Postgraduate Care Leaver Bursary Terms and Conditions 2024/25

Award details

The Postgraduate Care Leaver Bursary hopes to encourage care leavers to progress to and successfully complete a postgraduate taught course.

Value: £5,000 cash or fee waiver

How many: 1 Bursary is available

How to apply: To be considered applicants must complete an application form, which requires a supporting statement of 250 words explaining why they would be a suitable recipient of the Bursary. The applicant must be a Care Leaver in receipt of as a care leaver from their Local Authority and must submit evidence of Care Leaver status, as defined below, in the application form.

The Scholarship Allocation Panel will then shortlist applicants based on their application and supporting evidence.

Short listed applicants will be invited to attend a short, informal interview to assess suitability. The interview will confirm students have considered how they are going to manage their studies and will allow Brunel representatives to explain Bursary conditions.

Deadlines: Applications must be submitted by midnight on the 23^rd August 2024 (GMT).

Applications will only be accepted if:

• All sections of the application form have been completed.
• Evidence of Care Leaver status has been uploaded to the eVision application portal.
• The applicant is a Home fee paying student holding an offer on a course starting in September 2024, (applicants classed as Overseas, European (HEU) or Channel Islands/Isle of Man for fee purposes, or those with an unresolved fee status, are not eligible).

Late applications will not be considered.

Eligibility

To be eligible for a Postgraduate Care Leaver Bursary an applicant must:

• Comply with the definition of Care Leaver, see below.
• Be receiving support as a Care Leaver from their Local Authority.
• Be in receipt of an offer to study on a full-time postgraduate programme starting in September 2024 before submitting a bursary application.
• Hold an Unconditional Firm (UF) offer to study on a full-time postgraduate programme starting in September 2024, by the time the Scholarship Allocation Panel meet in September.
• Have been assessed as a home fee payer for fee purposes. Applicants who are unsure of their fee status should note Brunel uses the information they have provided in their application form to assess fee status against regulations set by the UK government. For information on these regulations please visit the independent organisation UKCISA’s website.

Where there are more applicants than awards, priority will be given to Brunel Alumni.

a) Those not eligible for this Bursary

• Applicants classed as Overseas, European (HEU) or Channel Islands/Isle of Man for fees purposes, or those with an unresolved fee status. For 2024/25 entry, European fee payers who are not eligible for home fees under the UK government regulations will not be eligible.
• Applicants entering an Undergraduate course at Brunel, including the PGCE in Education.
• Applicants who will not commence their course in the upcoming academic year - applicants holding offers for deferred entry will be considered for a bursary in the year they start their course and not in the year of their course application.
• Applicants entering Undergraduate or Postgraduate Research programmes at Brunel.

b) Eligibility Definitions

c) Proof of Eligibility

Proof of Care Leaver status in the form of written documentation from the student's local authority (corporate parent) will be required before the Bursary can be awarded.

Allocation

3.1 Eligibility criteria are reviewed annually.

3.2 Applicants are considered for bursaries using the information provided at the time of their application only and cannot be reconsidered should their circumstances change during the course of their studies. Bursaries cannot be backdated.

3.3 Applications will be considered on the balance of eligibility criteria met by each applicant.

• Phase 1: After the deadline of 23^rd August 2024, applicants will be considered for the bursary in line with the eligibility criteria outlined in these terms and conditions. This includes confirmation of the applicant’s care leaver status.
• Phase 2: Applicants who meet the eligibility criteria will go on to be considered by the Scholarship Allocation Panel in September 2024.
• Phase 3: Applicants who successfully meet the eligibility criteria and are selected to proceed by the Scholarship Allocation Panel will be invited to an informal interview, to be held in September 2024. Successful applicants will be contacted thereafter.

3.4 Applicants entering Brunel from another HEI will be considered for the Bursary provided they meet the care leaver status outlined above.

3.5 Applicants awarded the Postgraduate Care Leaver Bursary may also be eligible for other scholarships, bursaries and awards.

3.6 Bursary awards will be decided by the Scholarship Allocation Panel and will be responsible for producing a final list for eligible awardees.

3.7 Bursaries will be awarded provisionally by the Scholarship Allocation Panel and the successful applicant will be notified at the start of September 2024. They will then be formally awarded in October following receipt of exam results.

3.8 Bursaries are awarded for the September entry of the academic year 2024/25 only and cannot be deferred to alternate months or years of entry. Applicants who intend to defer their studies must re-apply for a bursary in the year they will begin their studies.

3.9 The decision of the Scholarship Allocation Panel is final. Any appeals in respect of the allocation process should be referred to the admissions policy. An appeal will only be considered in line with procedural irregularities, where a student believes that the University has not followed the procedures stated within the relevant Scholarship or Bursary Terms and Conditions and there is reasonable doubt as to whether the outcome might have been different had the error not occurred. Any appeals relating to Scholarship or Bursary allocation must be lodged within the student’s first academic year at the University. Brunel will not be able to consider later appeals.

Conditions of payment

The applicant awarded this bursary can elect from the following two payment options:

(a) £5,000 tuition fee waiver - the tuition fee will be reduced by £5,000 for the 2024/25 academic year only.

(b)£5,000 cash payment - paid in three instalments for the 2024/25 academic year only.

4.1 Bursary awardees receiving tuition fee waivers:

• The tuition fee will be reduced by £5,000 in year 1 of their chosen course.
• The applicant will be responsible for paying the remainder of their tuition fees after the scholarship contribution is deducted from the total fees for the academic year.

4.1(a) Bursary awardees receiving tuition fee waivers - The fee waiver or cash award will only be applied providing the student is fully enrolled at the University on a full time Postgraduate taught programme of study, which includes having had their qualifications and other documentation verified and checked, and then completing the University enrolment procedures. 

4.2 Bursary awardees receiving a cash award - The £5,000 cash payment will be paid in three instalments in Year 1 of their chosen course. The applicant will be responsible for paying all their tuition fee.

4.3 Students must supply relevant UK bank details via eVision in early September by no later than the first day of Term 1.

4.4 Payment will be made as follows:

1st Payment – 13^th December 2024

2nd Payment – 28th February  2025

3rd Payment – 13^th June 2025

4.5 The successful student will be sent a scholarship payment selection task via eVision in early September. Students must confirm their payment selection by no later than the first day of Term 1. Students who do not return the completed payment selection task by the first day of Term 1 will automatically be given the fee waiver option. Students will be asked to supply relevant UK bank account details to support receipt of the cash option.

N.B. Payments will be made directly to a UK bank account and therefore students are required to supply accurate bank account details via their eVision account within the requested time. Failure to provide current valid UK Bank account details will result in delayed payment.

4.6 Awarded scholars are excluded from all other scholarships and tuition fee waivers with the exception of the Postgraduate Academic Excellence Scholarship, Graduate Discount and Prompt Payment Discount.

The order of discounts will be applied as follows:

1. Scholarship/bursary fee waiver applied to the full annual tuition fee.
2. 10% Brunel Alumni Family Discount or Brunel Family Discount applied to the net tuition fee.
3. 15% Graduate discount applied to the net tuition fee;
4. 2% Early payment discount applied to the net tuition fee.

Further information about tuition fee discounts can be found in the Student Financial Policy.

4.7 The successful student will be required to meet with Karen Western, the Widening Access Officer once a month. The aim is to ensure that the recipient is making good academic progress and is aware of and making appropriate use of the support services available at Brunel.

Withdrawal of bursary

5.1 Misleading information: The University reserves the right to withdraw a scholarship/bursary from anyone who is found to have misled the University about any aspect of their eligibility and to seek repayment of any monies already paid by appropriate means.

5.2 Mode of Attendance Change: If a student changes to a different mode of study, their eligibility for a bursary will be reviewed. The bursary will be withdrawn if the change is from full time to part time.

5.3 Changing course: If a student changes course but remains at the same level of study, this will have no impact on the award. The bursary will be withdrawn if the change is from Postgraduate Taught to Postgraduate Research.

5.4 Abeyance/Temporary Withdrawal: A student who takes a period of temporary withdrawal (abeyance) and who is in receipt of a bursary award would cease to receive bursary payments whilst temporarily withdrawn. Bursary payments made prior to temporarily withdrawing will not generally be requested to be repaid and remaining payments would generally be paid once the student returns to complete that level of study.

5.5 Suspension of Study: Should a student be suspended for any reason, bursary payments would be withdrawn and consideration of reinstatement will be dependent on the disciplinary outcome.

5.6 Repeat/Extended Study: Repeat periods of study, and periods of temporary withdrawal that result in extended periods of study, are not supported by additional bursary payments. Bursary entitlement is for the maximum duration of each award and entitlement is not extended if overall course duration alters.

5.7 Withdrawal from Study: A student who withdraws from their programme prior to completion and who is in receipt of a bursary award will not normally be requested to repay bursary payments made up to the point of withdrawal; however, entitlement to all future bursary payments and/or adjustments, cease immediately when a student withdraws from Brunel University London.

5.8 Amendment of Fee Waivers: Fee waivers applied at the start of an academic year as part/all of a bursary entitlement will not be amended once the fee waiver has been processed. Any tuition fee liability remaining after fee waivers are applied would therefore be calculated in accordance with Student Financial Policy.

Any queries relating to these terms and conditions should be addressed to the Widening Participation Office by emailing: Karen.Western@Brunel.ac.uk.

Updated 13 December 2023.