Important Information

Applicants are required to apply for all statutory benefits before applying for a bursary.

For further information on government benefits you are eligible for, please visit: www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators

Evidence

You can find examples of evidence here: Household Income Evidence Guide (PDF)

The Way We Assess Household Income

• When assessing household income, we will include the income of all adults aged over 18 living in the household.
• If the household receives Universal Credit:
  • We add together the average take-home pay and average amount of Universal Credit (after all deductions).
  • If the Benefits office pays your rent to the landlord, we add the rent awarded to you to the household income.
• Wage slips – we use the take-home pay figure (any deductions that are not statutory will be included as income).
• Tax Credits – we use the total income stated under the heading income, often on page 2 of the award notice.

You will be assessed financially for this award in line with the Free Meals funding rules.

Please complete a Self-Declaration form

• Download the form here
• Print the form and complete it
• Scan or take clear photos of the completed form
• Upload the completed form using the upload field below

Essential equipment and materials for your course are already provided, so bursary funds don’t cover these. You can buy your own, but you’ll need to pay for them yourself.
The bursary can help with the cost of specialist protective clothing and essential UK field trips. If you are awarded a bursary, the faculty will order and pay for the items you need.

Important to note

Funds are limited, and we cannot guarantee that funds will be available later in the year

Next steps

If you have your materials list (essential items that aren't provided by your faculty), or need help paying for UCAS fees, University open events/ interviews, or UK trips, please complete the Course Costs form and upload it below.

If you don’t have this information yet, wait until you do, then email your completed Course Costs form to FEBursaries@activatelearning.ac.uk.

Vunerable Bursary - Who is eligible

Students eligible for this bursary are:

• In care
• A care leaver
• Getting Income Support (IS) or Universal Credit (UC) because they are financially supporting themselves, or supporting themselves and someone who depends on them (for example, a child or partner)
• Getting Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or Personal Independence Payment (PIP) in their own name and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) or UC in their own name

Support Provided

• Financial needs are assessed by a member of the Student Support team.
• Bursary funds are awarded based on the eligibility criteria for each bursary unless Student Support decides there is an exceptional need.
• The maximum vulnerable bursary award is £1,200.

Please note: Students with no financial need because they have no participation costs, or their participation costs have already been covered, will have their application refused.

Care to Learn

Applicants are required to apply for Care to Learn before applying for this bursary.
For further information, please visit www.gov.uk/care-to-learn

Care to Learn

Applicants are required to apply for Care to Learn before applying for this bursary.
For further information, please visit www.gov.uk/care-to-learn

Apply

To apply for the childcare costs bursary, please complete Childcare Provider Form (PDF) and send it to FEBursaries@activatelearning.ac.uk.

Unfortunately, we currently only offer the accommodation bursary for our Landbased courses at Merrist Wood.

The student and parent/carer must sign the form, unless the student is living independently. Any form without signatures will be returned, and your application will be delayed. Please note: we cannot accept a typed signature.

Agreement to the conditions of the award and payments: A copy of the conditions can be found on our website.

Activate Learning may approve this application before you start your course, but funding will only be allocated once your enrolment is completed and you have started your course.

Your attendance will be monitored. If it falls below 90%, or you fail to adhere to the Attendance and Student Behaviour Policies, bursary payments will be withheld. The impact of illness, caring responsibilities, or other exceptional circumstances will be considered.

If payments have not been used to attend college due to absence, future payments may be withheld or reduced until previous funds have been used for their intended purpose.

Travel passes must be returned and payments will be stopped if you have been absent for four consecutive weeks (excluding holidays) or if you complete or withdraw from the course before the end of the academic year. You will be charged for any unreturned travel pass value not returned within three weeks.

You will be required to return money paid to you if it has not been used for the reasons it was awarded or if you receive an overpayment due to not informing us of changes listed below.

If you withdraw from the course, you are required to return your travel pass and any items bought using bursary funds. A stop will be placed on travel smart cards.

It is your responsibility to inform the college about any of the following:

• Change of circumstances which might affect your eligibility for financial support
• Change of address
• Any exceptional circumstances that cause you to be absent from college (e.g. illness, caring responsibilities)
• Change of bank account details
• Changes to your course of study
• Change to your timetable
• Withdrawal from your course

Any award made will be for the 2025–26 academic year only. Financial support in future years may change.

You will also be confirming that the information you have provided is accurate to the best of your knowledge and belief. Any awards made as a result of false or incorrect information may result in the stoppage of future payments and the recovery of previously paid funds. It may also result in a referral to the police, with the possibility of the student and/or their family facing prosecution.

By signing this form, you confirm that you understand and agree to the conditions of the award above and those detailed in each award confirmation email.

If you are not satisfied with how your bursary application has been handled, or if you wish to appeal a decision, please write to the Group Head of Advice and Admissions using the address listed in the ‘How to apply’ section at the end of Section 2.

Data protection

We will use these details to process your bursary application. The Activate Learning Privacy Policy sets out how we will use and look after your data.