If you meet the residential criteria and receive certain benefits or are on a low income, you may be eligible to have your fees paid to the College by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC). This is called fee waiver.  Please note that the College’s leisure programme and commercial courses are not eligible for fee waiver.

Your course may be free if any of the following apply to you:

1. You are in receipt of any of the following benefits:

• Attendance Allowance
• Carers’ Allowance
• Contributory Employment & Support Allowance
• Disability Living Allowance
• Incapacity Benefit
• Personal Independence Payment.

2. You or your family are in receipt of any of the following benefits:

• Housing Benefit
• Income Based Job Seekers’ Allowance
• Income Related Employment and Support Allowance
• Income Support
• Pension Credit
• Universal Credit
• Working Tax Credit

3. The taxable income of your family in the previous tax year (2019-20) is equivalent to or lower than the threshold below:

• Households with only one person: £8,282
• Households consisting of a couple without children: £12,395
• Households with dependent children: £18,977
• Where there has been a substantial reduction in income from the previous financial tax year, the taxable income of the student’s family in the current financial tax year can be assessed.

4. You, your spouse or parent is an asylum seeker living in Scotland.
5. You are under 26 and care-experienced. Care-experienced is defined as looked after and in the care of a UK local authority and can include situations where the student is living in a foster home, children’s home, residential home, in kinship care or in the care of the local authority in their own home.
6. You are a school pupil attending at college as part of your school timetable.

If you do not meet the fee waiver criteria, you will be required to pay the cost of the course or units you are undertaking and should arrange this through the College Finance Office.  The cost will vary depending on your fee status and course of study.

It is expected that students pay the full fee for any programme of study prior to the commencement of the programme.

UK/EU students - £504 per year or £95 per credit (day) or £135 per credit (evening).

International students - £225 per credit

The Individual Training Account (ITA) from Skills Development Scotland (SDS) provides funding of up to £200 which you may redeem against a single course in a 12-month period.

You may be eligible for ITA funding if you are:

• Aged 16 or over
• Not in education or involved in any other SDS funded programme
• Unemployed and looking to get back into work
• Employed and earning less than £22,000 per year
• Resident in Scotland

ITA is not available for all courses. To find out how to apply and which courses at Glasgow Kelvin College are eligible check the SDS website.

This method of funding may not always cover the fee in its entirety and you will have to pay any outstanding balance in full.

If your sponsor/employer is paying your fees, please submit a letter from your organisation on company headed paper.

The letter must state your name, course details and be signed by an appropriate authorised member of staff.   A Purchase Order Number should also be quoted if this is the process your organisation operates.  Alternatively, you can download an Employer Declaration Form.

An invoice will then be sent direct to your sponsor/employer.

Please be aware that you will be invoiced directly for your course fee if confirmation of sponsorship is not received within 30 days of the start date of your course.

Fees should be paid in full at enrolment.  You can pay by bacs transfer using the details below or credit/debit card by calling us on 0141 630 5022.

If you are paying by bacs transfer please also make sure to include your student reference number as the payment reference

Sort Code:                     83-07-06

Account Number:      19615424

BIC:                                  RBOSGB2L

IBAN:                              GB49RBOS83070619615424

If you are not able to make full payment at the time of your enrolment, please contact our Finance staff to discuss alternative payment methods.  It is expected that payment should be received in full prior to the end date of the course

If you withdraw within three weeks of the start date of your course, you will be given a full refund minus a £40 administration fee.

Should you withdraw after three weeks of the start of any block, the full fees for the block will be charged.

It is important that you contact the college as soon as possible if you are having trouble in paying your fee, as sanctions for non-payment of fees can include:

• Certification may be withheld
• Withdrawal of ICT facilities
• Referral to College’s Debt Collection Agency
• Potential removal from course of study

If you are studying a part-time further education course and meet the eligibility criteria, you can apply for the following allowances.  You don’t need to pay this funding back.

The Government made changes to the EMA programme in January 2016 and EMA is now available to students studying on an eligible part-time course.  Students on evening courses, leisure courses or taster courses are not eligible for EMA.

You must have reached school leaving age and be under 20 on the start date of your course.  Payment can only be made up until your 20^th birthday.

You could get £30 per week depending on your household income.  We look at the gross household income of the adults in your home who have a caring or parental responsibility for you. In most cases this will be your parents but could be grandparents or another family member.

For academic year 2023/24, we’ll look at your household income for the financial year 2022/23.  It must be below a certain level for you to qualify for EMA.  There are two different levels, depending on your family circumstances:

• Household income must be £24,421 or less if you are the only child in the household.
• Household income must be £26,884 or less if there is more than one dependent child in the household.Dependent children are those up to the age of 16 and those between the age of 16 and 25 in full-time further or higher education.

Dependent children are those up to the age of 16 and those between the age of 16 and 25 in full-time further or higher education.

You can only claim EMA from one source and for one course only. Students claiming part-time EMAs are not eligible for assistance with travel or study expenses.

Students receiving Job Seeker’s Allowance or on government supported training schemes are not eligible for EMAs.

What if my household income has dropped since the last tax year?

If your household income was over the EMA thresholds in 2022/23, but since then has permanently dropped below it, you can ask to be assessed on the current year household income instead.

You still need to complete the application giving your tax year 2022/23 information and evidence and request a current year income assessment in the additional information section of your application.  We will then ask you for further evidence to confirm your change of circumstances and current levels of household income.

We’ll contact you throughout the year to ensure your circumstances have not changed and to ask for up-to-date evidence.  If your circumstances have changed again and you no longer qualify for EMA, your remaining payments will be withdrawn.

You must be in receipt of a Fee Waiver

If you are under 22 years old you are eligible for free bus travel in Scotland and should apply for a National Entitlement Card.  Find out how to apply.   We will not award travel expenses if you can reasonably get to college using free bus travel.

If you are aged 22 and over you will get help with travel expenses if you live more than 2 miles walking distance from your campus.  If you have dependent children, we will calculate the distance via your childcare provider.   We will cover the cheapest public transport available.  This is normally a student FirstDay bus ticket or a student FirstWeek bus ticket where attendance is required for three days or more, whichever is the more cost effective. 

If using bus transport is impractical and you need to travel by another means, e.g. train, you should let us know in your funding application.  If there is no public transport available, we will award 20 pence per mile.

If, as the result of a disability, you are not able to use any kind of public transport, for example you have visual or mobility difficulties, we can consider paying a reasonable cost of travel by taxi.  It doesn’t matter if you live less than 2 miles from the campus.  You will be required to provide supporting evidence to confirm your disability. 

We will take into account any funding you already receive for travel.  Funding considered can include the mobility components of PIP, DLA and Adult Disability Payment, DLA Motability scheme and concessionary bus passes.

Use the First Group journey planner to see how to get to Glasgow Kelvin College.

You may get funding to cover essential study expenses, such as:

• specific clothing, footwear or tools necessary for the course
• essential books and texts
• items required for health and safety reasons
• the cost of a criminal check for eligible students

This allowance is paid directly to your department on your behalf, who will supply you with the necessary materials.

Study costs are not income assessed if you’re under 18. This means if your household income is too high to receive EMA, you may still be eligible for a bursary study expense allowance. You must still complete a funding application but will not have to submit evidence of household income.

If you are not awarded any bursary or you fail to complete your funding application, then you may have to pay some of these course-related expenses.

If you pay extra costs because of your disability, ongoing health condition, mental health condition or specific learning difficulty, you may be eligible for an Additional Support Needs for Learning Allowance. This allowance offers help towards specialist equipment, classroom support and special travel arrangements, on top of any other disability grants and benefits you might receive. It’s not assessed on your household income and does not have to be paid back.

We encourage you to disclose any disabilities, difficulties or barriers in your course application and at enrolment.   You can also self-refer online via the website or contact Learner Support.  Once a need has been identified, Learner Support will communicate with you to organise and implement suitable support strategies.

If you are eligible in any of the fee waiver categories, please complete the Fee Waver Application Form and contact finance@glasgowkelvin.ac.uk to arrange a time to bring up-to-date evidence to support your identity, immigration status (if applicable) and financial status when you come to enrol at the College.  If you do not produce this evidence at the time of enrolment, you will be given four weeks to provide this to us.  If after four weeks you still cannot provide this evidence, you will be removed from your course or your status will be changed to self-financing and you will be required to pay the cost of your course.

Evidence of benefits must be dated within the last four weeks of the date you enrol and clearly show your name, address and the benefit you are in receipt of.

For an income based fee waiver, you should bring evidence of your family’s income in the previous tax year.

To apply for part-time EMA, please email studentfunding@glasgowkelvin.ac.uk

Applications for August 2023 courses will open from May 2023.  Glasgow Kelvin College operates an online student funding application (CAMS).  If you have accepted a place on a course, we will send you an activation email with a link to apply.  Check your spam/junk mail as your account may have filtered our email to this folder.

We recommend that you apply as soon as possible and before 23 July to ensure your payments are set up for the start of your course.  If your application is late, your money might be too.

Applications received more than six weeks after the start date of the course will not be backdated; funding will only be awarded from the date the complete application is received.  Your application will not be treated as complete until we have received all the supporting evidence requested.

The final closing date for complete applications is 31 March 2024.

FAQs

Creating An Online Account

You’ll need to activate a new CAMS account every year, even if you are a returning student.  You can’t create an account until you receive your activation email, which will include your student reference number.

Once you have activated a CAMS account, you will be able to apply for funding and view and monitor the progress of your application.  You will also be able to see what supporting evidence we have received from you and what we still need.

Upload Evidence

Once you complete your online application, you will be asked to upload supporting evidence depending on your answers and particular circumstances.  An example of evidence that could be requested is your passport to support your identity.

Using a computer, tablet or mobile phone, you can upload up to twelve pieces of evidence for each request.  You can send a photo, screenshot or scan of your documents.  Please make sure all four corners of the document are visible and the image is clear and not blurry.

All supporting evidence must be uploaded to your online application.  This will be the quickest way to get it to us and it will help us to process your application as quickly as possible.

What Happens Next?

We aim to deal with your application within 4 weeks from the day we receive the form and all supporting evidence.  You can track the progress of your application, at any time, by logging into your CAMS account.

If we assess your application and find that more information is required, we will email you to request this.  Please check your emails regularly, as this is how we will communicate.

How Will I Know If My Application Has Been Successful?

If your application has been successful, an Award Notice will be emailed to you.  This sets out your funding in more detail and lets you know when you can expect to receive your payments.  If your application is unsuccessful, we will contact you to tell you why.

Change In Circumstances

Your funding is based on the information you gave when you submitted your application.  If there has been a change in your circumstances since then which could affect the amount of funding you receive, for example you change your address, you must notify the Student Funding Office as soon as possible.  If you are entitled to more funding, this will only be backdated to the date the change of circumstance was received.  If you are entitled to less funding and there is an overpayment, you will have to pay it back.

We aim to process these and update your award within 5 working days.  Any back payments that you’re owed will be made on the next available payment run. These take place on a weekly basis to ensure students receive their payments as soon as possible.

How Will I Be Paid?

If you have received and accepted your Bursary/EMA Award Notice and are enrolled and attending your course, your first Bursary/EMA payment should be made to your bank account on Friday 8 September 2023.  

Payments will then continue to be made into your bank account every two weeks in arrears provided you remain eligible and meet the terms and conditions of your award.

You will be able to view your Bursary/EMA payment dates and amounts for the forthcoming academic year in the ‘My Payments’ section of your CAMS account.

If your complete application was submitted after the 23 July deadline, your payments may be delayed.  Any back payments that you’re owed will be made on the next available payment run after you accept your award.  These take place on a weekly basis to ensure students receive their payments as soon as possible

For help with fee queries:

Finance Office
Glasgow Kelvin College
123 Flemington Street
Springburn
Glasgow
G21 4TD

Telephone: 0141 630 5022

Email: finance@glasgowkelvin.ac.uk

Location: Springburn Campus, 4th floor, room 432

Office Hours:  Monday – Friday: 9am to 3.30pm

For help with Bursary and EMA queries:

Student Funding

Glasgow Kelvin College
123 Flemington Street
Springburn
Glasgow
G21 4TD

Telephone: 0141 630 5186

Email: studentfunding@glasgowkelvin.ac.uk

Location: Springburn Campus, 4th floor, room 435

Office Hours:  Monday – Friday: 9am to 3.30pm

Glasgow Kelvin College cannot discuss any aspect of a student’s account or application with anyone other than the student without the student’s permission.  This includes the parents or partner of a student.

Students can give us consent in their Bursary/EMA application or by completing a Consent to Share Form.  Without this consent, third parties can contact Glasgow Kelvin College to ask for general information only.