New Bursary replacing EMA

kathyb1tch

Hi, i am just wondering if anyone has children just started 6th form, or college trying to claim the new bursary that has replaced EMA. This is supposed to help 'the most needy' .

lovetowinacar

I understand that there is a new scheme which gives help for

disabled students
students in care
students who have recently left care
students whose parents receive income support

I also understand that the individuals need to contact the respective college for details

Unfortunately no help for students from low income families that work unless they fit any of the above therefore the vast majority of students will receive no help

Hopefull someone will be along shortly with more in depth info

davefrombristol

Hi, well I am in recept of income support as a carer ( single parent ) woth a disabled daughter just started college. I have had a chat with learner services at the college where she has started and it appears that having filled in the bursary fund form the only thing that I can claim is transport costs ( as we live 10 miles from the college ).

This only amounts to claiming about £2 a day and as it takes months for them to come to a decision and I have already had 2 wasted trips trying to claim it ( wrong form supplied by connections ) and insufficient evidence of income support according to them even though the letter I supplied states my name and comes from the regional Income support office in Plymouth.

I am seriously wandering whether it is worth it ! I also wander what situation a family has be to be to considered to be needy because clearly I don't fall into that bracket.

kathyb1tch

God at least my college has given my daughter a £300 a year hardship burssary, my daughter is on DLA high care, low mobility and due to our circumstances we would be worse off her claiming ESA, if she did claim this she would get the guaranteed £1200 per year bursary. So the way i see it is if you can afford your child to claim ESA and lose their child benefit and any benefits you claim for them then you will get the bursary of £1200 per year, so in effect the better off get the most help!!! I am seeing my local MP next friday to ask if her will raise this question in parliment as i now feel so angry. You have to be in receipt of both DLA and ESA, but if you only recieve the low rate care or just the mobility allowance and claim ESA you get the £1200... this system is seriously flawed and i think we need to do something about it...

kurjam

the college my son goes to any one who claimed ema last year will still get it this year through the college bursary,

but young people who are in care, have recently left care, or who are in receipt of income support or disabled young people in receipt of Employment and Support Allowance who are also in receipt of Disability Living Allowance will be eligible for a bursary of at least £1,200 per year (for a course of over 30 weeks)

Wicked_witch

Just to clarify, it is for students who receive income support, right? Rather than those whose parents do?

kathyb1tch

yep, it is for young people claiming an eligible benefit in their own right.

Wicked_witch

Cheers, i thought it was but wondered if i was wrong after lovetowinacar's reply.

ETA: The new bursary seems to be aimed at students who are independant from their family (as my foster daughter was for a while) rather than at family units. Presumably that's why your daughter isn't eligible. Not suggesting that is acceptable, but it may well be the reasoning.

kathyb1tch

But if you are able to afford your child going on ESA as well as DLA they WILL get the guaranteed bursary, thats where I have a HUGE problem. If you can afford to lose the child benefit and other related benefits why should you then get the guaranteed bursary that was promised to students 'most in need' .....

davefrombristol

Hi Kathy - I am in the same boat as you - Daughter on middle rate DLA and the college told her that if she claims ESA then she would be entitled to the £1200 bursary - Over the course of the year that is £24 a week I believe.

So immediately I will lose the Child Benefit at £20 a week as starters for 10 - I get the Child disability Element in CTC which would be lost at roughly £50 a week and god knows what else. When I filled in the form it asks about Income support but that is a Q for the child in receipt of IS not the family. Be honest how many 16 yr olds are in receipt of IS - the government have been actively discouraging youngsters 16-18 from claiming JSA/IS.

So when this government abolished EMA last January and introduced in March this year a new scheme called the Bursary Fund and stated that the those students starting college this september that were from poor families would be able to qualify - this was a complete con and lie.

This government knew that they could come out with a blanket statement showing that they would still be supporting families of students from poorer backgrounds, but in reality they also knew that to qualify it would mean that 99% would take a financial hit and it would be ludicrous to claim ESA to go £24 better off and then - £70-£100 worse off - obviously this is one area they decided to hit to claw back money.

I will be contacting my local MP and complaining as I am also really angry at this blatent con - talk about caring for the less well off! this government couldn't give a monkeys about us.

sunnyone

If your child gets mid rate DLA care you get £130 per week in CB (£20 and pennies), CTC (£59 made up to £60 with the remaining CB pennies) and the disability element of tax credits of roughly £50 (from davefrombristiols post) per week so why do you need a bursary on top of that for them?

You then get their DLA ontop (nearly £70 for MRC/LM) and in most cases one parent claims carers for them so can often get IS (which davefrombristol gets, though he hasnt said under which catagory but the other main catagory of IS claimant is lone parents and lone parents of kids his daughter age cant get IS for them unless you have other kids under 5) which passports the family into full LHA/HB/CTB, so one disabled child can be the sole sorce of family income and its an inconsiderable income at that when you add it all together so they are not as low income as many other families.

kids dont cost £130 per week, I know I have my own.