Payment dates for bursaries and scholarships
When should you pay students their bursaries? Is it OK to delay payment into the second term?
OFFA guidance
We consider the payment dates of bursaries and scholarships to be a matter for you to determine as you see fit, and not as a material issue for access agreements. However, we expect you to make clear in your access agreement and the literature you send to institutions, your timetable for paying bursaries and scholarships.
Setting a payment date
We recognise that different institutions may want to award bursaries at different times – some choose to award bursaries at the start of the academic year to help students with their set-up costs, others wait until they have received payment from the Student Loans Company to cover students’ tuition fees, others pay at the end of the year and link to completion.
Second term payments
We are happy for institutions to delay payment of bursaries and scholarships into the second term or later, particularly in view of the fact that many institutions feel this gives students an injection of cash at a time when it is most beneficial.
Advertise changes clearly
If, at any point, you do decide to change the payment dates of your bursaries and scholarships, you will of course need to manage the expectations of prospective students by flagging up changes to previously advertised payment dates – for example on web sites and in any correspondence with applicants such as welcome packs.