Learner Support Fund
The purpose of this award is to provide financial assistance to pupils who do not qualify for an EMA due to their age or residency status and remain in school beyond compulsory school age but whose access to or completion of education might be hindered by financial considerations.
The Authority’s standard practice is to provide an annual maintenance award to eligible applicants, which is paid by instalments at the end of every term. The maximum award for the academic year 2007/2008 is £300.00 per pupil. The award can be used towards the cost of such items as books and equipment, examination fees not covered by an existing school budget, field trips and other associated costs with living and learning.
For Local Authority (LA) assistance, students resident in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames may be eligible to be considered for financial assistance from the Learner Support fund if;
- They are over 16 and under 19 on 1 September of the year in which the course begins or have begun a course at the school before reaching the age of 19 and continue to attend, and
- They are ordinarily resident in the Authority at the time of application, and
- They are attending a full time, non advanced course of at least one years duration (a full time student is one who attends school or college for a minimum of 12 hours per week), and
- They are attending a state maintained school, and
- The student or his/her family is in receipt of Income Support/Job Seekers Allowance or are on a low income (beneath £17,000.00 gross), and
- The course is not a repeat period of study in either terms of actual course or comparable level of course (unless student is able to demonstrate to the Student Support Service good reason for repeat study. Examples would be serous illness or bereavement.)
In addition, eligible students will only continue to receive assistance if their attendance is satisfactory (minimum 70%). If the LA is notified that a student has unsatisfactory attendance levels, all funding will be withdrawn.
Due to the limited amount of funding available, all applications must be submitted to the LA by 30 September 2008. Applications received after this date will only be considered if there is money left available and will be dealt with on a first come first serve basis. Genuine emergencies that could not be foreseen or provided for in advance will be considered on an ad hoc basis, subject to funds being available. Once all available funding has been allocated the scheme will be closed to applicants until the start of the next academic year.
If you wish to apply for Learner Support Funding, please complete the attached application form which can be found at the bottom of the page and return it to the address on the form.