Student Support

We provide funding to colleges for bursaries, childcare, Education Maintenance Allowance and discretionary funds for students up to, but not including, Higher National Certificate level.

We work with colleges to develop policy and look at how the funding is allocated through the Further Education Student Support Advisory Group (FESSAG) and Student Support Network.

We also issue public consultations on Student Support matters.

SFC Student Support Guidance

Bursary fund guidance

The National policy for further education bursaries guidance sets out the conditions for use of bursary funds allocated to colleges by SFC.

Discretionary fund guidance

The Discretionary fund guidance sets out the conditions for use of the further education discretionary fund.

Childcare fund guidance

The Childcare fund guidance sets out the conditions for use of the childcare funds by colleges.

Fee waiver grant guidance

The Fee waiver grant guidance describes the categories of students for which a college may use the fee waiver grant from SFC.

EMA guidance

The EMA guidance for colleges explains the EMAs (Education Maintenance Allowances) that are available across Scotland to young people aged 16 to 19.

Further information

For further information, please see Information for Colleges or email: studentsupport@sfc.ac.uk.

See also Advice for students.

Student Information Scotland

The Student Information Scotland (SIS) portal is a new Scottish Government resource which puts information about FE and HE student funding and finance altogether in one place for the first time, including help for parents, carers and education professionals. The site has recently gone into public beta test phase and feedback is welcome.