Financial Support
We’re delighted you’re thinking of joining Dudley Sixth for your studies. We wanted to tell you more about the types of financial support you may be able to receive, depending on your personal circumstances, and how to apply for and access this support.
New for the 2025-26 academic year, we are introducing PayMyStudent, an online way to manage the range of financial support which may be available to you as a 16–18-year-old or adult learner here at college.
Financial Support for 16-18
If you’re aged 16-18 then your course will be free to study.
16-18 Bursary Funding for Vulnerable Young People
This is specifically for Learners who are care experienced . Eligible learners may receive a bus pass, free college meals and other course related items such as kit and uniform dependant on study programme.
You can only apply for a Vulnerable Bursary of up to £1200 if you are in one of the groups that have been defined by the Government as being a ‘vulnerable group of Learners’ and meet the eligibility criteria. This includes young people who are living apart from their parents and are:
- Looked after (in care) or have recently left care (Care Order in force)
- A care leaver
- In receipt of Income Support (or Universal Credit) in their own right (not their parents)
- Disabled and in receipt of both Employment & Support Allowance (Universal Credit) and Disability Living Allowance (Personal Independence Payments) in their own right (not their parents)
- Have caring responsivities for a child and are living independently from their parents – have a tenancy agreement in their own name. You will need to provide up to date evidence to confirm receipt of your Benefit, plus a tenancy agreement in your own name – or a recent letter from Social Services confirming your care status.
16-18 Travel Support Bursary
- All full time 16/18-year-old learners will be issued with an electronic* West Midlands Travel bus pass for term 1 to help with the transition to college. The bus pass will be issued to a mobile device. To receive the bus pass learners should install the Travel West Midlands Mticket app on their phone and create an account within the app using their college email address, all college email addresses start with a learner number (for example 00123456) followed by @dudleylearners.co.uk.
- The app needs to be on the learner’s phone not a parents or guardians. Links for the app are as follows:
- Continuing travel support for terms 2 and 3 is confirmed once a 16/18 bursary application is submitted with household income evidence, so an income assessment can be carried out.
- Application is made via PayMyStudent or alternatively a direct link can be emailed to learners. Link requests should be emailed to the student finance team at [email protected].
- *Learners who do not have access to a smartphone should contact the student finance team at [email protected] or can call to speak to a member of the team on 01384 363 555 about alternative bus pass types.
Free College Meals
Free meals at college are slightly different to free meals at school as there is an eligibility criteria linked to household income. This can mean learners may not be eligible for a free meal at college even if they received a free meal at school. There are two type of free meal schemes:
Government free college meals
To be eligible for free meals learners must:
- Be aged between 16 and 18 years on 31 August 2025 or
- Be aged over 19 who are continuing the same study programme (19+ continuers) you started before you turned 19 or
- Be aged over 19 and have a valid Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP)
In addition to the above, learners or their parents must be receipt of one or more of the following benefits:
- Income Support
- Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- Support under part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- The guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
- Child Tax Credit (provided they are not entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190, as assessed by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC))
- Universal Credit with net earnings not exceeding the equivalent of £7,400 per annum
College Discretionary free meals
To be eligible for college free meals you must:
- Be aged between 16 and 18 years on 31 August 2025 or
- Be aged over 19 who are continuing the same study programme (19+ continuers) you started before you turned 19 or
- Have a total household income of below £42,000 per annum – this will be determined by a full income assessment carried out by the student finance team at Dudley college of Technology
How do learners access their free meal
The free meals system here at college is a cashless electronic system embedded into learner ID badges. Eligible learners receive a credit of £5.00 for each of their timetabled days, the credit can be redeemed at any of Dudley College food outlets easily by presenting an eligible ID badge at the till. The free meals credit is refreshed each timetabled day, any credit left on the card at the end of the college day is removed, so each new day starts with the full £5.00 entitlement – this system will not allow learners to build up credit over a period of days.
How do Learners apply for free meals
Learners wishing to apply for free college meals should make an application via the PayMyStudent portal ensuring they submit income evidence . Applications submitted without necessary evidence cannot be processed.
Childcare Support for 16/18 Year Olds
Learners under the age of 20 can apply for help with the cost of childcare to cover timetabled hours.
An OFSTED registered childcare provider must be used and no support can be offered for informal or unregistered childcare. Childcare funding will be for agreed hours/costs only and is capped at £65 per child per day up to a maximum of £180 per week (regardless of number of children), where a childcare provider charges above the capped rate, the learner is expected to pay the difference and Dudley College reserve the right not to meet the costs of retainer fees when said fees are deemed to be too high.
Please note: where a child is aged 3 or 4 at the start of the 2025/26 academic year or turns 3 during the year they will be eligible for Nursery Education Funding (NEF) this entitles eligible children to 15 hours of free nursery education, this also relates to some 2 year olds who may be eligible for the government scheme called Time for Twos, these 15 hours must be used to cover the learner’s childcare needs in the first instance whilst at college. Where the 15 hours is not sufficient to cover all timetabled lessons Dudley College may fund a small “top up”.
Learners should not begin using a childcare provider before confirmation of eligibility from Dudley College is confirmed as any fees incurred with be the learners responsibly.