Bursary Conditions of Award

All bursaries are awarded at the discretion of the College, in accordance with and subject to the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 2005 and the related Bursary Regulations and, South Lanarkshire College’s Further Education Policy Document.
www.sfc.ac.uk/funding/colleges/collegefundingstreams/student_
support/bursary_funds.aspx

An offer of a bursary is based on the financial information supplied by you and will normally consist of

• Calculation of Allowances - the amount the College has calculated bursary allowances to be. (Maintenance Allowances, Course Expenses and Travel Expenses less any contribution that the students, their parent/guardian or partner may reasonably be expected to make.

• College Expenses (if applicable) - How much is being paid to the College on the students behalf to cover the cost of course materials that the College will provide the students with.

An offer is made to the student subject to certain terms and conditions below.

CONDITIONS

1     The Acceptance Form MUST be returned within 4 weeks of enrolment on the course. In the event of receiving the form after enrolment, it should be returned immediately. Failure to do so within this time scale may result in the offer of award being withdrawn.

2     The Acceptance Form must be signed by the Curriculum Manager and by the student’s parent(s) / guardian / partner where the student is awarded an under 18, parentally-supported bursary, or where their self-supporting bursary has been based on their partner’s income.

3     All students shall regularly attend the course of study in respect of which the bursary is awarded. (At least 90% of planned classroom study in any four-week reporting period *(see Bursary Payment Schedule)

4     Only absences of illness covered by College self-certificate / medical certificate submitted to the College at the time may be set against that 90% requirement. However it should be noted that absences covered by medical certificate will only be acceptable to a maximum of five weeks* during the Academic Session, after which bursary payments will be suspended. 

5     Any student whose accumulated absence exceeds five weeks* during the academic session will have their funding suspended pending further investigation.  *This will be calculated on a ‘pro-rata’ basis for ‘short’ course i.e. January starts, a maximum of three weeks.

6     Bursary payments will be suspended and may be withdrawn without notice where students do not meet the attendance requirement. 

College Self-certificates (available from the Student Advice Centre) must be used

• These will only be acceptable for a period of not more than 5 continuous days in any four-week reporting period and are not intended for ‘periodic’ absence during that period.
• Only one self-certificate will be allowed in any one four-week reporting period (see Bursary Payment Schedule).
• No more than 5 self-certificates will be accepted in any Academic Session (Aug-Jun).
• No more than 3 self-certificates will be accepted for short courses (less than 25 wks).

Bursary payment will be suspended or withheld because of poor attendance. Where attendance is reported to have improved to a satisfactory level the Bursary Officer has the discretion to:

• Restart bursary payment with a deduction of 4 weeks Maintenance and Travel Allowance.
• Consider modification of the deduction where good cause can be shown to justify such consideration. Absence due to the illness of someone other than the student is only acceptable in the under noted circumstances:
  • The illness of a dependant child – unless the Bursary Officer is satisfied that there is good reason, this is only in the case of lone-parents families
  • The illness of a dependant adult – unless the Bursary Officer is satisfied there is good reason, this is only allowed where the student has sole responsibility for the dependant partner/partner/relative and resides in the same household

In both cases, a medical certificate must be submitted. 

In all cases when submitted, the online self-certificate should be completed or the medical certificate must be deposited in the collection box in the Student Advice Centre within 3 college days (Monday - Friday) after the student’s return or, the end of the relevant attendance reporting period.

7     Any holidays taken outwith the notified College holiday periods will result in a recalculation of bursary entitlement, based on a reduced number of course/entitlement weeks.

Students must notify the College Bursary Officer and Course Tutor, in advance, of any holidays during College term-time. Failure to do so may result in a deduction of Bursary for the 4-week period.

8     Students are also expected to maintain satisfactory progress with their studies and be of good conduct. Adverse reports from the academic faculty in respect of either of these may also result in bursary payments being withdrawn.

9     It is the student’s responsibility and/or that of any person to whom payments are made on their behalf to inform the Bursary Section, in writing, immediately of any change of circumstances, i.e. address, financial circumstances, financial circumstances of any person whose income has been assessed in calculating the bursary.

10     It is the student’s responsibility to inform the Bursary Officer, in writing, immediately if it is their intention to withdraw from the course. Any overpayment made due to failure to inform will be recovered.

11     If the College ascertains that the student, their parent(s)/guardian/partner or any other person on the student’s  behalf has provided incorrect financial information, the College may, at its sole discretion reclaim all or part of any award made.

Should any student fail to comply with any of the conditions of award, including attendance, progress and conduct and, in particular, should the student withdraw from or be absent for any reason from the course of study in respect of which the bursary is offered, then the College shall be entitled to:

• (a)  require the student to refund the whole or any part of any maintenance or other course-related allowances already paid to them or to another person on their behalf; and/or

• (b)  require the student to refund all or part of the course-related allowances paid to the College on their behalf

• cancel any future payments due under the bursary; and/or

• cancel the bursary altogether.

Note: in relation to both (a) and (b) above the College will decide how much requires to be repaid, and these amounts will be calculated and invoiced to the student.

Should the College decide to exercise any, or all, of the foregoing options, an account for the sums required to be repaid shall be issued. By the student’s acceptance, they bind and oblige themselves to make immediate payment to the College of said account.