The bursary consists of various allowances as detailed in the Schedule of Rates and is intended to support students with the cost of their studies. The changes are being made to increase the availability of the bursary to support more students.
The two main changes are:
- increasing the earnings eligibility threshold and
- streamlining the various allowances students can claim.
The increase in the earnings threshold will now allow students with a household income of less than £34,000 to apply for a bursary. This is in line with the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) criteria. The revised Schedule of Rates provides a simpler structure of the bursary allowances to make it clearer and simpler for students to claim additional support.
These changes come as part of an increased offer to support students with their studies and are being implemented along with the recent introduction of the Practice Learning Support Grant which provides students with a grant of £750 to support them whilst attending practice placement.