Frequently Asked Questions

We can help you with this. You can either visit the Student Services office or email through to us with your full name, date of birth, student number, address and course details. You must be enrolled before we can provide you with a proof of enrolment letter.

Yes, we would be happy to support you. Please get in touch with us via Teams, email or by visiting us in the service.

We can support you with:

• Appointments for careers – we provide impartial advice
• Apprenticeship appointments
• Support for wellbeing and counselling
• Advice about UCAS, personal statements and Higher Education
• Advice about student finance
• Course advice and guidance
• Bursary payment queries
• Financial advice and guidance
• International advice and guidance
• Safeguarding and wellbeing
• Travel to college advice and guidance
• CV support
• NARIC for international qualifications
• Financial Support
• General Course Enquiries

You are able to book a 1:1 appointment by calling or emailing us. We can then discuss this further with you.

Pop and see your Learning Mentor, Tutor or pop in to Student Services

Yes, you can access this support by speaking with us or by contacting your Learning Mentor

We do not have a school nurse, but we have many members of staff who are first aid trained, Youth Mental Health First Aiders and a sexual health nurse who offers support once a week.

Yes, the Student Services Team can help you with a UCAS application. Please contact us to book a 1:1 to discuss this further.

Yes, you can visit the Student Services office or the LIVE team for support with this.

Yes, you would be able to contact us for further support with this. Please see the links below for further information:

https://www.gov.uk/student-finance

https://www.gov.uk/advanced-learner-loan

Yes, we can talk you through a range of alternatives to university and university too.

Yes, we can provide the details for the Apprenticeship team within the college, show you the government Find an Apprenticeship page and also provide information on local apprenticeships in the area.

Yes, we would be happy to provide helpful documents to support you and also work with you on a 1:1 basis should you want your CV to be checked before you provide employers with it.

Yes, we can book you in for a mock interview – please don’t hesitate in contacting us should you wish to book one.

This is something we can book you in for a 1:1 to discuss in further detail. Please don’t hesitate in contacting us.

Come to Student services, we can issue an emergency meals voucher for that day.

Come to Student services, we can issue an emergency meals voucher for that day.  The data for the bursary  may need to be re-loaded onto your card.

No, you can only use your allowance for each day on the day.

This can take up to 6-8 weeks from the day you submit a full application alongside the correct evidence to support your application.

Yes, you will need to submit a new application alongside new evidence for the academic year. You can log back in to your account and do this.

You would just need a letter from your Social Worker or Support Worker on headed paper stating that you are currently in care or a care leaver. This is all of the evidence you would need to upload.

Please go to this portal link, https://bedford.paymystudent.com/portal/, and click ‘Forgot Password’.

Yes, you can still apply for a bursary. When you visit the bursary portal (please see the link above), you will be given the option to register without a student number.

You can take a photo on your phone or a screenshot to then upload this. Please make sure you can clearly see the entire document (all four corners). Please note, the bursary team will need to see all documents pages (even if the last page is blank).

This shouldn’t be a problem – please upload the evidence you have alongside an offer letter/contract that states what your annual income will be

Yes, you will need one bursary account per student.

Yes, we can still assess your application for travel and meals. When you fully enrol, we can then look at assessing for course costs etc.

If you apply in full with the correct evidence by the 6^th of August 2024, your bursary payments should be in place for when you start your course in September. If you apply after this date, support for when you start in September cannot be guaranteed.

No, the applications are all completed online. If you do have any questions about your application, however, please don’t hesitate in contacting the Student Services Team.

Please contact the Student Services Team so we can discuss your current circumstances.

This may be because the evidence you have submitted may be incorrect. This could be that it is out of date, blurry, unclear, or with content or pages missing. Please log back in to your account and upload the evidence requested. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate in contacting the Student Services Team.

You will receive an email from the bursary team to the email address you used to register for your bursary. Please ensure you use an email address that is in use. For example, do not use your old school email address.

This will be a combination of internal transfers and BACS payments. For example, if you are awarded meals, this will be awarded to you via your Student ID card. If you are awarded course costs, this will most likely be awarded to you via a BACS payment (this means it will go in to your bank account). It will say on your ‘Final Award Letter’ how you will receive your bursary payments.

This may be because your bursary application is ‘Incomplete’. Please ensure you have completed all of the bursary application sections, uploaded your evidence, added your bank details and agreed to Terms and Conditions of the bursary. If sections are left unfinished, your bursary application could be listed as ‘Incomplete’, and it won’t have been submitted to the bursary team for review and assessment. If you haven’t received an email confirmation to say you have fully submitted your bursary application, please ensure you log back in and check you have completed the application in full.

The first travel BACS payments will be made on the 10^th of September, if you are enrolled student with an approved application. Then, further travel payments will be paid to you on the first Friday of every month.

The first course material payments (uniform, books, equipment) will be made on the 5^th of November. Tutors are aware that students may not have all of their kit at the start of term due to the payment date for course costs.

Student who are not in receipt of course costs on their bursary will need to order course kit themselves. You can speak to your tutors for order forms for your kit.

This could be due to attendance. Payments will not be made if your attendance drops below 90%.

You can provide a letter from an accountant, an annual tax review or your most recent audited accounts evidence from within the last 12-months.

No, we do not. You would need to provide the exact evidence that the bursary prompts you to add.

Yes, you will need to provide evidence of the full household income.

All evidence will need to be from within the last 3-months, so please provide an up-to-date letter by requesting one from the Job Centre.

If you are aged 16-18, you can apply for childcare support on the .gov website: http://www.gov.uk/care-to-learn/ – the phone number is 0800 121 8989

We would need to see if your course is eligible for childcare support. If it is, we could provide childcare for timetabled lessons on a term-time only basis. A direct payment would then be paid to the childcare provider on the 1^st week of each month. Please contact Student Services for more information on childcare support and to find out if your course is eligible.

You will need:

• Completed and signed childcare form – this will be on the website
• Full copy of child birth certificate
• Childcare contract/agreement
• Childcare Ofsted certificate – the childcare provider can provide you with thi

You will be given a trip code that you are able to then use when you follow the link your tutor sends you and use the code when ‘checking out’.

You would need to check the local travel provider websites. This tends to be Stagecoach and Centre Bus. Please see the links for support: https://www.stagecoachbus.com/ and https://www.centrebus.info/bus-services/

Please contact Student Services and we will provide you with a code and how-to guide to support you with purchasing it from the Stagecoach website. You will need a new code for each term (we only provide codes for students who are awarded a free bus pass).

• Travel: termly
• Course costs: one off payment
• Trip costs: when you are going on a trip (you may need to personally contribute towards your trip costs also).
• Meal bursary: this will be on your card for everyday you are timetabled to be in college. £4 from September 2021
• Print credit: one-off payment
• Residential: monthly
• Childcare: monthly