Aged 20+ Childcare Bursary Support
Available only to students with a household income of £50,000 or less, who are aged 20+ and funded from the Adult Education Budget from the ESFA/Local Authority or the Advanced Learner Loan.
The funds will only reimburse the daily childcare fee (agreed with the bursary team in advance) for attendance to an Ofsted Approved childcare provider on the days the student attends the timetabled course. If entitled to use the Free Early Education & Childcare funding this must be used to fund the days students are required to attend college and therefore students must only claim for childcare fees in addition to the free placement. Please see details about free childcare at https://www.gov.uk/find-free-early-education
Applications must have confirmation from the Ofsted Approved provider of the daily rate to be charged. The learner support funds will only reimburse the agreed daily childcare rate – any other fees or charges made by the Ofsted Approved childcare provider will not be covered by this fund.
If funding for the course is provided through an Advanced Learner Loan, the college will not be able to consider your claim until your loan application has been approved – evidence must be uploaded with the application.
If your bursary application is successful, students must then submit receipted invoices from the Ofsted Approved childcare provider confirming the days the child attended (this must match the attendance of the student’s course) and the daily fee invoiced. We will not consider payments for childcare where the student fails to attend their course.
The responsibility will be for the student to pay their childcare fees with the chosen provider upfront – once the childcare bursary application has been approved receipted invoices will then need to be submitted via PayMyStudent to the Bursary team and these will be reconciled with your attendance and payment made via BACS to the student.
You can also get information and guidance on completing the application forms from our Student Services team, please call 0191 518 8222 or pop in for any help you need.
How to Apply for 19+ Bursary
You can apply for this bursary via the College's dedicated bursary portal. You will need to upload evidence of your financial income to check your eligibility.
The College Nursery (Peterlee) Positive Steps
And don't forget, the College's Peterlee Campus has a fantastic onsite nursery. Please click here for more details, Positive Steps Nursery.
Childcare