Bursaries and other financial support
Courses are free if you’re aged under 19. Bursaries and funding are also available to 16-19 year-olds to help cover the cost of your daily commute, meals, any industry equipment, or any uniform/kit needed for you to enjoy a full student experience.
Bursary Information
All awards made are subject to satisfactory attendance, good progress on your course, and positive behaviour. Awards may be reduced or withheld if you do not meet these standards.
Please Note:
While we recognise that some students face financial pressures, the funding you are applying for comes from a government fund and is public money. Access to this funding is not a right. The College has a duty to ensure that funds are awarded fairly to the students with the greatest need. Funds are cash limited and funding cannot be guaranteed. We strongly encourage you to apply as early as possible.
No awards for the bursaries will be issued until you are fully enrolled and have started your course.
Bursary Information
- Check that you the meet the eligibility criteria outlined above
- Apply online through the Online Bursary Applications System.
To be eligible you must:
- be aged 16 or over and under 19 on 31st August of the academic year you are enrolling.
- be enrolled onto a full-time course or eligible training programme.
- have ‘home’ student status or have been granted full ‘refugee’ or ‘asylum seeker’ status (British Citizens normally have ‘home student’ status).
- have been ‘ordinarily resident in the UK or Ireland continuously for the last three years before the start of your course, with ‘settled status’ which means having indefinite leave to enter or remain (ILE/ILR).
- If you have a different residency status to the ones above, you may still be eligible for the bursary. Please speak to our Customer Service Team for further information.
- live in a household where the total gross household income is £40,000 or less.
Who is not eligible to apply?
- Students on Higher Education Courses (Separate HE Bursary Funds are available).
- Students on Worked-Based Learning/Waged Apprenticeships.
- Students aged 19 or over on 31 August of the academic year they will be enrolling (Separate 19+ Bursary Funds are available).
You are entitled to a Vulnerable Bursary of up to £1,200 if you are in one of the groups that have been defined by the Government as being a ‘vulnerable group of students’ and meet the eligibility criteria outlined above*.
Funds will be allocated to provide a bus pass and equipment.
*This includes young people who are living apart from their parents and are:
- Looked after (in care) or have recently left care (Care Order in force)
- In receipt of Income Support (or Universal Credit) in their own right (not their parents)
- Disabled and in receipt of both Employment & Support Allowance (Universal Credit) and Disability Living Allowance (Personal Independence Payments) in their own right (not their parents)
You will need to provide up to date evidence to confirm receipt of your Benefit, or a recent letter from Social Services confirming your care status.
Bus pass –
Students must meet the bursary criteria.
Any students who live in an area where there is no bus service available to get to College will be made a travel payment. Travel payments are claimed at beginning of each term and you will need to come to the CASC Desk prior to this being issued to complete a Travel Payment form.
If you have been granted a SWIFT Card, we will ask you to come to the CASC Desk at Wisemore Campus to order your bus pass. This then takes up to 10 working days to arrive (depending on the time of year).
You will be notified when this card has been received by the college via your student email. You can collect your bus pass from the CASC Desk. If you do not collect your bus pass in a timely manner, it will be cancelled.
Students who are applying for NX West Midlands bus passes (mobile bus pass) must have the NXBus M-Tickets app installed on their mobile devices in readiness for September. You will need to create an account within the app using your Walsall College email address, which is your student number followed by @student.walsallcollege.ac.uk
The links for the app are as follows;
Android Phones
iPhone and iOS
The app needs to be on the student’s phone and not that of a parent/carer.
As soon as we have ordered the mobile bus pass for you, the pass can be utilised.
Your award will depend on your personal circumstances, such as where you live, the course you are studying, total gross household income (maximum £40,000), and when you apply.
(You can apply for this Bursary if you are not identified as a ‘vulnerable’ student and as long as you meet the eligibility criteria outlined above.)
If your application is successful, you may be entitled to one or more of the following:
Bus pass –
Students must meet the bursary criteria.
Any students who live in an area where there is no bus service available to get to College will be made a travel payment. Travel payments are claimed at beginning of each term and you will need to come to the CASC Desk prior to this being issued to complete a Travel Payment form.
If you have been granted a SWIFT Card, we will ask you to come to the CASC Desk at Wisemore Campus to order your bus pass. This then takes up to 10 working days to arrive (depending on the time of year).
You will be notified when this card has been received by the college via your student email. You can collect your bus pass from the CASC Desk. If you do not collect your bus pass in a timely manner, it will be cancelled.
Students who are applying for NX West Midlands bus passes (mobile bus pass) must have the NXBus M-Tickets app installed on their mobile devices in readiness for September. You will need to create an account within the app using your Walsall College email address which is your student number followed by @student.walsallcollege.ac.uk
The links for the app are as follows;
Android Phones
iPhone and iOS
The app needs to be on the student’s phone and not that of a parent/carer.
As soon as we have ordered the mobile bus pass for you, the pass can be utilised.
Equipment -
Equipment for your course will be provided in kind after the October half term, and is subject to satisfactory attendance.
Fully completed applications will be processed as quickly as possible, usually within 20 working days. You will receive an award notification email from the Bursary Fund informing you of your award and how this will be provided. Please keep this for future reference.
No awards will be made to you until you are fully enrolled on your course. If your application is not successful, you will be notified by email. You will then need to decide if you are able to enrol to your course without financial support from the Fund.
Please contact the Customer Service Team quoting your student reference number if you do not receive an email within four weeks of applying.
You have the right to appeal if your application is refused or your award is withheld. You must submit your appeal, in writing, within 10 working days of the date of your refusal letter. Additional information will be required to support your appeal.
Please contact us if you require any further information or require support to complete this appeals form by telephone 01922 657000, email bursary@walsallcollege.ac.uk. or by visiting the CASC Desk.
Independent financial advice is available at www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk.
Your Local Authority may have information about funding available to help with the costs of adult education.
You may also be eligible for:
All our 16-19 year-old students can boost their brainpower by starting each day of study with a free breakfast in the college canteen.
Students can have two slices of toast with fruit juice.
The offer is available Monday to Friday:
Wisemore and Green Lane - between 8am and 10:45am
Portland Street - between 10am and 11am
Hawbush - between 9:00am and 10am
Students may also be eligible for free college meals if their household income is below £40,000 or if they or their parent/carer receives one of the following benefits;
- Universal Credit
- Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- Employment Support Allowance (Income Related)
- Guarantee Element of State Pension Credit
Students who meet the above criteria and are interested in applying for Free College Meals will need to complete the online bursary form and provide evidence of their household income (the whole bursary form needs to be completed not just the FCM application).
If you meet the bursary criteria, you may be eligible for a bus pass through the Discretionary Bursary (see above).
If you’re under 19, full time courses are FREE.
In addition to course fees, are there any other fees payable?
In addition to the course fees, you will be expected to make a £10 contribution to printing and copying costs where your course requires this. Your learner pass will give you access to the College Free Breakfast , Free College Meals and the printing facilities. This will be preloaded with a minimum of £15 worth of printing (depending on your area of study). If you receive funding for your course, the ID Pass will be free.
If you lose your Learner Pass, you will receive your first replacement free but any after that are chargeable at £5.00.
What is a Smart Card?
Walsall College offers a cashless payment system.
Your student ID card is a 'Smart Card'. When pre-loaded with a cash amount, it can be presented as a means of payment at many of the College tills:
College canteen (Wisemore and Green Lane)
Starbucks
Graduate Academy
LRC (Wisemore and Green Lane)
How is money added to your account?
The cards need to be credited in advance to be able to purchase anything.
Money can be loaded onto the card using loading machines located in the atriums at Wisemore and Green Lane campuses.
Parents can also upload money. They will need their own account. This can be accessed via a portal from the College website.
Students who qualify for free college meals will have a daily allowance of £5.00 credited to their Smart Card.
Visit cashless.walsallcollege.ac.uk to top up your card.
How soon can you use the card?
As soon as you have loaded it with a cash amount, or been allocated free College meals, the card will be ready for use. If you have been allocated free College meals, your allowance will be available from the first Monday after you have been notified of your award.
What are the benefits?
With less need to carry cash, the risk of it being lost or stolen is reduced and it is much faster to get served.
Wear your card and keep it safe.
Students are required to wear their ID badge around their neck at all times for identity purposes and to gain access to the buildings. It is your responsibility to have it with you at all times.
What happens if I forget or lose my card?
If the card is lost or stolen, it needs to be reported to the Customer Advice Service Centre desk as soon as possible so the card can be blocked from further use. You can also de-activate your card through your online account. The balance from the time of reporting the card lost will appear on the new card.
If you lose or forget your card you will have to either purchase a new card, or go home and fetch it. The fee for a replacement ID card is £5.00.
We recognise that students may need support with childcare for them to be able to attend college. We may be able to support through our 19+ bursary or the Care to Learn Scheme.
Care to Learn
Care to Learn is a government scheme which supports students who are under 20 years old with childcare funding.
You can receive up to;
- £180 per child per week
The Care to Learn scheme helps with the cost of:
- your childcare, including deposit and registration fees
- a childcare taster session for up to five days
- keeping your childcare place over the summer holidays
- taking your child to their childcare provider
To be eligible for Care to Learn you must be:
- a parent under 20 at the start of your course
- the main carer for your child
- living in England
- either a British citizen or have a legal right to live and study in England
- enrolled onto a qualifying course
- receiving childcare from an eligible childcare provider
- enrolled onto a publicly funded course
Your childcare provider must be one of the following;
- registered with Ofsted
- registered with a childminder agency
- a school
Your childcare provider can be a/an:
- childminder
- preschool playgroup
- day nursery
- out of school club
Who is not eligible for Care to Learn?
- Apprentices
- higher education students
- students 20 years old or over (students 20+ can apply for the college 19+ childcare bursary)
More information about Care to Learn can be found at Care to Learn information.
If you are aged 16-19 and enrolled on a T Level course, you are required to undertake an Industry Placement as part of your study programme.
With the additional travel costs for students attending an Industry Placement, students can apply to the 16-19 bursary for their travel costs to be reimbursed as well the Discretionary bursary.
T Level reimbursements are paid regardless of household income thresholds.
What is eligible to be claimed?
- Petrol – this will be based on a mileage system with reimbursement at 55p per mile (based on the most reasonable distance between the two points).
- Train fare – to and from placement.
- Bus ticket – to and from placement, although if a student is eligible for a bus pass from the bursary, we would expect this to be used in the first instance.
- Metro – to and from placement.
- Free College Meals reimbursement where applicable.
What is not eligible to be claimed?
- Use of Toll roads (unless agreed and authorised prior to use).
- Excessive transport (the college will use Google Maps to calculate this).
- Taxis (including Uber) (unless agreed and authorised prior to use).
- Food (unless receiving Free College Meals. If students are in receipt of Free College Meals, they will be paid a daily cost of £5.00 for each day of their confirmed placement.).
Before payment is made, you will need to submit your receipts and the relevant claim forms for the travel costs. The claim forms can be obtained from your tutor. You will also need to complete a Travel Payment form at the CASC Desk. Payments are made in line with the normal bursary payments. Please see ‘How is the bursary paid?’ section.
If you require any further information or support, please contact the customer service team on 01922 657000 or email bursary@walsallcollege.ac.uk.
How do I apply?
- Check that you the meet the eligibility criteria
- Apply online through the Online Bursary Applications System.