Priority 1- For the full bursary, a student must meet one of the following criteria by being a:

• Young person in care
• Care leaver
• Young person receiving income support
• Disabled young person receiving both Employment Support Allowance and Disability Living Allowance.

Priority 2- For the discretionary bursary, a student must be one whose parents or carers are in receipt of:

• Income support
• Income based Jobseeker‘s Allowance
• Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• Child Tax Credit and/or Working Tax Credit and whose total annual household income is less than or equal to £21,000
• Guarantee element of State Pension Credit

Or as a student:

• Being in receipt of Free School Meals
• Who has a long term medical condition that can affect their studies and meets the discretionary criteria

Priority 3- For the one off payment (examples; bus pass, exam re-sit fee, educational resources).

This is for those students who are experiencing sudden and exceptional change in financial circumstances and do not qualify for the other two bursaries.

There is an application form to be completed outlining what the need is and why the need has occurred.

The application process will be open in September once you are enrolled and attending lessons. Students are required to submit evidence as appropriate alongside the application.

If you qualify, you will receive a payment for each academic half- term for the academic year from the point at which your application is received by the school. There will not be any back payments made for previous terms in an academic year.

Data Protection Act 1998: The information you give on this form, together with any supporting documentation will be used by the school for the purposes of processing your application.

Successful applicants will receive half-termly payments for the academic year.

Payments for the Autumn Term will be made before the October half term and the second before the Christmas holidays. For the spring and summer terms, payments will be made at the end of each half term.

Receipt of a payment is conditional on the student meeting agreed standards.

1. 95% punctual attendance to school and all lessons.
2. Tracking results – minimum grade 2 for all areas and 80% at grade 1 or higher

A student’s payment may be held back by the school for the following reasons:

• Attendance is below 95% (the remaining 5% must be only acceptable informed absences)
• Behaviour, attitude or work-rate falls below acceptable levels as outlined above.
• Should payment have to be withheld targets will be agreed and students will be given a set period of time to meet the targets so payment can be made.

Students will sign a contract with St Thomas More setting out the standards which need to be met.

All scheduled payments may be delayed or withheld if the student fails to meet the agreed standards. The student will be informed if a payment is being delayed or withheld along with the reasons why. St Thomas More will decide whether to withhold a payment completely or delay it upon the student meeting some agreed targets. St Thomas More will take into the individual circumstances of a student where they fail to meet one of the agreed standards, for example, long term illness in relation to attendance.

Payment will be made by bank transfer or cheque. Students should outline who the cheque should be made payable to on their application form.

In the event of an appeal by a student or his/her parents against a payment decision by the school, a school’s normal complaints procedure should be followed with the final decision being made by a nominated person (Head Teacher Mr Martin Bonner) outside of the decision making process.