Care Experienced Bursary

The terms Care Experienced, Care Leaver, and Looked After refer to those who have experience of being in care at any time of their lives, or who are currently in care or looked after.

This includes any students who are under the care of the Local Authority, including (but not limited to) where the care is being provided in the student’s own home, in their parent(s) home, in the home of relatives, in a foster home, a care home, or a residential unit. It also includes students who are cared for under a kinship order.

We allocate full-time Care Experienced students a non-income related weekly bursary maintenance award of £202.50 

We ensure that Care Experienced students receive the optimum funding award, taking into account their wider circumstances. This means that we take into account your potential entitlement to social security benefits

If you are eligible to remain on benefits whilst you study, and the amount that you would receive through benefits is higher than £202.50 per week (plus EMA of £30 per week or Universal Credit Bursary of £28 per week if applicable), then the College will allocate EMA or Universal Credit Bursary rate instead of the new Care Experienced bursary rate, unless the student expresses a wish to be awarded the Care Experienced Bursary.

In order to be considered for a Care Experienced Bursary, you must provide an official letter from the relevant local authority. This must confirm your name, address, date of birth and what section of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 you fall/fell under.

Over 18s

If you are aged 18 years old or over on the 30^th of August 2021, the travel award is subject to an assessment of household income.

The travelling expenses are calculated on the cheapest form of public transport available.

Travel is only paid for the time that you are travelling to college and depending on updated guidance from the government we might need to adjust your travel award during the academic year.

Definition of Care Experienced

Permanence Order

Permanence Orders (legal orders settled by the Court) were introduced by the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007. They can only be applied for by the local authority and are designed to safeguard a child who will not be returning home. A permanence order will remove the child from the children’s hearing system and can last until the child reaches the age of 18. It can allow foster carers (and others caring for children) to have some or all of the parental rights and responsibilities needed to make day-to-day decisions affecting the child.

Foster Care

Fostering is a temporary arrangement - on either a short or long term basis - and many children in foster care will return to their birth family. Local authorities can only place children with foster carers who have been approved by an agency registered with the Care Inspectorate.  Such agencies include local authorities, voluntary organisations and independent sector providers.

Kinship care

Kinship care is when a child is looked after by their extended family or close friends, if they cannot remain with their birth parents, and is subject to a kinship order. Under the Guidance on Looked After Children (Scotland) Regulations 2009, kinship carers are defined as “a person who is related to the child (through blood, marriage or civil partnership) or a person with whom the child has a pre-existing relationship”. Kinship care includes children who are looked after and are placed in a formal kinship care arrangement by the local authority.

Residential care

Residential care homes offer young people a safe place to live away from their families. Most young people who live in a residential establishment will have been assessed as needing to be cared for away from home by the local authority.

Compulsory Supervision Order with no condition of residence (Looked after at home)

Where a child or young person is subject, through the Children’s Hearing system, to a Compulsory Supervision Order with no condition of residence, that child or young person continues to live at their normal residence (often the family home). 

This is known as being looked after at home. Where this happens, the hearing panel will have decided that the child’s welfare is best assured by living with their parents. Social workers and any other relevant partners then work closely together as well as with the child and family to achieve objectives for which the home supervision order was made. 

Compulsory Supervision Order with a condition of residence (Looked after away from home)

Where a child (or young person) has either:

• Been through the Children’s Hearings system and is subject to a Compulsory Supervision Order with a condition of residence.
• Is subject to an order made or authorisation or warrant granted by virtue of Chapter 2, 3 or 4 of Part II of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995.
• Is being provided with accommodation under Section 25 (a voluntary agreement).

OR

• Is placed by a local authority which has made a permanence order under Section 80 of the Adoption and Children (Scotland) Act 2007. In these cases, the child is cared for away from their normal place of residence, by foster or kinship carers, prospective adopters, in residential care homes, residential schools or secure units.