Brunel University London Bursary (BULB) 2024/5

The Brunel University London Bursary (BULB) is a cash award available to full-time Home fee paying students beginning an Undergraduate course, or Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) in Primary Education or Secondary Education at Brunel University London and the Brunel Pathways College (BPC) in September and aims to support students from low income households who are either mature or from an area of deprivation, as identified by the index of multiple deprivation (further details can be found below).

Value:

£1,000 cash award for the first year of study only

£2,000 cash award for the first year of study only for applicants on the PGCE programme.

Please read the full terms and conditions below for more information.

1. Award details

The Brunel University London Bursary (BULB) is a cash award available to full-time Home fee paying students beginning an Undergraduate course, or Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) in Primary Education or Secondary Education at Brunel University London and the Brunel Pathways College (BPC) in September and aims to support students from low income households who are either mature or from an area of deprivation, as identified by the index of multiple deprivation (further details can be found below).

Value:

£1,000 cash award for the first year of study only

£2,000 cash award for the first year of study only for applicants on the PGCE programme.

The Bursary will be paid once in the first year of study. For Undergraduates payment will be made in Year 1 of a three year course or in the Foundation year of a four year course

How many: A limited number of awards will be available.

Brunel is committed to providing an environment that encourages and supports our students. We are currently reviewing the support schemes and packages we offer that will provide additional assistance to students.

Application process: There is no separate application, all students will be considered for the bursary automatically based on the information supplied in their course application and confirmation of household income by the Student Loans Company England (SLC). Awards will be made by the Allocation Panel in the middle of October, following Registration.

Late awards: We are not able to make any awards after the Panel meet in mid-October.

Bursary holders may be requested to represent Brunel at various promotional activities throughout their time at the University. Participation is not mandatory and bursary holders may be contacted with invitations to participate in activities such as surveys, focus groups and interviews, in order to evaluate the University’s financial support package. Bursary holders will be contacted as and when participation is required. If a student chooses not to participate, their bursary award will not be affected.

Data pertaining to bursary holders such as: progression rates, degree attainment, degree completion, and graduate outcomes may also be analysed in order to understand the effectiveness of bursaries and scholarships. This data may also be linked to other data already held by the University for the purpose of better understanding the impact of bursaries and scholarships on under-represented groups. To learn more about how the University uses data to support its commitment to delivering positive outcomes to students from under-represented groups please visit our webpage.

2. Eligibility

The bursary will be awarded to those applicants who meet all the following eligibility criteria:

• Must hold an offer of a place on a full time Undergraduate course (including placement routes and undergraduate integrated Master’s Programmes) or PGCE starting in September 2024. This includes offers made through UCAS Clearing.
• Offer must be ‘Unconditional Firm’ (UF) by the date the Allocation Panel make their awards in October (i.e. applicant must have met all offer conditions and firmly accepted the place).
• Must commence the course in the upcoming academic year 2024/5.
• Must be classed as a Home fee paying student based on the UK government regulations. Applicants who are unsure of their fee status should note Brunel uses the information they have provided in their application form to assess fee status against regulations set by the UK government. For information on these regulations please visit the independent organisation UKCISA’s website.
• Must be ordinarily resident in the UK (includes those living in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland).
• Must have consented to the sharing of household income submitted to the Student Loans Company (SLC) with the University. Applicants should note that without consenting to share their information Brunel cannot access any information relating to Household Income. This will result in the applicant not being considered for this award.
• Must come from a low income household (£25,000 pa or less, as defined in the ‘Eligibility Definitions’ below). Please note all applicants, but particularly clearing applicants must ensure that they inform the SLC at the earliest opportunity that they are attending Brunel. This will then ensure that the SLC can provide relevant evidence confirming the applicant meets this condition. The SLC application must be approved no later than 4 October 2024 . Failure to do this or if the applicant’s SLC assessment and application have not been approved by 4^th October 2024 will result in the applicant not being considered for this award.

AND must meet at least one of the following under-represented criteria (as defined in the 'Eligibility Definitions' below):

• Must be a resident in an area of deprivation, as defined by the English Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) 2019 Quintiles 1 and 2.
• Be a mature applicant, aged 21 or over by the time they start an undergraduate course or 25 and over by the time they start the PGCE course.

Bursaries will be awarded to those who meet the eligibility criteria at the time of allocation.

Bursary awards are not guaranteed for all applicants who meet the eligibility criteria, as there are a limited number of awards available. Where the number of applicants who meet the criteria exceeds the total number of bursaries available, the number of points scored from the under-represented criteria will be taken into consideration (as detailed in section 3 below).

Those not eligible for this Bursary

• Applicants classed as Overseas or Channel Islands/Isle of Man for fees purposes (based on the UK government regulations), or those with an unresolved fee status.
• Applicants entering a course at FHEQ level 5 (Year 2) or FHEQ level 6 (Year 3) will not be considered for any scholarship or bursary.
• Applicants entering a course with the Brunel Language Centre.
• The Brunel University London Bursaries (BULBs) are only valid for the 2024-25 academic year so applicants who defer entry to 2025 will not be considered for these awards.
• PGCE applicants receiving government bursaries are not eligible for this award.
• Applicants undertaking any other kind of Postgraduate Taught or Postgraduate Research study.

2b. Eligibility Definitions

2c. Proof of Eligibility

• To evidence ‘Low Income’, full time students must have provided the SLC with sufficient information to enable a full financial assessment to have been carried out before 4^th October, and the student and sponsor(s) have provided their consent to share this data. Brunel will use the result of the assessment to confirm ‘Low Income’ eligibility. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that the SLC have fully carried out the income assessment by 4^th October 2024 in order for them to be considered by the Scholarship Allocation Panel in mid-October.
• To evidence ‘Quintiles 1 & 2 of the index of multiple deprivation (IMD)’ data will be collected from the UCAS/UTT/Brunel application forms.
• To evidence Mature, age data will be collected from the UCAS/UTT/Brunel application forms.

3. Allocation

3.1 Eligibility criteria are reviewed annually.

3.2 Points weighting given to each of the under-represented criteria are as follows:

3.3 Applicants are considered for bursaries using the information provided at the time of their application only and cannot be reconsidered should their circumstances change during the course of their studies. Bursaries cannot be backdated.

3.4 Only one scholarship/bursary can be paid to any one student in any one year with the exception of the Care Leaver Bursary and the Life Long Learning Bursary for Undergraduates. PGCE applicants may be eligible for the Postgraduate Academic Excellence Scholarship in addition to this bursary.

3.5 In all other cases if an applicant is eligible for more than one scholarship/bursary, they will be awarded the one which will be the most financially beneficial across the full course duration.

3.6 When the number of applicants who match the criteria exceeds the number of bursaries available, the total number of points earned from meeting the under-represented criteria will be considered to determine awards. The total amount of points will be used to award the bursary, beginning with the highest value of points and continuing until all bursaries are awarded.

3.7 Awards will be made by the Allocation Panel in mid-October and successful applicants will be informed by email shortly thereafter.

3.8 Bursaries are awarded for the current academic year only and cannot be deferred.

3.9 The decision of the Scholarship Allocation Panel is final. Any appeals in respect of the decisions made by the Panel should be referred to Section 24 of the admissions policy. An appeal will only be considered in line with procedural irregularities, where an applicant believes that the University has not followed the procedures stated within the relevant Scholarship or Bursary Terms and Conditions and there is reasonable doubt as to whether the outcome might have been different had the error not occurred. Any appeals relating to Scholarship or Bursary allocation must be lodged within the student’s first academic year at the University. Brunel will not be able to consider later appeals.

 4. Payment

The Bursary will be paid in three instalments in the first year of study of a full-time undergraduate or for one year only for the PGCE course and will not be paid during any other years of study.

Successfully awarded students will be asked to supply relevant UK bank account details to support receipt of the cash payments by no later than Friday 6^th December 2024.

4.1 Payment dates

For cash bursary awards, payment will be made as follows:

Payment 1 13 December 2024

Payment 2 28 February 2025

Payment 3 13 June 2025

 4.2 Conditions of Payment:

• Payments will only be made providing the student is enrolled at the University on an undergraduate degree programme of study or on a PGCE in Primary Education or Secondary Education at the time of the payment.

N.B. Payments will be made directly to a UK bank account and therefore students are required to supply accurate bank account details via their eVision account within the requested time. Failure to provide current valid UK Bank account details will result in delayed payment.

 5. Withdrawal of a Bursary

5.1 Misleading information: The University reserves the right to withdraw a bursary from anyone who is found to have misled the University about any aspect of their eligibility and to seek repayment of any monies already paid by appropriate means.

5.2 Mode of Attendance Change: If a student changes to a different mode of study, their eligibility for a bursary will be reviewed. The bursary will be withdrawn if the change is from full time to part time.

5.3 Changing course and starting again at FHEQ Level 4 (Year 1): Students who commence their studies and subsequently make an alteration that involves starting again at Level 4 will not be eligible for a new award against the new course. If a student changes course but remains at the same level of study, this will not have an impact on the award.

5.4 Changing course PGCE: Students who commence Primary Education or Secondary Education and change their course but remain registered on one of these courses and remain at the same level of study (but not repeating the year) will retain the bursary award. Students changing courses from Primary Education or Secondary Education to another course will lose the bursary award.

5.5 Fail to complete/Permanent Withdrawal: Students who fail or withdraw from their course at end of the Foundation year or Level 4, then subsequently return to Brunel on the same course or a new course as a new student will be considered for a new award against the new course or new period of study.

5.6 Abeyance/Temporary Withdrawal: A student who takes a period of temporary withdrawal (abeyance) and who is in receipt of a bursary award would cease to receive bursary payments whilst temporarily withdrawn. Bursary payments made prior to temporarily withdrawing will not generally be requested to be repaid and remaining payments will generally be paid once the student returns to complete that level of study.

5.7 Suspension of Study: Should a student be suspended for any reason, bursary payments will be withdrawn and consideration of reinstatement will be dependent on the disciplinary outcome.

5.7 Repeat/Extended Study: Periods of temporary withdrawal that result in repeat or extended periods of study are not supported by additional bursary payments.

5.8 Withdrawal from Study: A student who withdraws from their programme prior to completion of the year and who is in receipt of a bursary award will not normally be requested to repay bursary payments made up to the point of withdrawal. However, entitlement to all future bursary payments cease immediately when a student withdraws from Brunel University London.

Any queries relating to these terms and conditions should be addressed to the Admissions Office by emailing: scholarships@brunel.ac.uk

Updated 31 July 2024.