Educational Grants Programme

Be studying on a further education course in England, Wales or Northern Ireland which is Level 3 or below, including pre-access and access.

OR              

Be studying on a further education course in Scotland which is Level 6 or below, including pre-access and access.

Be in receipt of one or more of the means-tested benefits listed below in their own right or be dependant on parents/carers in receipt of these benefits.

OR

Be an Asylum Seeker in receipt of an Application Registration Card (ARC).

• Universal Credit
• Pension Credit
• Housing Benefit
• Council Tax Support
• Working Tax Credit
• Child Tax Credit
• Income-based JSA
• Income-related ESA
• Income Support

Please note:  We will require evidence of receipt of means-tested benefits, such as a recent Universal Credit Statement or bank statement (less than 3 months old) OR an Application Registration Card (ARC).

Have right of residency in the UK or be an asylum seeker (overseas students are ineligible for grants from Family Action).

Be studying at a publicly funded Further Education College in the UK.

• Those who do not meet the criteria above.
• Employees of the referring college and members of their family.
• Applicants who received a grant within the last 12 months.

Authorised members of college staff (usually student, welfare or financial advisers) from a Further Education College on behalf of their students.

Only Further Education Colleges that meet the criteria below will be able to register and apply for grants on behalf of their students:

• Colleges must be publicly funded institutions offering further education courses (including pre-access and access courses).
• Have an email addresses that includes the domain name “ac.uk”.
• Be able to process grants payments in a timely manner (made by BACS to the college) from Family Action on behalf of their students.*
• Have authorised members of college staff, such as student/welfare/financial advisers, able to apply for grants on behalf of their students.
• Be able to assist Family Action in evaluating educational grants including submitting feedback for successful grants.

*We require appropriate evidence of the college bank account, e.g. a bank statement, before we can make grants payments. Satisfactory evidence will only be required once; thereafter all grants payments will be made into the same account.

• Students cannot submit an application on their own behalf.
• We do not accept applications from members of the public.
• Employees of the referring college cannot apply for a grant for themselves, members of their family or for other members of college staff.

Applications can be submitted from 3^rd September to 31^st May each year subject to sufficient funding being available.  If funds are not available the on-line application process will be closed and information will be posted on our website at www.family-action.org.uk

The average grant is likely to be in the region of £250 to a maximum of £300.

We are only able to consider one application per student in any 12 month period.

The number of grants we will make to each college will be limited to 30 per college between 1^st September and 31^st May each year.

Basic laptops/tablets, basic smartphones, books required for the course, equipment required for the course (that is not provided by the college) and travel to and from college.

We will not fund anything other than the above items which includes course fees, costs already incurred, items provided by the college for the course, printers, printer ink, printer paper, childcare, study outside the UK, online courses, higher education courses, postgraduate study or personal expenditure not directly associated with study such as clothing or household bills.

Yes, we will require evidence of receipt of means-tested benefits in the name of the student or their parents/legal guardian, such as a recent Universal Credit Statement or bank statement (less than 3 months old) OR an Application Registration Card (ARC).

We may require additional documentation after the application has been submitted.  If this is the case we will contact you, within 2 working days of the meeting date at which the application was initially considered, asking you for additional supporting documentation.

Prior to submitting an application on behalf of the applicant it is essential that you ensure they understand how information provided on the application form will be used and to obtain their informed consent to their data being processed by Family Action, for the purposes of making an application for a grant.

You will be asked to confirm that you have received the informed consent of the applicant before submitting an application on their behalf on the application form.

Full details are provided in the Terms and Conditions which you need to confirm you have read before completing an application.

1. Press CTRL and click on this link which will take you to the application form: https://family-action-trustsearch.org.uk/apply/edu/intro.aspx
2. Enter your email address and click on the link to continue. Please note: You will not be able to submit an application unless your email address has the domain name “ac.uk”
3. If you are new to the system, the system will ask a few basic questions about you before creating your account. It will then email you a temporary password.
4. Click on the link provided in the email and follow the instructions to set up your account password. Once you have set up a password it can be used for all applications.
5. Click “Create a new Education application” and complete the application form.
6. The application is saved automatically as you move from one page to another. If you wish to save your application form and return to it later click the save button on the last screen completed.
7. Click “Submit” to send your application to Family Action. Note: After you click “submit” you will not be able to make changes as you will no longer be able to access the application.

NOTE: Once you have a password it can be used for all applications. If you forget your password just follow the instructions on the screen to create a new password.

1. Press CTRL and click on this link https://family-action-trustsearch.org.uk/apply/edu/intro.aspx
2. Enter your email address and click on the link.
3. When prompted, enter your password and click on the link. If you forget your password just follow the instructions on the screen to create a new password.
4. Either click on “create a new education application” OR select an incomplete application by clicking on the application number to continue.

Email the Grants Service at [email protected] detailing your problem and using screen grabs to illustrate your problem, if appropriate.  The grants service will get back to you as quickly as possible. We review all emails and if our automated response does not answer your questions we will reply individually and telephone if necessary if a contact number is provided.

We are only able to offer limited telephone support so in the first instance please email your enquiry to [email protected]. Our telephone helpline is currently open between 1pm to 3pm from Tuesday to Friday. Calls will not be taken outside these hours however you can always email us. 

1. You will immediately receive an automated email providing you with a unique reference number for the application submitted (please quote this number in any future correspondence) and the date of the meeting at which the application will be considered by the grants panel. A copy of the application form submitted is attached to this email.
2. You will be informed of the grants panel’s decision, by email, within 2 working days of the meeting date at which the application is considered.
3. If the grant application is deferred then you will have 2 weeks in which to provide the information asked for so that the application can be assessed. If the information has not been received within 2 weeks then the application may be made unsuccessful. If you wish to appeal this decision and can supply the information requested when the application was deferred we will be happy to reconsider our decision providing sufficient funds remain available. See below on how to appeal.

If the grant application is successful a payment will be made by BACs, to the college bank account, before the end of the week following the date on which the application was considered. A remittance advice will be sent to the email address provided on the application form.

In order to be able to provide the generous donors, our supporters and the wider

community with the assurance that donations are directly benefiting those eligible to apply to this grants programme, we need to be able to demonstrate the difference the award of a grant has as made to the student.

We therefore ask for feedback about the impact of grants awarded. If the applicant provided consent for us to contact them at the time the application was submitted we will contact them direct. If they did not provide consent or do not respond to our request for feedback we will contact the member of staff that submitted the application.

Feedback will be requested via email, or otherwise, as determined by us from time to time. The feedback provided must be anonymised and not include any personal data about the applicant.

We reserve the right to refuse to consider further applications for an individual or further applications from the college if we consider that feedback requested has unreasonably failed to be provided.

We reserve the right to request evidence that any grant payment made has been used for the purpose set out in the application.

The majority of unsuccessful applications are because the applicant does not meet our eligibility criteria so it is very important to check these before taking the time to submit an application.  The other key reason is because funds are not available – we have allocated all the funds.

Eligibility criteria are published on the website where we also publish updates on funds available at any given time so it is important that you read ALL information available on the website before submitting your application.

If your grant application is unsuccessful and you would like us to review our decision we are happy to do so on receipt of an email detailing the reasons why you feel a review is required.  In your email please provide the unique reference number of the application in the subject line of the email and send it to [email protected]  We will respond to each review request individually as soon as we can which will usually be within 7 working days.

Please note we will only enter into correspondence with the referring organisation that submitted the application. 

Email:           [email protected]

Post:            With regret we are unable to acknowledge or respond to postal enquiries unless an email address is provided.

Phone:          07816 408119 on Tuesday to Friday from 1pm to 3pm. Calls will not be taken outside these hours however you can always email us.

NOTE:  The grants service is open between 9.00 a.m. and 3.00 p.m. Tuesday to Friday. The grants service is closed on Mondays.