Further Education Student Finance

Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA)

Education Maintenance Allowance provides £40 a week to support studying, paid every two weeks.

Students must be aged between 16-18 and UK/EU nationality with three years continuous residency or refugee status. Students must have a household income situation of one of the following:

• £20,817 or less if you are a young person in full-time education in the household
• £23,077 or less if there are other young people in your household who are aged under 16 and eligible for child benefit or aged 16-20 and in full-time education and eligible for child benefit

Welsh Government Learning Grant (WGLG)

The Welsh Government Learning Grant provides a termly payment throughout your course of up to £1,500p/a, depending on your income.

To apply for this, students must:

• be aged 19 and over
• be in full or part-time study with a minimum of 275 hours per year
• reside in Wales
• have a household income of £18,370 or less
• ensure a minimum attendance rate of 90% throughout the year
• complete a minimum of 2 weeks full attendance at the start of each term

Student now apply for WGLG / EMA online once they have created an account.

NPTC Group Financial Contingency Fund

NPTC Group are our Further Education partners who validate our NVQs. This means you are a BMC student AND an NPTC student and can receive the benefits of both institutions.

NPTC have their own Financial Contingency Fund that you can apply for which provides financial help to put towards:

• College meals (you will receive a Morrisons’ voucher)
• Course equipment (50% reimbursement of course equipment – safety clothing, study materials, etc.)
• Childcare
• Transport costs (if you live more than 3 miles away) up to a maximum of £175 per term.

All students in financial difficulty will also be considered.

This funding is subject to full attendance on your course. If your attendance drops, your award from this fund can be stopped. If you do not complete the course, you may have to repay some or all of the award.

You can apply directly once your course has begun by speaking with Ria in Student Support on ria@blackmountainscollege.uk

BMC Financial Contingency Fund

At Black Mountains College, we offer our own Financial Contingency Fund which is designed as a last resort to provide a small financial boost to struggling students. This can provide a maximum of £200 per person at one time.

NOTE: this is different to the NPTC FCF, which is provided by NPTC. This comes directly from BMC.

Any student enrolled in our Further Education courses is eligible but:

• if you are aged between 16 – 18 by the start of the academic year, you must first apply for the EMA.
• if you are aged 19 or over by the start of the academic year, you must first apply for the WGLG.
• you must first apply for NPTC’s FCF before applying to BMC’s fund.

If you do not qualify for any of the above or have already received help from a fund but are still in financial difficulty, you can apply for BMC’s FCF if your personal earnings do not exceed £12,000 annually.

You can apply directly once your course has begun by speaking with Ria in Student Support on ria@blackmountainscollege.uk

Transport

We recognise that BMC offers some rather unique courses and that this often attracts students from further afield. We believe that students pursuing a further study or a career in supporting the environment shouldn’t be limited by the cost of their commute.

My Travel Pass (MTP) is available to 16–21-year-olds and gives the holder 1/3rd off your bus ticket. This is free to apply for.

Students aged between 16 – 18 who live more than 3 miles from their campus can also receive a free Powys County Council bus pass via the Powys CC website. If you live outside of the County of Powys, you must apply to your local authority for transport help.