Funding for Care Leavers

The University of Exeter offers financial support to students who have been in care in the form of a full fee waiver for UK undergraduates and PGCE students starting in 2012 and 2013, and a Care Leavers’ Bursary. Please see below for more information on these schemes.

For the purposes of these schemes, the University follows the definition of care leaver used in the Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000. This is ‘someone who has been in the care of the Local Authority for a period of 13 weeks or more spanning their 16th birthday'.

Fee Waiver

In September 2012 and 2013, care leavers starting undergraduate or PGCE courses at the University of Exeter will not have to pay tuition fees. If you have identified yourself as someone who has been in care in your UCAS application, the University will contact you asking for further information. You will be asked to show that you meet the criteria described above. You must also be UK or EU fee status.

Care Leavers’ Bursary

To be eligible you will need to meet the following criteria:

• You are a care leaver (see definition above)
• You must have started your studies in September 2012 or later
• You must be under 25 when you start your course
• You must be in receipt of financial support from the university through the Exeter National Scholarship or Access to Exeter Bursary schemes

The bursary is intended to help with the cost of accommodation during the summer vacation period after your first and subsequent years of study (but not final year). The bursary amount is not fixed, but is decided by taking into account the additional cost of your accommodation needs.

To apply for this bursary, please contact Jen Stoneman in the Students’ Guild Advice Unit. Jen is the named contact within the Advice Unit for students from care and can provide advice on various aspects of finance.