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Student Handbook
Funding Support for Students
The Student Learning Support Officers are here to help ensure you have applied for all the available funding, including student support loans and bursaries, trusts and scholarships as well as accessing benefits you may be entitled to. For confidential help or advice on any issue relating to financial support, please contact the Student Learning Support Officer at your campus:
Assistance with maintenance costs, including childcare, while studying on a Further Education course.
Aged 19 or over on 1 July 2022. Students should be studying on a full-time or part-time vocational Further Education course e.g., Diploma.
Full details on how to Apply is available online here https://www.eani.org.uk/fegrants or contact your campus student services office.
Applications should be submitted by the start of June 2022 to ensure that you receive your first payment at the start of the academic year. Closing date for applications is end of October 2022. Students should apply even if they have not received confirmation that they have been accepted onto the course.
Means-tested weekly payment of £30 (and bonus of £100 payable up to twice per year) to help with the costs of continuing in education for students studying on a full-time Further Education course e.g., NVQs, BTEC.
Aged between 16-19 years. Students must be studying on a full-time Further Education course. Attendance at College will also affect eligibility.
Completed applications should be returned to EMA by 30 September 2022 to ensure entitlement to payments from the start of the academic year. Late applications will be accepted until 31 March 2023.
If you are a main carer for a child, you may be entitled to assistance with childcare costs.
You need to be aged 16-19 years at the start of the course and be the main carer for a child. Students expecting a child may also apply in advance.
Application forms available from the Student Services Office.
This pass enables students to travel to and from the College without charge. Students may also be eligible for fuel assistance if travelling by car.
Less than 19 years of age on 30 June 2022, enrolled on a full-time Further Education course and live more than 3 miles from the closest college campus.
Further information is available here https://www.eani.org.uk/financial-help/home-to-school-transport
Meal tickets that can be exchanged for food and drink in the College canteen.
Under 18 years of age on 31 July 2022 and on a further education course. Meal tickets are dependent on parental income.
Application forms available from your local Education and Library Board https://www.eani.org.uk/financial-help/free-school-meals-uniform-grants
Financial assistance for students experiencing exceptional financial hardship.
Aged 18 years or over and experiencing financial hardship. Assistance from the hardship fund is means tested and can only be provided once all other sources of funding have been exhausted.
Applications are online and can be accessed by the college gateway system. Students can only apply once they have commenced their course.
Submission dates will be set-up for students to submit their application and supporting evidence.
Assistance for Higher Education students with tuition fee costs in the form of a tuition fee loan and maintenance costs through a maintenance loan and non-repayable maintenance grant (maintenance grant is dependent on household income).
No age requirements. Students should be studying on a Full-Time Higher Education or Part-Time courses e.g., Higher National Diploma, Foundation Degree or Degree course.
Apply online at www.studentfinanceni.co.uk.
Applications open at the start of April and should be submitted by mid-May 2022 to ensure financial assistance is approved prior to the start date of your course. Late applications will be accepted. Students should apply even if they have not received confirmation that they have been accepted onto the course.
This guide outlines the student finance options available to you if you are thinking of starting a full-time higher education course, ordinarily live in Northern Ireland and are studying in Northern Ireland, anywhere else in the UK or the Republic of Ireland (ROI).
It applies to the 2022/23 academic year only. It is not a statement of the law. It is for guidance and does not cover all circumstances.