Student Support Services

It is important to manage your finances well whilst at College. To do this, you should ensure that you have access to any financial support that you may be eligible for. College students are able to apply through UCB’s financial support scheme for:

• Help with travel costs
• Help with the costs of Uniform and Equipment
• Free College meals
• Childcare

Please note: All forms of support have specific requirements for eligibility.

Find out more

The DBS comprises of a weekly payment to students from low-income backgrounds to assist with travel costs. In order to qualify, the student must reside in the UK.

There are two main categories:

• Discretionary Bursary - for students aged under 19 (on 1 September 2018), whose gross household income is less than £25,000 per annum. Bursary payments of £20 per week will be made, subject to attendance checks and satisfactory behaviour criteria.
• Mandatory Bursary - for students aged 16-18 who are identified as vulnerable. This can include: children in care, care leavers, and those on income support. Such students will be entitled to a guaranteed bursary of £1,200 per academic year.

The Learner Support Fund is a discretionary fund to assist college (further education) students with course-related costs such as essential uniform, equipment and travel.

The fund is available to students who have a total household income of less than £30,810 per year.

• Uniform and Equipment

First-year college students can apply for essential uniform and equipment costs for the following courses only: chef (professional cookery), bakery, hospitality, hairdressing, beauty, theatrical and media make-up.

A non-refundable contribution of £50 is required before the order can be processed.

• Travel assistance

Students aged 19 and over (on the 1 September 2017) are able to apply for travel assistance which will be supplied as travel vouchers to purchase a bus pass only. Satisfactory attendance of over 80% is required for continued support. Students who are eligible for the Discretionary Bursary Scheme are expected to meet travel costs out of their weekly payment and will therefore not be eligible to receive travel vouchers.

• Travel assistance (outside the Network West Midlands area)

Please contact Student Services to discuss additional support available to you if your home is outside of the Network West Midlands area.

• Free College Meals

University College Birmingham provides free lunch-time meals to all students aged under 19 on the 1st September 2017, in full-time education and are deemed by the Government to be eligible for the scheme. Our aim is to ensure studying at UCB is open to everyone and we want to help our students manage the costs associated with full-time study.

Am I eligible?

You will need to be aged 16, 17 or 18 in a full-time college (further education) course and will need to have applied for our Discretionary Bursary Scheme (DBS).

To be eligible for free meals, the Government has identified students being in receipt of, or having parents who are in receipt of, one or more of the following benefits:

• Income support
• Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• The guarantee element of State Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit (provided they are not entitled to Working Tax Credit) and have an annual gross income of no more than £25,000, as assessed by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs