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The operating procedure for Bournemouth University's Financial Support Fund in the academic year 2020-21. It covers eligibility criteria for students, the types of awards available, exceptional expenditures, and the assessment process. Students can apply for assistance with essential outgoings, including housing, childcare, medical expenses, and travel costs.
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Owner: Mandi Barron, Director of Student Services Version number: 2. Effective Date: 1 st^ September 20 20 Updated: 31st^ July 2020 Due for review: 1 st^ July 2021
spent in full before the end of the academic year, further applications to the fund may not receive any payments if there are insufficient funds remaining.
2.3 BU allocates an annual budget for distribution through the Fund. The Student Money Advice Team is required to account for the way in which the funds have been administered and distributed each year.
2.4 Eligibility criteria and exclusions for the Fund are subject to annual review.
2.5 BU aims to create a consistent, transparent assessment process in considering applications but it is not possible to provide for every eventuality and BU reserve the right to use discretion to make decisions on complex applications.
2.6 BU use the Department of Work & Pensions (DWP) ‘composite living costs’ (CLC) in reaching a ‘Reasonable Living Costs’ (RLC) calculation which is determined to cover basic costs such as food, household bills, clothes, entertainment etc. This ensures that all applicants to the BU Financial Support Fund are treated fairly regardless of where they study and their individual lifestyle choices. These calculations take account of the different household needs for different groups of students. The RLC are fixed for each academic year and are used in all standard award assessments. The RLC amounts for 2020-21 are listed at Appendix B.
2.7 A proportion of the annual amount within the BU Financial Support Fund for 2019/ and 2020/21 is provided by Santander and it is a requirement that funds attributable to the Santander provision will be allocated to students who meet Widening Participation Criteria. Please see Appendix E for further information.
Who is eligible to apply? Students who are classed as Home students for fee purposes on an eligible HE course as defined at 3.2. This includes: Full Time and Part-time students (studying at least 50 per cent of a full-time equivalent (FTE) course). Any student whose disability (including physical and mental health) prevents them from studying at least 50 per cent of a full time course is eligible to apply to the BU Financial Support Fund provided they are studying for at least 25 per cent (30 credits) FTE. Students who are repeating study on a full time course are classed as full time students
Students on sandwich courses, including any periods of work placement Students who are studying abroad as part of their BU course NHS students eligible to apply for a means tested or non-means-tested bursary Students from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland who are eligible for support from the appropriate devolved administration and are able to otherwise satisfy the eligibility conditions can apply for assistance from the BU Financial Support Fund.
Who is not eligible to apply?
Students who are classed as International, EU, Channel Islands and Isle of Man for fee purposes Students who have interrupted or withdrawn from their studies at BU, are not eligible to apply to or receive funding from the BU Financial Support Fund Students on validated courses
Students applying for assistance from the Fund must be studying on one of the following eligible HE Courses:
First degree such as BA, BSc or Integrated Masters A Diploma of Higher Education (DipHE) A Foundation Degree A postgraduate/doctoral degree such as MA, MBA, MSc, LPC, CPE, GDL, MRES, PGDip, PhD A foundation year which is an integral part of a BU first degree
4.1 The application form to apply for the BU Financial Support Fund is provided online through MyCareerHub. Students must request the link to the application form from AskBU. All applications where possible, should be accompanied with uploads of the relevant evidence required as listed on the application form. If a student is unable to upload the evidence, they can provide this by email to fsf@bournemouth.ac.uk.
4.2 Students can apply for the BU Financial Support Fund until the end of their academic year, as recorded on the student records system. The Student Money Adviser will check the student is enrolled for the current academic year on the Student Record System (SITS). Students who are continuing with their studies and who can evidence that they have dependent children, students who are Care Leavers or estranged from
Evidence of childcare costs Evidence of partner’s income and expenditure Evidence of priority debts and repayment of debts Evidence of other expenditure listed on the application form. This may include exceptional but essential expenditure
5.3 If a student declares, or demonstrates through bank transactions, that there is regular and substantial non-essential spend, Student Money Advisers may refer students to relevant services prior to making an award. Examples of this may be a student with regular gambling activity or excessive spending on entertainment, shopping or other non-essentials. Awards from the BU Financial Support Fund are to assist with essential outgoings, therefore it is important that students seek support with issues leading to excessive non-essential expenditure and evidence may be required that the student has accessed relevant support, prior to an award being made.
There are two types of awards that may be made: a standard or an exceptional award. Students will usually be considered for a standard award unless exceptional circumstances have been outlined on their application form that fall outside of the criteria for a standard award.
For students to be assessed they must have applied for all available funding including means tested student loans, means tested grants, NHS bursaries, Postgraduate Loans, Doctoral Loans, Professional and Career Development Loans as appropriate, before submitting an application to the Fund. Students will be assessed in accordance with the mainstream funding their course is eligible for. For example, some PGDip healthcare courses attract undergraduate funding, therefore the assessment will be carried out using the undergraduate assessment criteria. Students have to demonstrate by submitting bank statements that they have little or no funds remaining.
6.2.1 Standard awards are assessed using the student’s income (see appendix A) and their essential expenditure (see appendix B) as listed and evidenced as part of their application. If applicable the income of a student’s partner and expenditure will also be included as detailed in Appendix B. The period of
assessment is dependent on the course the student is studying as outlined below:
Category Student Group Period and Type of Assessment
Students on a course with standard course dates without dependents
39 Weeks Assessment
Students on a course with standard course dates with dependents or who are unable to work due to ill health
43 Week Assessment (in line with DWP benefit assessments)
C Students on sandwichplacement 39 weeks Assessment
Students on courses studying longer than 45 weeks. Typically healthcare students.*
52 weeks Assessment
E Students on postgraduatecourses 52 Weeks PG Assessment
6.2.2 The period of assessment for an award from the Fund remains the same regardless of the point in the year that the student applies to the fund within the academic year. This also applies to students with dependent children who apply after their academic year has finished. Discretion will be used where it is clear a student’s financial situation has significantly changed within the academic year. It may be required to calculate the award based on the weeks remaining in the academic year since the change in the student’s financial situation. An example of this would be where a student no longer has the financial support of a partner due to separation. Students who apply after their academic year has finished due to ill health or resits, funding will be covered under the Exceptional Awards.
6.2.3 To be able to complete an assessment, it is required to know the student’s income and essential expenditure and this must be evidenced where required. The income and expenditure is calculated into weekly amounts to determine whether a student has a deficit or surplus per week.
Exceptional Award Capped amount
Washing Machine Up to £
Fridge Freezer Up to £
Cooker Up to £
Children's Bed Up to £ Boiler Costs up to £
Essential evidenced Medical/Dental costs where not covered by HC1 Low income scheme
Up to £
New Born Baby start-up costs (cot, bedding, essential items) Up to £
Assistance with eye test/glasses Up to £
Travel assistance/costs in the event of bereavement in the immediate family
Up to £
Occupational Health referral from the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences
Up to £
Help with resit/resubmission costs after academic year (travel/living)
Up to £
Students unable to work due to ill health who apply after their academic year has finished*
Up to £368 (4 weeks composite living costs)
Laptop/computer repairs/replacement for students with caring responsibilities
Up to £
*Students who apply after their academic year has finished, will need to evidence they are unable to work due to ill health. The Student Money Adviser will need to determine whether the student has essential day to day costs to cover (food, medication, bills, phone or other) whilst not working, as most students will have returned home.
6.3.2 Additional essential expenditure, not fully met through statutory grants, may also be considered, for example additional childcare costs not met by the HE Childcare Grant for Full Time HE students.
Childcare should initially be assessed based on the Childcare Grant from SFE or the NHS. This will be anything up to 85% of a student’s actual childcare costs. Therefore by using the childcare grant and dividing this by 85%, will give the amount of childcare we use in our calculation. However, if a student is able to provide evidence either from their childcare provider or through bank statements, where the childcare is higher than the calculation, we will use the actual childcare being paid.
6.3.3 Exceptional awards can be made for students with priority debts, where the consequence of non-payment is significant – for example, court action, removal of property.
Car repairs/replacement car where a car is considered essential – students with dependent children and those courses listed in 3.
Up to £
DSA assistance, EP assessment or equipment/software requirements**
Up to £400 (£200 assessment and £ equipment software Help with house/flat deposits and estate agents fees £250 per year/£350 in London
Assistance for students at risk of withdrawing – up to 4 weeks Composite Living Costs (£ per week for 2020-21)
If the student’s standard award is higher than £3 68 , then only award standard award. If the standard award is less than £3 68 , award £ 368 only.
Undergraduate placement (Level P) students (with or without dependent children)
Up to 40 weeks £1,
Second year undergraduate (Level I/5) without dependent children
Up to 43 weeks £1,
Second year undergraduate (Level I/5) without dependent children
52 weeks £1, 350
First year undergraduate (Level C/4) without dependent children
Up to 43 weeks £ 750
First year undergraduate (Level C/4) without dependent children
52 weeks £1,
Postgraduate and PhD students (with or without dependent children)
Up to 52 weeks £1,
The minimum payment amount will be £100 and the maximum payment amount will be £3,750 as listed above.
For students on part time courses, an award will be made pro-rata based on intensity of study. This will typically be 50% based on BU’s part time courses.
Care Leavers and estranged students will be assessed based on their income needing to stretch over 52 weeks. However, any award will be calculated on course length of 39 weeks.
8.1 Once an award has been assessed, the student will receive confirmation by email of the amount and when the payment will be made to the student by BACS. As part of the application process, the student provides their bank account name, sort code and account number so payment can be made.
The Student Money Advice Team provide details to the BU Finance Department on a weekly basis (typically a Wednesday) of any awards from the Fund that have been approved.
8.2 BU Financial Support Fund Awards are normally made in one single payment. BU does however have the discretion to make the awards in more than one instalment if deemed appropriate.
8.3 Payments can only be made payable to a third party at the student’s request or with their agreement. Making a payment to a third party may be appropriate where it will ensure the funding is used for the purpose it is being provided for, for example to cover rent, where eviction is a possibility. Where the student owes money to BU (Emergency Loan), any Fund award would usually be used to reimburse an outstanding debt. Where the student owes money to BU the debt and/or debt repayments will not be taken into account in making an assessment.
9.1 Students who are dissatisfied with the outcome of their application should first discuss their case with the Student Money Advice Team Leader by replying to the outcome email. If the student believes that they have grounds to appeal, they should follow the Financial Support Appeals Procedure. Students who are thinking about appealing a decision on their application for an award from the BU Financial Support Fund are strongly recommended to seek advice from SUBU Advice.
9.2 Appeals will only be considered when there is evidence that a procedural irregularity has occurred in processing the application or new evidence becomes available that was not available at the time the assessment was completed. Appeals against the University’s judgement of the merit of an applicant against the published criteria will not be accepted.
Partner's Income (and expenditure in full) In full (net) Capital In full Additional Parental/Family Contributions See A
Child Maintenance Support In Full
Local Authority Care Leavers Bursary* No – disregard in full
Student Savings (including inheritance) Funding will be declined where student has sufficient funds to live
The list is not exhaustive if a student is receiving other income which is considered as contributing to their living expenses.
*Care Leavers may be eligible to a non-taxable £2,000 bursary paid by Local Authorities when they enter Higher Education (for both full and part time students). This bursary should be disregarded in BU Financial Support Fund assessments for undergraduate students.
A1.3 Means tested and non means tested benefits In assessing Fund applications it is important to know which benefits to count and which to disregard in the calculations. As a general rule any means-tested benefit (such as Housing Benefit, Tax Credits, Universal Credit or Income–based Jobseeker’s Allowance) for which a student is eligible should be counted in the assessment. Means-tested benefits should be counted in full in the assessment , for both the student and their partner (if applicable). Any non-means-tested benefit the student has is generally disregarded.
A1.31 The relevant tax credit should be included in the income section of a Fund assessment. The majority of students with children should be in receipt of Child Tax Credit or Universal Credit. If they do not appear to be receiving it, they should be advised of the availability of this funding.
A1.32 Pension Credit is a means-tested allowance. There are two parts to it and it is possible to receive one part of Pension Credit or both. There is more information about Pension Credit on the Gov.uk website at https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit.
A1.4 Similarly, as a general rule, BU will include any income from statutory support for which students are eligible, even if they have not included this in their application. BU (with assistance from SUBU Advice if appropriate) will advise students to apply for any statutory support they may be entitled to, in the response to such applications. The Fund is intended to be an additional assistance rather than an alternative.
A1.5 It is expected that a student’s full (less any disregards as per A1.2) student support entitlement will be taken into account together with any additional support, irrespective of whether the student has applied for or received the full entitlement. ALL undergraduate students must be means tested by their relevant authority before their BU Financial Support Fund application can be assessed. * The only exception to undergraduate students being means tested is students who are on a placement year as part of their sandwich degree, as typically these students are non- means tested.
A1.6 Earnings Replacement Benefits Some benefits from both means-tested and non-means-tested groups are known as earnings replacements. These Earnings Replacement Benefits (ERBs) are paid to claimants who do not or cannot earn a full wage. For example, a person who is in receipt of Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) receives this benefit whilst they are trying to find work.
A1.7 These are benefits that may be available to those who are unable to work: Contribution-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Incapacity Benefit (after 28 weeks) and contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) Statutory Maternity Pay Maternity Allowance Statutory Sick Pay Carers Allowance Retirement Pensions Bereavement Benefits
A1.8 For full-time students, income from these non means-tested ERBs should not be counted separately (it can form part of the ‘assumed income’ figure for full-time undergraduates and part of the ‘Minimum Required Provision’ for full-time postgraduates. Income from ERBs should be included in full where it is the income of a full-time student’s partner or the income of a part-time student or their partner.
A1.9 Other non means-tested benefits Entitlement to these benefits usually depends upon the individual’s personal circumstances rather than income levels. For example, if you have an eligible dependent child you will receive Child Benefit.
Disability Living Allowance (DLA) PIP Attendance Allowance (AA) Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit Child Benefit (CB) Guardians Allowance Adoption Allowance
A3.2 Where parents are contributing more than the assessed contribution follow this calculation (parents contribution should be calculated based on assessment period):
Parents contribution - Assessed Contribution = A If A is higher than the assumed income then A - assumed income = B Create new entry 'Additional contribution from parents' and include B Do not remove assessed or assumed income when creating new entry
A4.1 It is expected that students will be able to supplement their income from a variety of routes, for example, part-time work, vacation work, bank overdrafts, savings or additional parental/family support where appropriate.
A4.2 The standard assessment uses an ‘assumed income’ figure to cover these elements of income rather than taking into account the actual income. Actual earnings from part- time work are disregarded to give students the capacity to earn larger sums without affecting their payment from the Fund. This enables them to meet expenditure which is either not covered in the assessment e.g. mobile phone bills, or course costs and other items which exceed the standard/capped amounts used in the assessment. Assumed income rates are set out below.
A4.3 Assumed income rates
The assumed income rates to be used for full time undergraduate students are as follows: Standard Healthcare Courses* Year 1 students £35 a week £17 a week Year 2 students £20 a week £10 a week Final year £0 £ Students with dependent children or unable to work due to ill health/disability
*Students on healthcare courses are recognised as having less availability to work due to commitment to placements throughout each academic year. Based on this, the assumed income is 50% of a standard course.
For students on sandwich placements, use the student’s actual income. Where the placement is unpaid, then the income will be £0.
A4.4 Exceptions to assumed income
The assumed income is not used for students with dependants (even if the student is working) or those unable to work due to ill health/a disability. These two priority groups should have a zero assumed income. Evidence is required for those students who are
unable to work. This would usually be a letter from a medical professional, or can be evidenced through the type of benefit the student may be receiving (for example PIP/ESA/DLA). In addition, BU has the discretion to reduce or remove the assumed income level for students with caring responsibilities. However, other types of benefit income may need to be included for these students relating to their caring responsibilities.
A5.1 For postgraduate students, which includes PhD* students there will be a set income level. This is detailed in the table below. This encompasses any income from the PG Loan/Professional Career Development Loan, NHS Grants, part time work and support from family and friends. There is the expectation that realistic provision has been made to fund both tuition fees and living costs before embarking on the course.
_For PhD students, if a studentship exists where the tuition fee is covered and an income is received, if the income is above the MRP, use the income figure instead._*
MRP Figures: Student
MRP Amount per week
Student living elsewhere £ Student living in London £ Student with dependants* or students who are unable to work due to disability, living elsewhere.
Student with dependants* or students who are unable to work due to disability, living in London.
*who are financially reliant upon the student
Other than the income, postgraduate students will be assessed typically over 52 weeks, using the same assessment criteria as an undergraduate student.
A6.1 Part time students will be assessed using the same assessment criteria as full time students, as their enrolment period will be the same. Although, there will be some difference to the assumed income and how the award is calculated as per below. The period of assessment remains the same regardless of when the student applies during the year. Amounts of awards should not be pro-rated if the student applies in the second or third term.
A6.2 Income
