Parents and carers
Hills Road Sixth Form College is committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming community where all students are enabled to meet their full potential and are respected as individuals.
Parents and carers
Bursary Fund
16-19 Bursary Fund
The Bursary Fund is available to students who may need financial support to enable them to study at the College. Any young person can apply for the Bursary, providing they satisfy the eligibility criteria detailed on this page, which relate to household income. The amount of money available to each eligible young person will depend on each student's individual circumstances and their actual financial needs.
When to make your application
Students enrolling in September must have applied for the Bursary Fund by 30 June so that we can assess your eligibility before you take up your place at Hills Road in September. Bursary Fund payments will only be made to students whose enrolment is confirmed in late August but we try to assess applications in July to help students make informed choices as to where to enrol.
Application forms can be submitted later in the academic year, but there may be delays in processing and confirming eligibility.
The Bursary Fund
The Bursary Fund is made up of two distinct parts. Bursaries for students in defined vulnerable groups and a discretionary bursary. To find out more read the information below.
Students who meet the criteria and who have a financial need, can apply for a bursary for vulnerable groups. The defined groups reflect that these students are unlikely to be receiving financial assistance from parents or carers, so may need a greater level of support to enable them to continue to participate in their education.
Bursary funding criteria
The fund is for young people who are 16 or over, but under 19, on 31 August in the academic year in which they start their programme of study. They must also satisfy one or both of the criteria below.
- In care
- Care leavers
- Receiving Income Support, or Universal Credit in their own right because they are financially supporting themselves or financially supporting themselves and someone who is dependent on them and living with them, such as a child or partner. Students whose parents receive Universal Credit would not qualify under this criteria
- Receiving Disability Living Allowance or Personal Independence Payments in their own right, as well as Employment and Support Allowance or Universal Credit in their own right
Financial support available
Applications from young people in defined vulnerable groups may receive up to £1200 a year, depending on the level of actual financial need they have. Occasionally, a student may meet the eligibility criteria for a bursary for vulnerable groups, but their financial needs may already be met, or they may have no relevant costs. In these circumstances, no bursary will be awarded.
If a student is eligible but only has limited financial needs (eg. for a bus season annual season ticket for £500), only that amount will be awarded.
If a student qualifies for the vulnerable group bursary, but has financial needs higher than £1,200 per year, that student can also be considered for additional discretionary funding from the discretionary bursary.
Making an application
Please select the option that applies to your situation to find out the income and benefit documents you will need to upload.
Important information before you apply
Before starting this form, please do your best to make sure that you have all of the information you need ready to upload. If you are unsure what documents are required, please check the section above or email BursaryFund@hillsroad.ac.uk for help. It’s important to upload complete documents, and if you’re in receipt of Universal Credit, we’ll need 3 recent complete statements. Both parent/carer and student have to sign the form, so please make sure you complete this together.
Once you have started you application, you cannot save the form part-way through.
Please try your best to upload all the relevant information when you apply as we’ll be able to process your application more quickly. If you’ve not uploaded everything, the Bursary Fund will need to contact you requesting the outstanding information, this will delay the process.
At the end of the application form there’s a declaration to sign confirming that all the evidence you’ve provided is correct and complete to the best of your knowledge. Giving false or incomplete information that leads to incorrect/overpayment may result in future payments being stopped, any incorrectly paid funds being recovered, and in the case of fraudulent behaviour, potential referral to the police.
How to apply
Whether you are a current student or holding an offer of a place to join us in September 2024, please submit your application as early as possible. If your application is approved, we will be able to make your payment more quickly once the term begins in September. If your circumstances change, you can apply for the bursary throughout the year, subject to funds being available.
What happens next?
The Bursary team may be in contact shortly after you have submitted your application to discuss the details with you. However, please be mindful that at the start of the academic year, there are usually a significant number of applications to work through, so please be patient at this time. Appeals against unsuccessful applications may be made to the Assistant Principal (Student Support) via BursaryFund@hillsroad.ac.uk within two weeks of the notification being received. Appeals will be settled within two weeks and advised in writing.
More information
Money from the Bursary Fund could be used to support essential expenses or the cost of files/paper printing etc. The fund could also be used for course-related costs which will support post-16 participation, including:
- Specialist materials relating to courses followed e.g. Art/Photography
- Additional course costs e.g. essential educational trips and visits, music tuition, course packs and textbooks (some text books will be available to collect from the library)
- Transport costs
- Essential exam/test expenses required for post-18 progression (e.g. Bio Medical Admission Test BMAT, National Admission Test for Law LNAT, UKCAT, STEP etc.) and College services fee.
- Digital devices required to support in class learning as part of the College’s Bring Your Own Device initiative
We regret that we are unable to provide financial support for college trips which are not essential to the academic programme.
