Bursary
Bursary Support and Free Meals
The college has funding to provide financial support for students who have the greatest financial need. Students who meet the eligibility criteria will be able to apply for a college bursary and/or free meals. Please meet the application deadlines and ensure you submit all the required evidence to speed the process of the review.
Bursary
There are two parts to the bursary scheme
Student Vulnerability – This means that the student is in care, leaving care, living independently, are disabled and receive ESA/Universal credit and Disability Credit or Personal Independence Payment in their own name.
Other – Based on household income being under £30,000 – this includes whatever your family receives (salary, pension, benefits and/or tax credits 2026/27) on an annual basis. Evidence will be required to support this. Students eligible for this may receive up to 5 half termly payments to contribute towards essential course costs whilst at college plus other payments for example support travel costs, contributions to residential trips etc.
Payments may be affected if attendance/behaviour falls below certain acceptable standards.
*Please note this application will not be accessible until after Induction 2026/27.
Free Meals
The college has a scheme offering free meals to students who meet the eligibility criteria. If you are under 19 and live in a household in receipt of the following you may be eligible:
- Universal Credit (regardless of earnings)
- Income Related Employment and Support Allowance
- National Asylum Seeker’s Support
- Guarantee Element of Pension Credit
As eligibility is reviewed annually due to recent government changes, you must reapply for FCM each year and provide evidence to confirm your eligibility, even if you previously received FSM at your secondary school.
Evidence is accepted via PMS (Pay My Students) only, where you should also submit your FSM or/and Bursary application.
If you are eligible for FSM, the meal allowance will be topped up on the Mobile App (T2E). Full details will be shared on the Student Intranet.
Use the Free School Meals Eligibility Checker – You will need your parent’s or guardian’s date of birth and NI number.
As the Bursary Handbook sets out, applications are based on need. Government Guidance sets out requirements, “to help students with the cost of essential books or equipment or travel to college. Please note that bursary is not intended to support costs, such as living costs, extracurricular activities etc.
Subject departments have supplied estimates of the costs across the year. These have been used as the basis of the initial payments. Payments may vary across the year.
Bursary payments are made each half term. The next payment for Mainstream will be paid into your bank account on 2nd Nov2026 if you are entitled to Bursary. The deadline for receiving applications is 30th Sept 2026, in order to receive the next payment.
Upon submitting your application/query there may be a 3-week response time due to the volume of applications received in Finance. We will assess your application and send you a confirmation letter via your student email; with the decision, either Yes / No or a request for further information where the application is incomplete.
Please be aware that your attendance rate is required to be over 90% to receive Bursary. Attendance used for each payment is based on your attendance during the previous half-term. (e.g. February payment will be based on Half-term to December). If there is a specific reason for the low attendance that you feel should be taken into account then, please contact your tutor who will contact us regarding any changes that need to be made. You might not get the full assessed amount and this may be due to your attendance being low.
Any applications received up to 18th December 2026 will be back-dated and paid in January 2027 if you are eligible. Any applications received after the 18th December 2026 will be assessed and paid in January 2027 but NOT backdated.
We encourage all students to apply for a bursary. Please apply as soon as possible to ensure you can benefit from the support available.
If we have contacted you to request additional proof of income or updated bank details, please ensure these are submitted soon after we notify you. Without this information, we will be unable to review your application.
If you have not yet applied for a bursary and wish to do so, you must submit your application and receive confirmation from us before the deadline.
Please note that the deadline for the first payment is 30th September 2026, Wednesday.
If you have previously applied for Bursary, please email details of any changes to bursary@leyton.ac.uk explaining what has changed. You may be asked to supply further evidence, otherwise please apply for a Bursary in the normal way.
Any bank detail changes must be notified to Finance urgently, to prevent delay in payment.
The college has a scheme offering free meals to students who meet the eligibility criteria. If you are under 19 and live in a household in receipt of the following you may be eligible:
- Universal Credit (regardless of earnings)
- Income Related Employment and Support Allowance
- National Asylum Seeker’s Support
- Guarantee Element of Pension Credit
If you received FSM in year 11, you are entitled to FSM at the college with a daily allowance of £4.50. To continue receiving FSM beyond September, you will need to provide evidence of eligibility as soon as possible. If your evidence is not yet ready by September, your FSM will continue while your check is completed.
Evidence is accepted via PMS (Pay My Students), where you should also submit your application.
If you are eligible for FSM, the meal allowance will be topped up on the Mobile App (T2E) below.
If you are not sure, please use the Free School Meals Eligibility Checker – You will need your parent’s or guardian’s date of birth and NI number. Once it shows that you are eligible, you can upload it to PMS.
Free Meals allowances are uploaded to the ‘Time 2 Eat’ App on your mobile daily. Students will need to download the app from their ‘App store’ for Apple phone, the ‘Play Store’ for Android or scan the QR code below.
If you still need to provide us with evidence of Free College Meals, you can now use pps.lgfl.org.uk which is an eligibility checker. Please provide Finance with a copy of this.
Previously, students who were residents of Waltham Forest and eligible for Free College Meals received vouchers during holiday periods, sent directly to the students. Waltham Forest Council no longer issues these food vouchers for sixth form college students so this is not currently available.
