A Warm Welcome from your Student Funding Team

Congratulations you’re now a student at Ayrshire College!

Now that you’ve just started college, we’re hoping that you have taken the appropriate steps to ensure that you will be financially supported while you study however if you have not yet applied, here’s a gentle reminder of what funding is available.

Bursary Funding

If you are a full-time Further Education student 18 years old and over, then you should have already been invited to apply for your funding as soon as you were offered a place.  Bursary funding can provide you with living costs, travel, and study kit allowance (subject to individual assessment and meeting policy requirement).

Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA)

If you are a Further Education student between 16 – 17 years old and have officially left school, then you should also have already been invited to apply for your funding as soon as you were offered a place.  Education Maintenance Allowances (EMA) gives financial support to eligible 16- to 17-year-olds who want to continue learning.  Students within this age category will also be eligible to apply for travel and study kit allowance (subject to individual assessment and meeting policy requirement).

SAAS - Fees, Grants and Student Loan

If you are a full-time Higher Education student studying at HNC/HND level, then you should have applied to SAAS for your funding package.  This funding includes applying for Fees, supplementary grants such as Lone Parent Grant, Young Student Bursary, Independent Student Bursary, Student Loan, Care Experienced Bursary and more.  For more detailed information please check out www.saas.gov.uk where you can also apply.

Childcare Funding

If you have children, then you can apply for assistance with your childcare costs but only for the days when you are timetabled to be studying or in a mandatory work placement as part of your course.  The college can only give assistance with registered childminders, nurseries, or breakfast/after school clubs which both further and higher education students can apply.  Childcare Fund applicants are subject to individual assessment and must meet policy criteria.  Students awarded financial support from this fund do not receive payment with all payments being made directly to your childcare provider. 

Discretionary Funding

The purpose of the College Discretionary Fund is to assist students who endure financial difficulties while attending college.  It is used mostly to assist students who have their own accommodation and require assistance in paying their housing costs and associated expenses.  Only students who can provide proof that they are suffering from financial difficulties will be considered for an award.  The amount each student receives will be dependent on their personal circumstances.

Payments from the Discretionary Fund are normally made on a fortnightly basis however emergency one-off payments may also be considered.  Any payments made will be based on a student’s immediate hardship.

Further and Higher Education COVID Discretionary Funding

The Scottish Government has made additional funding available to colleges that offers emergency financial support to help students who are facing hardship because of the coronavirus (COVID19) outbreak.  Funds are cash limited therefore priority will be given to students who are unable to secure employment because of the pandemic however all eligible students impacted financially by COVID19 can apply

We now have staff back on campus to assist you at our service desk

The team is still offering a blended delivery therefore we have changed the way we offer our students support.  Our service desk will be open Monday to Friday between 9 am and 4 pm each day. Staff will not be available outwith these hours at the desk but can still be contacted via email or telephone until 4.45 pm.  The main service desk function for the foreseeable future is to assist funding applicants to provide documentation in support of any funding application. Students should submit all documents electronically either through their online account or by email whenever possible however staff members can assist and take photographic evidence of documents on occasions where students have difficulty with this digital process.  We encourage only students who cannot provide electronic documents to come to the desk for this service.  Staff no longer handle original documents, copies or make hard copies.  All general enquiries can be answered remotely whether via emailed to the campus inbox, via telephone call or Microsoft Team and Zoom.  We can also make individual appointments if this is required.

How to contact us

You can seek advice from the Funding Team at each main campus or by emailing the campus where you attend below:

Ayr Campus - studentfunding_ayr@ayrshire.ac.uk
Kilmarnock Campus - studentfunding_kilmarnock@ayrshire.ac.uk
Kilwinning Campus - studentfunding_kilwinning@ayrshire.ac.uk

You can also call us with your enquiry - Telephone Number: 01563 495033

We also have a Frequently Asked Questions section on the College website which is updated regularly which may be able to answer some of your questions Frequently Asked Questions (ayrshire.ac.uk)

You can also access more detailed information on our college website by following these links.

Funding Quickguides (ayrshire.ac.uk)

Student Engagement and Payment (ayrshire.ac.uk)

If you are studying HNC/HND  www.saas.gov.uk