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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:
The Further Education Grant is a means tested grant for students aged 19 or over on 1st July 2024 and studying a Full-Time Further Education course and NOT in receipt of any other fund e.g. EMA.How to ApplyApplications are now open and will close on 31 October 2024.
Apply Online - http://www.eani.org.uk/fegrant...
For further information or if you experience any difficulties when making an application, please contact the Further Education Grants Team on 028 9598 6000 and select option 2 or by email to fegrants@eani.org.uk.
If you decide to stay on at school or go to a further education college in Northern Ireland, you may be able to get the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA). It is available for both academic and vocational courses.
EMA is a weekly award of £30 which is paid fortnightly to students who meet the eligibility criteria below.
It is intended to help cover the day-to-day costs that you have to meet when you stay on at school or college like travel costs, books and equipment for your course.
You can get an EMA if you're aged 16, 17, 18 or 19 years on or between 2 July 2023 and 1 July 2024 and all of the following statements apply to you:
You may be entitled to receive EMA for a maximum of three years, as long as the household income does not rise above the income threshold which applies to your household.
Receipt of EMA will not affect any other benefits being received in the household.
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 2024, 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 2024 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 2024 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 2024/25 academic year only. It is not a statement of the law. It is for guidance and does not cover all circumstances.
Student Finance UK...
Family Action provides small grants, up to £300, for students with dependent children who are in receipt of means-tested benefits or are an asylum seeker in receipt of an Application Registration Card (ARC).
For updated details of eligibility criteria, what can be funded and the application process click on this link: https://www.family-action.org.uk/what-we-do/grants/educational-grants-information/
Key points to note are that grants of up to £300 are available for students who are:
They open for applications on the 1st September 2024 so you can make applications from the start of the coming academic year.