive a £1,000.00 Financial Boost (£900 as a cash award plus a £100 study resource card for Blackwell’s Bookshop). For further information on the Buxton and Leek College Bursary and other Financial Support available to University of Derby students click here.
EXTERNAL BURSARIES
- You may also be entitled to claim additional funds from the following Bursaries. Please see their websites for further details.
WELFARE & BENEFITS
Many full-time students are not entitled to claim benefits.
Students who are lone parents or are in receipt of disability benefits however, may be entitled to receive certain benefits as a full-time student.
Please contact Citizens Advice if you would like to discuss your entitlement. Citizens Advice Bureau offer appointments through Student Wellbeing at the Buxton campus throughout term time.
Other useful links
www.hmrc.gov.uk/home – for general information about tax and benefits.
www.entitledto.co.uk – for information on benefits and what you may be entitled to.
www.gov.uk – for guidance on employment, debt, benefits and tax.