Bursaries

Adult Education Bursary

Generally, to be eligible for consideration for this bursary you must meet the following conditions:

• You must be resident in England or Wales
• You must be at least 19 years old before the September of the academic year in which your course starts

You must have been offered a full time place at Ruskin College on one of the following courses:

• Certificate of Higher Education in Women’s Studies
  Certificate of Higher Education in Combined Studies
• Certificate of Higher Education in Law
• Year one of the BA (Hons) English Studies: Creative Writing and Critical Practice
• Year one of the BA (Hons) Social Science: Sociology, Politics and Economics
• Year one of the BA (Hons) International Labour and Trade Union Studies
  Year one of the BA (Hons) History with Social Sciences

If your course of study is eligible for an Adult Education Bursary you will be sent the relevant application form with your conditional offer letter, along with a guide on the Adult Education Bursary. This guide informs you in-depth of all the relevant criteria.

There are additional rules concerning residence which can be complicated. If you need help to decide whether you are eligible for a bursary please contact the Awards Officer (01865 556360, cfrancis@ruskin.ac.uk).

If you have previously attended a course of higher education at a college within the UK and if you had public funds for this, or the college where you studied was publicly funded, you may not be eligible for an Adult Education Bursary, but this will depend on how long you attended the course.

The rules are complicated and if you have already attended a course of higher education and are unsure of your position please contact the Awards Officer (01865 556360, cfrancis@ruskin.ac.uk) for advice.

If you have previously held an Adult Education Bursary you will not normally be eligible for a further.

How do you apply for an Adult Education Bursary?

You can only apply for an Adult Education Bursary once you have been offered a full time place on one of the courses listed above.

You will be sent an application form and an Adult Education Bursary Guide with your offer letter. You should complete this application form and return it to the Admissions Officer, Ruskin College, Walton Street, Oxford OX1 2HE for certification.

If your application is approved, the Awards Officer will write to you confirming this and will send you a further form, called a ‘Statement of Financial Circumstances’. This form enables the Awards Officer to assess how much grant you are entitled to.

When your grant has been assessed, you will be sent a ‘Notification of Bursary’ showing how much you have been awarded and the instalments in which it will be paid. All students will be asked to provide their original birth certificate or a valid passport.

Sometimes the Awards Officer will need to ask you for some further information to decide whether you are eligible for a bursary, and will write to you if this is necessary.

If for any reason your application is not successful the Awards Officer will write to you and explain the reason.

What does the bursary cover?

An Adult Education Bursary includes the following:

• A personal Maintenance Grant and certain additional allowances where applicable (for example: Child Care Grant, Parent's Learning Allowance, Adult Dependant's Grant, Disabled Student's Allowance)
• In most cases, approved travelling expenses in excess of £80 a year
• Tuition and other fees (for example, examination fees)

How is the bursary paid?

Tuition and other approved fees are paid directly to Ruskin College on your behalf.

The Maintenance Grant is paid to the College at the start of each term, and the term’s instalment will then be paid by the College to each bursary-holder (minus residence and catering costs if you are living at the College).

Will receiving an Adult Education Bursary affect any benefits I receive?

Although most full-time students are not entitled to social security benefits, certain students in vulnerable groups (including single parents and disabled students) may be eligible for social security benefits including Housing Benefit. Your entitlement to benefits will be affected if you become a full-time student and receive a bursary.

You should ask your Jobcentre Plus and Housing Benefits Office for advice on how this may affect your benefits as early as possible if you are considering full-time study.

The National Union of Students produces a series of information sheets on student finance. You can get more information from the NUS website (www.nusonline.co.uk) or contact NUS, 2nd Floor, Centro 3, Mandela Street, London NW1 0DU, ring 0871 221 8221 or email nusuk@nus.org.uk

---

General Social Care Council (GSCC) Bursaries

The social work bursary was introduced by the Department of Health as an incentive to train in social work. The bursary package is non-income-assessed. Unlike funding from Student Finance Direct, which is intended to assist with the cost of living, the social-work bursary basic grant can be used towards study-related expenses and / or for any legal purpose you deem appropriate.

These bursaries are available to students who are studying on the BA (Hons) in Social Work at Ruskin College.

Students must be ordinarily resident in England. You can be studying either full or part time. Students must also meet certain other eligibility criteria. For further details on eligibility visit: www.ppa.org.uk

The bursary is non-income-assessed which means that earnings, savings and other sources of income are not taken into consideration. It includes a basic grant, a fixed contribution towards practice learning opportunity expenses, and tuition fees if you are not subject to variable fees. Financial awards are dependent on individual circumstances.

The basic grant for full-time students can be up to £3,075.

The basic grant for part-time students can be up to £1,537.50.

To apply for a GSCC Bursary you need to complete the relevant application form. These can be found at http://www.ppa.org.uk/ppa/appdown.htm This site also gives you details of how the bursary is administered.