16-19 bursary fund
The 16-19 Bursary Fund is a new scheme intended to help the most vulnerable 16-19 year olds in full-time education. The scheme is made up of two parts: a payment of £1,200 to the most vulnerable young people; and a discretionary fund. Funding allocations have been made directly to providers or to the local authority.
2011/12 : Payment of additional funding
As you will be aware, providers and local authorities have submitted data about the number of students enrolled with them (and those providers listed on local authorities’ Annex C) who are in one of the defined vulnerable groups (young people in care, care leavers, in receipt of Income Support, in receipt of both Disability Living Allowance and Employment Support Allowance). This information has been collected via an online portal and providers were asked to submit this data by 31st October 2011.
The YPLA has guaranteed to release additional funding to ensure that all learning providers have sufficient funds to make £1,200 bursary payments to students in the defined vulnerable groups. On top of this, we are ensuring that providers have some funds to enable them to make discretionary bursaries.
We have reviewed the data on this basis in order to determine which providers require additional funding from the contingency fund. On top of this we are ensuring that providers have some funds to enable them to make discretionary bursaries.
As the 2011/12 academic year progresses, should you find you have insufficient funding to enable you to pay the £1,200 bursary to students in the defined vulnerable groups, you can request further additional funding by sending an email to 1619bursaryfund@ypla.gov.uk.
If you have any questions about any other aspect of the 16-19 Bursary Fund, please email us at 1619bursaryfund@ypla.gov.uk.
End of Year MI Return
Providers will be asked to submit a Management Information return about 16-19 Bursary Fund activity at the end of the 2011/12 academic year. This will be collected throught the YPLA's IM Portal during October 2012. The IM Portal is used across the YPLA and is our main route of secure communication with providers.
Full details of the information that will be collected is published in our Q&A document.
The end of year MI collection enables providers to submit data about the numbers of students supported by the Bursary Fund over the full academic year, including discretionary bursaries.
The information collected via the end of year MI return will also be used to inform future years' allocations of the Bursary Fund.
If you have any questions about the Bursary Fund, please email us at 1619bursaryfund@ypla.gov.uk.
Independent Provision
We have written to local authorities and independent schools to let them know that young people attending independent provision will not normally be eligible for support from the Bursary Fund. A Bursary Fund allocation has not been made to the majority of independent schools.
However, where a young person aged 16-19 has been referred to independent provision and where that individual’s provision is being funded by the local authority, the young person may be eligible to apply for support from the 16-19 Bursary Fund.
In these instances we would expect the young person, or his or her parents/carers, to apply for support from the 16-19 Bursary Fund through the young person’s home local authority. Young people who are in one of the defined vulnerable groups and eligible for a £1,200 bursary, will receive this payment. Others may be awarded a bursary at the discretion of the relevant local authority, which will take into account any other support the young person is receiving.
A copy of the letter to local authorities is available from the link below.
16-19 Bursary Fund Allocations
YPLA Chief Executive Peter Lauener wrote to all local authorities asking them to play a key role in the distribution of the new 16-19 Bursary Fund and to all general further education colleges, sixth form colleges, school sixth forms, academies and training providers informing them of their 16-19 Bursary Fund allocation.
Below are links to a copy of each letter and the guide giving details about the administration of the funding.
There will also be transitional arrangements to help those who are part-way through their studies, who were previously receiving EMA. You can find more information about the transitional payments on the EMA website, or by calling the Learner Support helpline on 0845 600 7979.
Resources
Details about the administration of the funding is set out in the Guide.
Q&A documents to be used for queries from young people and parents, and providers are available from the links below.
The Department for Education has produced a factsheet, leaflet and posters outlining what the bursary is and how Young People can find out more. You can download a copy of these from the Department for Education website, from the link below.
The Association of Colleges (AoC) has published a document giving advice on the administration of the 16-19 Bursary Fund. This document is available to download from the AoC website.
How to find out more
If you have any queries on the Bursary funds, please email 1619BursaryFund@ypla.gov.uk.
If you are a student, or the parent/carer of a student and want to know more about the 16-19 Bursary Fund, further information is available at direct.gov.uk. As the funds are administered directly by learning providers, any questions about individual eligibility should be directed to the provider.
