‘London Colleges Framework for the New Bursary Funds’ Kevin Grindley

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Kevin Grindley
Head of Student Services
Waltham Forest College
NAMSS Regional Convenor, London
‘London Colleges Framework for the
New Bursary Funds’
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of Principles
Purpose
The purpose of the bursary is to:
•support and retain students
•promote a positive attitude to learning
•The purpose of the bursary is not to promote individual institutions
Statement of principles
•The bursary is based on attendance and punctuality
•The bursary should be applied fairly and consistently
•The process must be easily understood and accessible to young people
•The process should identify eligible students in a timely fashion
•The scheme should be designed to maximise the amount of the fund available to support
students
•There is a commitment to ensuring bursary funds allocated to Colleges are fully distributed in
order to support as many students as possible
•There is a commitment to moving towards a shared service in the distribution of bursary funds
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Working
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Group Members
Ken Warman – Principal, B6 College (Chair)
Kate Anderson – Regional Director, AoC London
Calista Francis – Vice Principal, B6 College
Lisa Bellis – Student Services Manager, New Vic 6th Form College
Gavin Hughes – Director of Student Services, Uxbridge College
Nick Seward – Director of Student Services, Tower Hamlets College
Yvonne Hayward – Head of Student Services, Westminster Kingsway
College
‘London Colleges’ Framework for
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the
New Bursary Funds’
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Statement of Practice
Attendance
•The bursary should be distributed on a basis of a minimum of 90%
attendance over the period of a term, excluding authorised absence, with
the aim of moving towards 100% attendance
*Colleges may need to take account of individual students’ circumstances
in applying this threshold
Punctuality
•The bursary should be distributed on the basis of a minimum of 90%
punctuality over the period of a term
*Colleges may need to take account of individual students’ circumstances
in applying this threshold
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Frequency of Payments
The recommended payment intervals are:
• Payment 1: the week immediately after October half term
• Payment 2: the week immediately after February half term
• Payment 3: around the May half term
*For Colleges that do not operate half term breaks, the timings will need
to be expressed in terms of numbers of weeks into the respective
autumn, spring and summer terms
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Eligibility and Evidence
• Guaranteed bursary: as per YPLA guidance notes
• Eligible if parental income is below a certain level determined by the
individual colleges; the proposal is that the Free School Meals figure of
£16,190 is the threshold used by London Colleges
• Colleges should operate an initial cut-off date for applications of 23
September 2011 in order to assess the initial demand for funds
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• Colleges should continue to log applications in order to be able to
demonstrate the total level of demands for bursary support from eligible
students
• Colleges to hold off saying exactly how much each eligible student will
receive until they have been able to assess the volume of applications
received
• To present a clearer picture across London Colleges, it is recommended
that each college makes a commitment to provide each eligible student
with a minimum of £200 pa
• The £200 minimum payment comes with a caveat that the actual
amount will depend on the availability of the bursary funds in the
College
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• Colleges are recommended to hold back say 10% of their available
bursary funding for contingency purposes
• Eligibility for the benefit should be based on the most current evidence
of household income, either through benefits in employment
Audit
• As per YPLA Guidelines
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Student Contract
• The application form should constitute a signed contract which states
the standards expected by the College with confirmation of the
legitimacy of the evidence provided for household income
• Eligibility for the bursary should be accompanied by a signed contract
that covers the above
Communicating the message to students
• Colleges are recommended to use all relevant means for
communicating information about the new bursaries
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Thankyou………
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