Young people in education
a) 16- and 17-year-olds
- personal allowance - the leaving care service has a duty to provide for the maintenance of young people who are eligible or relevant. This living allowance (of £60) is paid to each young person. This is paid if they are living independently, in supported lodgings, or other accommodation.
- rent - 16- and 17-year-olds who are eligible or relevant are unable to claim benefit until they are 18. Where they have a liability to pay rent, it is the duty of the leaving care service to pay this. Rents vary according to the accommodation and support provided. For young people with specific requirements, the leaving care service may meet additional housing costs post 18 (see appendix 1)
- financial assistance for those in education
The EMA scheme has been replaced by the 16-19 bursary fund. Where this is payable, it is administered via a specific college and covers core equipment and college travel.
Young people in care and care leavers will be eligible to receive a bursary of up to £1200. To be eligible the young person must be aged under 19 on 31 August in the academic year in which they start their programme of study. Where a young person turns 19 during their programme of study, they can continue to be supported until the end of the academic year in which they turn 19, or to the end of the programme of study, whichever is sooner.
Young people must also satisfy the residency criteria:
- must have the legal right to be resident in the UK at the start of their programme
- any person who is appeals rights exhausted will ordinarily be ineligible for funding until their situation has been resolved to the satisfaction of the Home Office, as funding should only be claimed for learners who can complete their programmes
- the person must have been ordinarily resident in the UK for the three years preceding the relevant date (the first day of the first academic year of the course)
- the person must be settled in the UK, this means having either indefinite leave to enter or remain, or having the right of abode in the UK.
b) 18- to 21-years-old
i) further education (non-advanced)
Definition: any course which leads to a qualification below the standard of degree, for example: GCSEs, A’ Levels, NVQ or SVQ level 1, 2 or 3, BTEC National Diploma, National Certificate and 1st Diploma, SCE higher grade or similar and is deemed to be full
- benefits entitlement or living allowance - young people leaving care who remain in further (non-advanced) education and are not living with their parents or anyone acting in place of a parent, are likely to be eligible to claim benefit through Universal Credits when they are 18 and until their 21st Birthday or the end of the course.
- rent or housing benefit - young people who are in further (non-advanced) education and have a liability to pay rent are likely to be eligible for benefit through Universal Credit between the ages of 18 and 21. For young people with specific requirements, the leaving care service may meet additional housing costs post 18 (see appendix 1)
- earnings - for Universal Credit payment single people have a £15 per week earnings disregard. Anything they earn over £15 per week will be deducted from their weekly amount of benefit. For Housing Benefit element if the young person’s income is less than or equal to the applicable amount, they will get all their eligible rent paid for in Housing Benefit. If their income is greater than that, a calculation will be made to determine their entitlement.
c) Advanced education and student finance 21+
- for young people aged 21+ and who, either remain in or return to education and training up to their 25th birthday, it is possible that the leaving care service will provide some financial support.
- any financial support offered to young people in these circumstances will be based on their assessed needs, including the appropriateness of the course, how it will help them to achieve their ambitions, and what other options are available to that young person to help them to attain their long-term goals. Workers should use the application form for support post 21 for education to verify their assessment.
It is the expectation that, where possible, young people find part time work and support themselves, so they are not solely reliant on the leaving care service. Any agreed support details will be recorded in the young person’s pathway plan and agreed with a line manager. Young people from 16 should be actively encouraged to seek out part time work and learn the value of work and money.
Young people aged 21 years and over who continue with further education, may obtain support with course fees, however most will have to apply for an advanced learner loan and associated bursary along with discretionary support from education settings. There are also several charitable trusts and grants that can be accessed through the leaving care worker.
Where all these avenues for the funding of course fees have been explored, the Leaving Care Service may be able to provide some discretionary financial support. This will be based on the assessed needs of the young person, including the appropriateness of the course, how it will help them to achieve their ambitions, and what other options are available to that young person to help them to attain their long-term goals. These details will be recorded in the young person’s Pathway Plan and agreed with a line manager and support the request for funding.
ii) Advanced education
Definition: A Degree, Diploma of Higher Education (DHE), NVQ level 4 or above, BTEC Higher National Certificate (HNC) or Higher National Diploma (HND) or teacher training. Note this list is not exhaustive.
Student loans, grants, bursaries and fees
Lincolnshire County Council children's services expects all care leavers undertaking an advanced course of study to apply for all relevant bursaries, loans and scholarships available. It is essential that the young person identifies themselves as a Care Leaver to the university to ensure that they access the full range of funds that are available to them. An increasing number of higher education institutions are providing increased support to care leavers. In addition most young people leaving care will be able to apply for a non-repayable maintenance grant. The leaving care service will complete a needs assessment taking into account the level of support available to a young person to determine the level of support to be offered.
Where bursaries and scholarships cannot be paid the leaving care service will pay up to £3000 per year towards tuition fees for university, the rest will have to be supported through an appropriate student loan. It is at the discretion of the leaving care service manager if the £3000 is to be used differently in order to enable the young person to access university. The decision and planned use of this money must be recorded in the pathway plan.
Rent
An increasing number of institutions are supporting young care leavers with the costs of accommodation. The care leaver will be supported to ensure that all relevant applications are made for accommodation subsidies.
The leaving care service will provide accommodation via either the staying put service or pay the full cost of accommodation during holiday periods. This is a duty under the Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000, and applies to all holidays within a course but not any time immediately preceding the first term or after the final term of the course as a whole. For those in staying put, a retainer will be paid to the previous foster carers to recognise their commitment to the individual young person.
A payment of no more than £150 per week can be paid to a supported lodgings provider to help pay for the support and care of a young person if they return to their home during holidays.
The young person will be responsible for paying their own term time rent via the loans available. They will not usually be eligible for benefit as a higher education student unless they are a lone parent or have a disability. If there is any doubt regarding eligibility, the young person should be supported by the leaving care worker to establish any entitlement.
Earnings
The young person should participate in part-time work whilst studying at university, as this is a realistic expectation on all young people. Student loans, grants and bursaries are not affected by any earnings.
Bursary
The leaving care service has a duty to provide a bursary to young people at university, as required within The Children Act 1989 (Higher Education Bursary) (England) Regulations 2009.
The total amount of the bursary is £2000 and is to be paid in four instalments of £500, as follows:
- first instalment – to be paid approximately one month before the start of the course, to enable the young person to pay for accommodation fees, deposits and any other pre-course expenses as required.
- second instalment – after successful completion of the first year of the course
- third instalment – after successful completion of the second year of the course
- fourth instalment – one month prior to the completion of the third year of the course.
Living allowance
In addition to the £60 living allowance up to 18 years of age, if the individual is living in London a £30 a week weighting may be given at the corporate parenting manager's discretion. A living allowance of £25 can be paid to those living independently in the community whilst in advance education or university and is only for students who are not living in student halls (for example - private rentals) and this is only during the academic year from September to June and should be set up just before September. The living allowance paid to those living independently whilst at university can be paid over the Easter and Christmas breaks. However, the sum will not be paid during the summer holiday period. This must be applied for via your leaving care worker and agreed with the corporate parenting manager.
iii) post graduate study (for example - masters or PhD)
Some young people may wish to continue onto masters level studies once they finish their first degree. Costs rise considerably with masters level courses although student loans are available for these. As a result all students need to be self funding. If a young person is able to demonstrate that they can be self supporting or they have extra savings to see them through their extra year of studies then the leaving care service will make a proportionate financial contribution for the duration of the course as long as the course is a continuation of the studies previously undertaken.
A financial assessment will be undertaken to establish what level of financial support would be considered reasonable. Any proposed financial support must be agreed with the corporate parenting manager.