There are supplementary grants to help with living costs. The extra support you can get depends on your personal circumstances. You do not have to pay back the supplementary grants unless you lose your entitlement to them. If your course requires you to undertake a period of paid placement, you will not be able to claim supplementary grants during this time.
The following information is available on supplementary grants. The links will take you to the relevant section of the page.
- Dependants' Grant
- Lone Parents' Grant
- Additional Childcare Grant for Lone Parents'
- Advance payment of grants
- Care Leavers Grant
Dependants' Grant
You can claim this income-assessed grant for your husband, wife, civil partner or partner. You cannot claim this grant for another student. If your husband, wife, civil partner or partner has any income, this may affect your entitlement. We will pay up to £2,640 to cover the full 52 weeks from the first day of the academic year of your course.
We will take account of any income your husband, wife, civil partner or partner receives during the year. However, we will allow £1,160 against any income they have. The grant you are entitled to is the total of the Dependants' Grant less what is left of your husband's, wife's, civil partner's or partner's income after we have deducted the £1,160. If the income after £1,160 has been deducted is more than the total amount of Dependants' Grant, you will not receive a Dependants' Grant.
We pay the Dependants' Grant provisionally and we will assess your entitlement to the Dependants' Grant again when we receive confirmation at the end of the academic year of the actual income that your husband, wife, civil partner or partner has received. If we reduce the Dependants' Grant after receiving this information, we will ask you to repay whatever you have received over your entitlement.
We will not pay Dependants' Grant for children but you could be entitled to more money through the tax credits. Anyone who is responsible for at least one child, whether or not they are in paid work, can apply for the Child Tax Credit. The Child Tax Credit will also passport free school meals, provided by your Local Education Authority.
You should contact HM Revenue and Customs on 0845 300 3900 to find out if you are eligible for the Child Tax Credit.
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Lone Parents' Grant
You can claim for this income-assessed grant if you are single, widowed, divorced, separated or your civil partnership has dissolved, and you are bringing up children on your own. The Lone Parents' Grant covers 52 weeks of the year from the first day of the academic year of your course.
If you have at least one dependent child, extra support is available either as an extra grant of £1,305 or through us giving you more allowances against your income.
We will pay this grant in instalments at the start of each term or semester.
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Additional Childcare Grant for Lone Parents'
This is an extra grant for students who are receiving the Lone Parents' Grant.
If you have to pay all or part of the cost for registered or formal childcare, you can receive up to £1,215 a year, depending on the cost of childcare. 'Formal' childcare includes childminders, after-school clubs and providers of day-care and education. If you are getting your full childcare costs paid from other sources (for example, your institution) you should not apply for this grant.
You should always contact us first for help with your childcare costs before you ask for help from any other source.
You should tell us when you fill in your application form if you think you may be entitled to this support. We will send you another form to ask for details about your childcare provider and confirmation of the amounts you will pay.
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Advance payment of the Dependants' Grant and the Lone Parents' Grant
These grants cover a period of 52 weeks from the first day of the academic year of your course (this will be 1 August 2009 if your course starts in the autumn). We usually make the first payment at the start of your course, but if this arrangement would cause hardship, please contact us and ask us to pay part of your grant early to cover the period from the first day of your academic year until the start of your course. If you receive an advance payment because of hardship but then do not start your course, you will have to repay the amount you have received.
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Care Leavers Grant
We can pay a grant of up to £105 a week to help you with accommodation costs in the long holiday if you were previously in care. It is paid straight from us to your landlord.
If you were in care on your 16th birthday or afterwards for at least three months and you are under 21 at the start of your course, or were in care when you finished your compulsory schooling, you may be eligible for this grant. You should tell us when you apply if you think you may be entitled to this support. We will send you a form to ask for more details.