This bursary is available to all new and continuing students for the first time in 2010-2011. It is available to independent students studying in Scotland who are eligible to receive their support from us. The amount available will depend on the level of your household income as shown in the table below.
You will be eligible to apply for the Independent Student's Bursary if you meet all of the following conditions:
- You are eligible for help with the full standard rate of your tuition fees (£1,820).
- You are Scottish domiciled and you are studying in Scotland.
- You are taking a full-time course of higher education (HNC, HND, a degree or equivalent course except an AHP course) or you are taking a PGDE course.
- You meet the criteria to be classed as an independent student. However, if you are under 25 on the first day of the first academic year of your course and you have a child dependent on you on the first day of the academic year we are assessing you for support, you will be eligible to apply for the Young Students' Bursary instead.
We pay this bursary instead of part of your loan so it reduces the amount of loan you need to take out. We will pay you the highest amount of £1,000 a year if your household income is £19,310 or less a year. The bursary will go down to £819 a year for a household income of £22,000 and then down to zero for a household income over £34,195 a year. If your household has an income of over £34,195 a year, you will not qualify for an Independent Students’ Bursary and your living-cost support will be entirely through a student loan. The amount of loan available will go down as household income goes up.
If you have received support from UK public funds for a course of higher education before or you have to repeat a year of your course, you may not be eligible for the bursary. Also, if your course requires you to undertake a period of paid placement, you will not be able to claim the Independent Students' Bursary during this time.
Independent Status
We do not expect your parents to contribute towards your Higher Education if you meet at least one of the following conditions.
- You have reached 25 before the start of the academic year we are assessing you for.
- Your parents are no longer alive
- You were married, entered a civil partnership or are living with a partner before the start of the academic year we are assessing you for.
- You have a child dependant on you at the start of the academic year.
- You have supported yourself from earnings or benefits for any three years before the first day of the first academic year of your course. This can include periods when you were:
- receiving benefit as a person looking for employment;
- in training under a government training programme;
- receiving any pension, allowance or other benefit for maternity, sickness or injury;
- receiving an advanced research-level postgraduate award; or
- caring for a dependant who was under 18.
We cannot normally count periods when you were in full-time education towards the period you supported yourself.
Level of Independent Students' Bursary
By taking the level of your household's income and looking across the table below, you should be able to work out how much bursary you will receive.
| Income £ |
Assessed bursary £ |
Income £ |
Assessed bursary £ |
Income £ |
Assessed bursary £ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19,310 | 1,000 | 26,000 | 551 | 33,000 | 80 |
| 20,000 | 954 | 27,000 | 483 | 34,195 | 50 |
| 21,000 | 886 | 28,000 | 416 | 35,000 | 0 |
| 22,000 | 819 | 29,000 | 349 | ||
| 23,000 | 752 | 30,000 | 282 | ||
| 24,000 | 685 | 31,000 | 215 | ||
| 25,000 | 618 | 32,000 | 147 |