Your nationality and residency can affect the types of finance available to you. This means where you're from, where you currently live and how long you've lived there.

General residence conditions

There are three basic conditions you need to fulfil in order to be eligible for fees and funding.  You must:

• be ordinarily resident in Scotland and living here on the relevant date; AND
• have been ordinarily resident in the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man for 3 years or more immediately before the relevant date; AND
• if you are not a UK or EU national, you must be settled in the UK with no restrictions on remaining in the UK (for example, having British citizenship or Indefinite Leave to Remain).

1. The relevant date

The relevant date for courses below HNC level is the start date of the course.  This is the date the course starts rather than the date you start the course.

For courses at HNC level or above, the relevant date is the first day of the first academic year of a course.  For those who start a course in the autumn term, the relevant date is 1 August 2018.

2. Ordinarily resident

The courts have defined ‘ordinary residence’ as ‘habitual and normal residence in once place’.  It basically means that, throughout a set period, you and your parents or spouse, civil partner or partner live in a country year after year by choice, apart from temporary or occasional absences such as holidays or business trips.  Living in a country totally or mainly for the purpose of receiving full-time education does not count as being ordinarily resident in that country.

3. Students from Orkney or Shetland

You must apply to your local education authority for Further Education bursary, however students who are eligible for Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) should apply to Glasgow Kelvin College.

4. Students from the rest of the UK

Students from the rest of the UK (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) and the Islands, unless they can show that they meet all of the above residence conditions and are not here for the purposes of education, should consult the appropriate funding body in the relevant part of the UK and Islands to see if any student support is available for them to study in Scotland.

Students who don’t meet the general residence conditions

You may still be eligible for funding in certain circumstances.  Funding may be available to the following people:

• UK nationals or their family members who have returned to the UK to live or study, who currently live or have lived in another EU member state, the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland
• UK nationals who were born in and have spent the greater part of their life in the UK
• UK nationals returning from temporary employment or study outside the UK
• an EEA or Swiss migrant worker/self-employed or frontier worker and their family members
• a refugee and their spouses, civil partners and children or stepchildren
• people who have been granted exceptional leave to enter or remain, Humanitarian Protection or Discretionary Leave in the UK, as the result of an asylum claim, and their spouses, civil partners and children or stepchildren.
• Syrian nationals who have come to the UK under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme
• Iraqi nationals who have been given indefinite leave to enter the UK under the Iraqi Direct Entry Scheme (also known as the Locally Engaged Staff Assistance Scheme (LESAS))
• Afghan nationals who have been given Leave to Enter under the Locally Employed Staff (LES) scheme
• those who have been granted leave to remain as a Stateless Person
• anyone who is under 18 and has been granted temporary protection in the UK
• anyone who is the dependent child of a Swiss national
• anyone who is the dependent child of a Turkish worker
• anyone who is under 18 and has lived in the UK throughout the 7 year period before the relevant date
• anyone who is 18 or over and has lived in the UK throughout a period of 20 years or at least half their life

You'll need to prove your status before your application will be accepted but we'll tell you what evidence to send as part of your application.  If you're unsure if you're eligible, you should contact us as you may be liable to pay your own tuition fees.

Students are responsible for their fees irrespective of whether these are being paid by someone else on their behalf.  As part of the enrolment process, students will complete a college enrolment form including the finance section on payment of fees.  It is important that, prior to enrolment, you have established whether you are liable to pay fees and how these are to be paid.

It is recommended that you should, in the first instance, apply for Student Funding.

Apply here if you are studying a course below HNC level

Apply here if you are studying a course at HNC level or above

I intend to pay my own fees

If you are not eligible for student funding, you may be liable to pay a tuition fee. The tuition fee you pay will vary depending on your fee status and your course of study and is payable on enrolment.  It is expected that students pay the full fee for any programme of study prior to the commencement of the programme.

Finance staff will be available to help you throughout the process to ensure that your fee status and method of payment are clear in order that you can concentrate on your studies immediately.

Fees are paid in full at enrolment by Cash, Cheque or Credit/Debit Card at the Finance Office, Springburn Campus or by Debit/Credit Card by telephoning 0141 630 5022.

Alternatively, fees can be paid by bank transfer:

• Sort Code:                            83-07-06
• Account Number:                19615424
• BIC:                                        RBOSGB2L
• IBAN:                                     GB49RBOS83070619615424

If you envisage difficulty paying in full, please contact our Finance staff to discuss alternative payment methods.  Finance staff can arrange formal payment plans and direct debits for self-financing students on full/part time day courses and some advanced evening classes.  It is expected that payment should be received in full prior to the end date of the course.

Sponsor/Employer will pay my fees

If your sponsor or employer is paying your fee directly to the college, you should obtain a letter confirming this or download an Employer Declaration Form

• Employer Declaration Form 2018-2019 - Employer Declaration Form

This must be presented as soon as possible to the College Finance Office.

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

I am Seeking Asylum

In order to qualify for a fee waiver, you must be studying on an eligible part time course or full time ESOL.  The college will be able to advise you and select an appropriate programme of study.  Please be aware that you must bring your Home Office papers, Biometric Residence Card and/Aspen card to confirm your status in the UK.

If the Home Office have rejected your asylum application, you will not be entitled to any tuition fee or living-cost support and you will be charged international fees.  Please contact the Finance Department for advice 0141 630 5022.

Refunds and Withdrawal from your course

Should you decided to withdraw within 3 weeks of commencement of the programme you will be given a full refund subject to the deduction of a £40 administration fee.

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

Non-payment of fees

It is important that you contact the college as soon as possible if you are experiencing difficulty 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

Finance Contact Details

Telephone: 0141 630 5022

Email: finance@glasgowkelvin.ac.uk

CLICK HERE to view our Full-Time Further Education Funding Guide for 2018-2019

Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) is a weekly payment of £30 paid fortnightly in arrears.  It is only payable for 100% of agreed weekly attendance during term-time and not for college holidays.

Are you eligible?

EMAs are available to students who are under 18 years of age on the course start date and have reached school leaving age.  The payment start date depends on the date of your 16^th birthday.

Your date of birth should fall into one of the following categories:

EMA is only payable to those studying full or part time further education (non-advanced) courses.  You must also meet our residency criteria.

Household income

Your household income will determine if you’re eligible for EMA. Household income is the income of your parent(s) or guardian(s) who live with you.

To qualify, households with one dependent child (the student) must be earning less than £24,422 per year and households with more than one dependent child must be earning less than £26,885, before tax.

Other funding available

You may also be eligible for non-means tested course materials and travel expenses (if you live more than 2 miles walking distance from your campus), and additional allowances from the Further Education Bursary fund, depending on your circumstances.

How to apply

To apply for EMA you must complete an online funding application.  Once you have been offered a place on a course you will be sent an email with your student reference, which will allow you to activate your account and begin your application.

Completed applications must be received within 6 weeks of the start date of your course for any award to be backdated.

Further information

Please download our Guide and read our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).  If you require assistance, please contact us.

CLICK HERE to view our Full-Time Further Education Funding Guide for 2018-2019

A bursary is a financial award to help with your living costs while you study a full-time further education course.  Part-time courses are not eligible for bursary funding.

A bursary award is usually made up of three elements:

1. Bursary maintenance allowance
2. Travel expenses
3. Course materials

Are you eligible?

The amount you get depends on your age on the course start date, household income and personal circumstances. You must also meet our residency criteria.

The maximum weekly bursary maintenance rates are:

Household income

We will look at your household income which includes:

• Your unearned income and your parents’ income if you’re aged under 18 or a parentally supported student.
• Your unearned income and your spouse / partner’s income if you are a self-supporting student

Other funding available

You may also be eligible for course materials and travel expenses (if you live more than 2 miles walking distance from your campus), and additional allowances from the bursary fund depending on your circumstances.

If you have children, you can apply for assistance from the childcare fund towards registered childcare costs.

The discretionary fund can help students who experience financial difficulty while at college.

How to apply

To apply for bursary you must complete an online funding application.  Once you have been offered a place on a course you will be sent an email with your student reference, which will allow you to activate your account and begin your application.

Completed applications must be received within 6 weeks of the start date of your course for any award to be backdated.

Further information

Please download our Guide and read our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).  If you require assistance, please contact us.

• a British citizen;

• a national of a member state of the European Economic Area who has utilised their ‘right of residence’;

• settled within the United Kingdom within the meaning of section 33(2A) of the Immigration Act 1971.  You are only eligible for support if you are ‘settled within the UK’. If you are in Scotland on a temporary student or work visa then you are not entitled to SDS Individual Learning Account funding. ‘Settled’ means being both ordinarily resident in the UK, and without any immigration restriction on the length of your stay in the UK. ‘Settled’ can include those with Indefinite Leave to Remain/Enter and those with Refugee status. You do not have ‘settled status’ if you have a time limit on the length of your stay in the UK, as shown by your current immigration permission. For example, those with ‘Limited Leave’.

• You must be ordinarily resident* in Scotland.
• Aged 16 years or over
• Have an income of £22,000 or less, or be in receipt of a qualifying benefit
• Not hold a UK degree or postgraduate qualification or overseas equivalent
• Not enrolled in any form of secondary, further or higher education
• You are considered to be in secondary education until the date you leave school
• You are considered to be in further or higher education from the date you enrol on your course
• You can’t use ILA to fund any part-time course that is already funded by the part-time fee grant
• If you are participating in training through the Employability Fund or Modern Apprenticeship, or participating on the Community Jobs Scotland programme you are not eligible for ILA.

Childcare Funds provide non-repayable assistance for students with children in order for them to access or continue in education and are paid in addition to any other forms of student support.

Childcare funding is limited and is allocated on a first come, first served basis. Make sure you apply as soon as you have your offer.

Lone parents are guaranteed a minimum of £1215 (providing that they meet the funding criteria)

Continuing students must make a new application each academic year.

Please read the guide for eligibility criteria and further information - Childcare Funding Guide

Discretionary Funds provide assistance for students who are experiencing financial difficulty as a result of attending college. These funds provide non-repayable assistance for students in financial difficulties in order for them to access and/or continue in education.

Applications for support from this fund are means tested and based on need. Discretionary funding is limited and is allocated on a first come, first served basis. Make sure you apply as soon as possible when open for application.

Continuing students must make a new application each academic year.

Please read the guide for eligibility criteria and further information.

Part-time Travel funds provide reimbursement for students’ travel costs to/from College, are paid in arrears every four weeks, and are paid in addition to any other forms of student support.

Continuing students must make a new application each academic year.

Please read the guide for eligibility criteria and further information - Part Time Travel Guide

How do I apply for funding?

The only way to apply for your funding is online.  A link to the online application (CAMS) will be sent to you by email when you are offered a place on a course.  It is essential that you check your email regularly, as this is how we will communicate.

What if I don’t have a computer to apply online?

If you don’t have access to a computer you can apply on most smart phones and tablets, or let us know and we will arrange for you to come in and use a college computer.

What information do I need to activate my online CAMS account?

You will need your student reference number, which we will provide in our activation email.  You will have to create a password - keep a note of this, as you will need it to access your account throughout the academic year.

I applied last year, do I have to activate a new account?

No, if you are a returning student you should log in with your existing email address and password.  If you will no longer have access to the email account registered with CAMS (e.g. you use your student email address, which will be disabled on 31 July 2018), you will need to contact us so we can change your email address for you.  If you have forgotten your password, you should use the link “Forgotten your password?” within the CAMS login screen.

When should I apply?

You should apply as early as possible, don’t wait for exam results or an unconditional offer.  If you don’t get on the course you want, you can contact us and we will change or cancel your application.

To make sure your funding is in place at the start of your course, you should send us a correctly filled-in application by 29 July 2018.  If we have to contact you to ask for more information, your application will be delayed.

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

It is your responsibility to supply full information and submit your application on time.

Will my funding be backdated to the start date of the course?

Funding* will only be backdated if the complete application is received within 6 weeks of the start date of your course, i.e. for courses starting on 27 August 2018, the deadline will be 7 October 2018. An application will not be treated as complete until we have received all the documents requested.

Applications received more than 6 weeks after the start date of your course will only be awarded from the date the complete application was received.

*Discretionary applications should be submitted within 6 weeks of fund opening date which will be around the beginning of September or 6 weeks from the date on which you started your course.

What is the final closing date for applications?

The closing date for applications is 31 March 2019.  Applications received after this date will be refused and applications that are still incomplete on this date will be cancelled. Please note the FE Bursary, Childcare, Discretionary and Part-Time Travel funds are cash limited.  This means that even though you may be eligible to apply for these funds, they are allocated on a first come first served basis and may run out before the closing date.  A submitted and complete application form is not a guarantee of funding.  Apply as early as possible!

What can I do if I no longer have access to the email account that is registered with CAMS?

If you no longer have access to your email you will need to contact us, as we will need to change your email address in your online account for you.  This includes students who have used their student email address to activate their CAMS account, as student email accounts will be disabled on 31 July 2018.

What should I do if I have forgotten my password for CAMS?

You should use the link “Forgotten your password?” within the CAMS login screen.  You will be asked to enter your email address and you will receive a message with a randomly generated password.  You should copy and paste the password into your login to ensure the correct password is entered.

Once you have logged in you can change your password to something more memorable by clicking on the “Personal Details” tab followed by the “Change Password” button.  You will then be asked to enter your randomly generated password again and then to specify and confirm a new password (new passwords must be at least 8 characters long and contain 1 uppercase letter and 1 number).

What evidence do I need to submit with my application?

Once you answer all the questions, you will be told what evidence is required based on the answers you give in your application.  It is therefore essential that you answer the questions correctly, if we have to contact you to ask for more information, your application will be delayed and considered incomplete.

What if I don’t have some of the evidence requested or it’s not available yet?

You don’t have to upload all your evidence at this stage.  You can submit your application without your supporting evidence and you will have an opportunity to upload them later, when they become available.

To do this you should click on the “Unable to Upload Evidence” button.  This will allow you to submit the application without the evidence.

You should note that your application cannot progress and will not be considered complete until all the evidence is received.  If the evidence is submitted more than 6 weeks after the start date of your course, your funding will not be backdated.

If you are unsure what evidence to upload, please refer to our FAQs or contact us through the Communication Tab in your CAMS online funding account.

Can Student Funding seek evidence on my behalf?

No, it is your responsibility to obtain and provide supporting documentation, we are unable to seek evidence for you.

If you are unsure about what evidence you have to provide, please contact us through the Communication Tab in your CAMS online funding account.

How do I upload my evidence?

You can scan your documents or use your tablet or smartphone camera to take a picture of them and upload the photos straight to your application.  Please ensure you upload ALL pages of the documents and that they are clear to read.

If you are using a camera enabled device (such as a smartphone or tablet) to photograph a document, please make sure that the whole page shows in your image – do not crop the image.

You can upload a maximum of 12 documents for each request and each document must be no larger than 4MB.  If the document is larger than 4MB, please separate it into smaller files.

Glasgow Kelvin College reserves the right to request your original documents.

I made a mistake in my online application, what should I do?

If your application has not already been submitted, you can change the information yourself.  Details can be amended at any time prior to submission.  You should ensure that all information is correct before submitting it to us, as supporting evidence is requested based on the answers you give.

If you have already submitted an application that contains incorrect information, or if details have changed since it was submitted, please contact us through the Communication Tab in your CAMS online funding account.

What if my course is not in the dropdown menu?

Please contact Admissions.

What happens after I submit my application?

We will acknowledge receipt of your application by email.  If you submitted your application without all the evidence requested, as it was not available at the time, the email will also remind you of the evidence you still have to submit before we can assess your application.

How long will it take to process my application?

Applications are dealt with strictly in date order.  Specific timeframes will vary in accordance with individual applications, however it generally takes about 4 weeks from the date we receive your complete application until you receive a decision.  If additional information is required during the application process and we have to contact you, it may take longer.

Will I be able to check the progress of my application?

Yes, you can login to your CAMS account as an existing user and track the progress of your application.  The progress of your application is shown in the Bursary/EMA tab under “Application Status”.

The status of your application will show as one of the following:

Application submitted: your application has still to be looked at.

Initial check – your application / evidence has been looked at, but we require further information / evidence to support your application.

Admin check – your application has been assessed.

An award has been made please accept this award – an Award has been emailed to you and you are required to accept it online.

Application cancelled – Your application has been refused because you do not qualify based on our eligibility criteria.

Why do I keep receiving emails requesting evidence when I thought I had sent everything in?

Automatic reminder emails will be sent on a fortnightly basis until all documents are uploaded and verified.  It may be that documents you uploaded are not what was requested, you did not upload all the pages of the document, or it is for the wrong year.

If we refuse your documentation you will be notified in the email as to why this was.

How will I find out how much I’m entitled to?

If your application is successful, you will receive an award notice by email, which will tell you how much funding you will receive.  It will also contain a payment schedule that tells you how much your payments are and when your instalments are due.  You will usually receive payments in fortnightly instalment.

If your application is refused, you will receive an email from the College outlining the reason for refusal.

My application has been refused.  What can I do?

If you do not agree with the decision of your award, you can make a formal appeal.  You must support your appeal with the relevant documentary evidence.

Appeals which challenge the conditions of the Scottish Funding Council and Scottish Government policies will not be considered.

I have previously been funded.  Will I be eligible for further funding?

Bursary will not normally be available if you have previously received financial support for a full-time course studied over the age of 18.  In certain circumstances the College can offer a second award if there is an appropriate reason for doing so.  Second awards may also be awarded if your current course is recognised as progression from your previous course, or if a specified period of time has elapsed.

You should still submit an application to be fully considered.  If in doubt, please contact the Bursary Office to find out if there are any restrictions on your eligibility for funding.

What if I already hold an advanced level qualification at HNC level or above?

Bursary will not normally be available if you already hold a qualification equivalent to HNC level or above.  However, in certain circumstances, the College can offer an award if there is an appropriate reason for doing so.

You should contact the Bursary Office to check your eligibility for funding before starting your course.

Do I still need to apply for funding if I’m a Christmas school leaver?

If your 16^th birthday falls on or between 1 October 2018 and 28 February 2019, you will be classed as a Christmas school leaver.  You should apply as soon as you receive your application to ensure your funding is set aside, but you will not be eligible for any payments until January 2019.

My household income is too high for EMA, do I still need to apply?

Yes, because you may be eligible for travel expenses and course materials, which are not means tested for students aged under 18 on the start date of the course. You need only supply ID for yourself and proof of your address.

Depending on your circumstances you may be entitled to council tax reduction or exemption. You should contact your local authority to enquire.

Full time FE (non-advanced) learners continue to be entitled to child benefit up to the age of 19. You should contact the child benefit office 0300 200 3100 if child benefit needs to be re-started.

Each of our campus buildings has its own childcare facility, or close links with one nearby. Financial assistance can be made available for these and other formally registered childcare providers. Places and assistance are allocated on a ‘first come – first served’ basis, so early application is recommended.

Please contact the Student Funding Team on 0141 630 5000 or using our contact form for getting more information.