Financial Support
Student Bursary Fund – Procedures and Guidance
The Bursary Scheme exists to enable students who have been identified as experiencing the greatest need for financial support to remain in education and thereby improve their choices in life.
Please find the student link to the bursary application form for 26/27 below. To register, please use your ‘Student Number’ which will be communicated with you W/c – 24/08/26.
https://trinity.paymystudent.com/portal/home.asp
Students must be aged 16 or over but under 19 at 31 August 2026 to be eligible for help from the bursary fund in the 2026 to 2027 academic year. Students aged 19 or over are only eligible for discretionary bursary if they are continuing on a course they began aged 16-18 or have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).
Second year students must re-apply for the bursary even if you received it last year.
Please direct any queries to the Bursary Team or your Personal Progress Tutor. The first deadline for applications are Wednesday 30 September 2026. Application forms received later will be considered for inclusion in a later Bursary intake. Application for the Bursary never closes, we will always look at new applications.
Priority Bursary (Vulnerable)
You may be eligible for a Priority Bursary of up to £1,200 a year. To receive a Priority Bursary, you must have evidence of one or more of the qualifying elements below:
In care or a care leaver
Receiving Income Support or Universal Credit because you are financially supporting yourself, or because you are financially supporting yourself and someone who is dependent on you and living with you, such as a child or partner
Receiving Disability Living Allowance or Personal Independence Payment in your own right, as well as Employment and Support Allowance or Universal Credit in your own right
Income Assessed Bursary (Discretionary)
College will provide an income-assessed Bursary for students whose parents/carers household income is below £35,000.
Supporting evidence/ID will be requested, please see the examples below:
P60 and 3-months of most recent payslips: this is a statement of earnings from an employer and the income will be shown as either; total pay for year, total income received or gross Income. This must be dated this current year and will relate to the previous year’s earnings.
Self-assessment tax calculation form (SA302): this form is sent by the Inland Revenue to self-employed people and is the equivalent of the P60. The income will be shown under ‘Total Income’ for the most recent year end. We may require further evidence in the form of bank statements.
Universal Credits: Latest 3 monthly statements these must be consecutive and the most recent available (please see Universal Credit heading below for more information).
Council Tax Discount Letter: If the household is a single adult household, we will also need a copy of documentation to confirm this.
Other Benefits: entitlement or award letter showing evidence of any benefits received, including Universal Credit monthly statements as requested in the application.
Free Meals
To qualify for the Meals Bursary, you will be assessed on one of the following household benefits:
Universal Credit (Please see Universal Credit heading below for more information).
Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.
Payments
Travel passes are issued through the MCard app and are subject to student's attendance being over 90% for the month.
Meal allowances are added to students ID cards in order to purchase food on site.
Equipment can be requested via the pay my student app.
Payments will only cover essential educational visits (part of subject curriculum).
UCAS application fees and contributions to the costs of attending industry placements, university interviews or open days.
The academy can also stop payments if you do not adhere to the conditions of your Learning Agreement regarding progress, attitude or behaviour.
Appeals
If you believe that the decision regarding your Bursary application is incorrect, you should put in a Letter of Appeal to the Management Accountant, at the academy’s address within 10 days of the academy’s decision.
You will receive a decision on your appeal within two weeks of our receipt of the appeal. If you are still not satisfied with the decision, you should use the academy’s usual Complaints Procedure.
Childcare
Students may be eligible for support for childcare costs through the Care to Learn scheme and could receive up to £180 per week for each child. Students are entitled to help if:
They are under the age of 20 and have a young child.
Are studying at college.
Have an Ofsted registered child carer.
For further information please email: bursary@sixth.trinitymat.org
Universal Credit Evidence
In you receive Universal Credit (UC), we will need a copy of your 3 most recent award statements. You can access these using an online service provided by the UK Government.
- Login to the Universal Credit online service here: https://www.universal-credit.service.gov.uk/sign-in
- Under Payments, it shows a list of months and how much you have received. You need to click on the most recent 3 months and show us each of the award statements
- Click on Print This Statement at the top of the Award Statement – From here you should be able to save the file as a PDF
- Computer: Change the printer to “Save as PDF” You can then save a copy of the document
- iPhone: On the print preview, swipe on the UC statement out like you are zooming into a picture. The share button should then appear in the top right corner, and you can save to files
- Android: On the print preview, select the three dots, select printer, and save as PDF. You can then save to files.