School Bursary 16-19 year olds

jamesmorgan

My son will be attending sixth form next year. A bursary is available to households with an income of less than £20,817. We have been advised by the school that the calculation of household income includes all benefits. As we have 4 children, we receive around £11K in CTC which takes our £15K household income over the £20K limit so we are not eligible. However, if we only had one child then our total income would be under £20K. This approach seems to penalise families with larger numbers of children. If the policy remains unchanged then our 4th child will be eligible for a bursary, but the first 3 won't be.

I have raised the issue with the school who have discussed it with the board of governors. Their decision is that our claim is rejected as it is against the rules of the scheme. I have read the various guideline documents on the Dept of Education web-site. These advise schools on how to set up these bursary schemes, but they seem to be unclear on the definition of household income (ie whether it should include benefits).

I am looking for guidance from any parents on other school's policies in this area, in particular schools where the definition of household income excludes benefits.

Many thanks

BigAunty

I know this is benefit related but you might increase your responses if you also post on the Marriage/children moneysaving board where there might be some posters with children who hold bursaries.

Benefits are considered income by a wide variety of bodies, you know! This includes student awards when it comes to your eldest going to University and so forth.

If you receive child tax credits, this is an income related (i.e. means tested) benefit, for example, as opposed to something like JSA contributions based (based on paying taxes for the previous 2 tax years).

In summary, you accept the principle of means tested benefits which top up the low income of your family but do not accept this counts as income when it comes to being means tested for another financial award? Meaning you are happy to be means tested in some respects, when it results in getting benefits but not when it stops you getting other types of funding?

anguk

I think most bursaries would include benefits as they form part of the household income. My daughter didn't get a bursary at 6th form she got EMA which was based on total household income including benefits and she's applied for student finance for university in September and again the award is based on total household income including benefits.

You say the policy penalises families with a larger number of children but you also have to remember you gain more tax credits because you have a larger number of children. It's all swings and roundabouts.

Voyager2002

The valid point raised by the OP is that larger families need a higher income than smaller families. Logically, one would expect a means-tested bursary to be paid to families below a particular poverty line but not above it, and while a household income of about 20K may be adequate for a family with one child, it represents poverty for a family with four children.

anguk

Voyager2002 wrote: »

The valid point raised by the OP is that larger families need a higher income than smaller families. Logically, one would expect a means-tested bursary to be paid to families below a particular poverty line but not above it, and while a household income of about 20K may be adequate for a family with one child, it represents poverty for a family with four children.

But would a family with four children only have an income of 20K, surely they'd get tax credits which would make their income higher than that?

jamesmorgan

BigAunty wrote: »

In summary, you accept the principle of means tested benefits which top up the low income of your family but do not accept this counts as income when it comes to being means tested for another financial award? Meaning you are happy to be means tested in some respects, when it results in getting benefits but not when it stops you getting other types of funding?

Thanks for your feedback. This is not quite the issue I have. I can understand the viewpoint that CTC are paid to cover the costs of children (including schooling). As a result, schools could simply decline to pay bursaries to anyone receiving CTC. The issue I have is that if I only have one child I become eligible for a bursary. If I have 2 children, I don't. The additional benefits I receive for the 2nd child should be to support the 2nd child, and not to be used to pay schooling costs for the first child. I do recognise that when resources are tight, there is a general negative outlook on anyone who receives benefits and in particular little sympathy for those with larger families, however, I still feel that any policies made need to at least appear to be fair.

jamesmorgan

anguk wrote: »

I think most bursaries would include benefits as they form part of the household income. My daughter didn't get a bursary at 6th form she got EMA which was based on total household income including benefits and she's applied for student finance for university in September and again the award is based on total household income including benefits.

I think you will find that university bursaries don't include benefits when measuring household income.

anguk

I can understand your point but schools only have a limited amount of money to use for bursaries so the easiest way for them to administer it is by means testing and having an income threshold. However unlike most means tested benefits they don't take into account family size or circumstances.

anguk

jamesmorgan wrote: »

I think you will find that university bursaries don't include benefits when measuring household income.

Really? Our household income is made up totally with benefits and we had to include them when my daughter applied for student loans, grants and bursaries from universities.

dLockers

Why have so many kids if you can't afford them?

jamesmorgan

anguk wrote: »

Really? Our household income is made up totally with benefits and we had to include them when my daughter applied for student loans, grants and bursaries from universities.

Most university bursaries are paid to students who are eligible for the maximum grant (ie whose household income is less than £25K). This is defined as gross income (before tax and NI, but after pension contributions). An additional allowance of £1050 is made for each dependent child. http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/EducationAndLearning/UniversityAndHigherEducation/StudentFinance/Gettingstarted/DG_171579, or in full detail http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2006/119/schedule/4/made

This is the same approach that was used when working out income for the old EMA payments.