How do I apply?
Shortly after you have enrolled, a unique application form will be sent to the email address you supplied at enrolment. If you do not receive this email, please email supportfund@leedscitycollege.ac.uk for a new link to be resent. Once you have completed the application, it will then outline what evidence you will need to bring and where to take it.
Financial Support
If you live in a household with a gross annual income of £30,000 or below (16-19), you could be eligible for support with meals and travel at Harrogate College.
Travel
You may be able to receive assistance with the cost of travel to and from College.
Passes may be provided for use on Trans Dev. Alternatively an exceptional travel payment request may be required if a suitable travel pass can not be supplied.
Discretionary meals
By studying at Harrogate College, you may be eligible for a meal worth up to £3.60 for every day that you are timetabled to attend. If you live in a household with a gross household income of £30,000 or below, your student ID card will also work as a meal card which can be used in the canteens at Harrogate College.
Similarly, if you are attending a placement you may receive a cash-equivalent voucher to the value of £3.00 per day to be used in at a supermarket of your choice.
Free College Meals
If you received free meals at school, you may be able to continue receiving them at college.
Please note, funding and financial support is only available to students attending college for five hours or more per week. Only students attending two sessions or more spanning a meal break per day, or students who attend college five hours or more per day, are eligible for meal support.
To be eligible, you must be 16-18 years old on 31 August 2023, have an EHCP or be a 19+ continuer. Additionally, your parents must be in receipt of one or more of the following benefits:
- Income support.
- Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA).
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).
- Support under part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.
- The guarantee element of State Pension Credit.
- Child Tax Credit (provided they are not entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190, as assessed by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
- Working Tax Credit run-on (paid for four weeks after someone stops qualifying for Working Tax Credit).
- Universal Credit with net earnings not exceeding the equivalent of £7,400 per year.
You will need to bring in up-to-date evidence to receive Free School Meals.
To find more about the different funding streams and eligibility criteria, check the Learner Support Fund Policy.
16 To 19 Tuition Fund
This statement outlines how Harrogate College intends on using the 16 to 19 Tuition Fund to support full-time students who have been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. By providing tuition to learners who require additional assistance, we are allowing them to catch up on their education and continue studying efficiently.
How does the funding work?
Tuition sessions are held in small groups – alongside one-to-one tutoring. All sessions will fit around the breakfast club, holidays and after college teaching hours. Students will also benefit from study skills, focused revision and exam technique sessions, along with pastoral and wellbeing support. Tuition sessions will be delivered above and beyond the normal timetabled hours.
Tuition sessions will be prioritised for the following students:
Those with an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan and those who have a grade 4 or below in GCSE Mathematics and or GCSE English. Harrogate College is committed to ensuring that the 16 to 19 tuition fund is used to support the students most disadvantaged by the impact of the pandemic.
What is our pledge?
The College is committed to ensuring the tuition fund is used in accordance with the Government’s guidance on the 16 to 19 tuition fund by:
- producing this statement setting out how the fund will be used to support the most disadvantaged students
- publishing this guidance on the College website
- recording the use of the fund, including references to individual students who receive support, the needs of those students, the number of hours of tuition delivered and retain the evidence of the tuition provided
- deliver the extra tuition and spend the allocated funds in the academic year 2023/2024
- notify the Education Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) of any underspend from the Fund for it to be reclaimed
Students under 20
If you are aged under 20, you may be eligible for help under the government’s Care to Learn scheme which pays for childcare with an Ofsted-registered provider while you are at college up to a maximum of £180 per week per child.
For further information about Care to Learn scheme click here to speak to our Childcare Advice Officer for further guidance, alternatively you can visit the Care to Learn website to apply (www.gov.uk/care-to-learn).
Childcare Providers
Harrogate College works in partnership with Ofsted registered childcare providers to help student parents with childcare costs/ places to overcome barriers, which may prevent them from taking part in or continuing in learning.