At LAE we are committed to ensuring that all students in our care, regardless of their socio-economic background, achieve the highest possible outcomes and can take full advantage of all the amazing opportunities that we offer. We are driven by a commitment to social mobility and widening access to higher education and career success. LAE is able to financially support students in a number of ways dependent on their needs. Parents/Carers - please note that the Free School Meals programme has now been extended into post-16 education.

Free School Meals

The Free School Meals programme has now been extended to include students in full-time post-16 education. We encourage all families to apply for this support, irrespective of whether they believe they are eligible or not, to help us ensure all families are receiving the support they are entitled to during their time at LAE.

LAE Vulnerable Bursary

A bursary of up to £1,200 per year is available to sixth formers in one of the defined vulnerable groups. You are eligible for the Vulnerable Bursary if you are:

• In care
• A care leaver
• Receiving one of the following in your own right:
  • Income Support/Universal Credit
  • Employment Support Allowance
  • Disability Living Allowance
  • Personal Independence Payments

LAE Discretionary Bursary

The LAE bursary is available to aid sixth formers in paying for academic resources, travel to school, educational visits and sports kit. Students facing financial difficulty are also invited to apply for the Opportunities Fund, an additional payment to fund educational endeavours.

The LAE bursary policy has been created in accordance with Department for Education guidelines that can be found here.

Criteria:

• All sixth formers eligible for Free School Meals are eligible for the bursary
• Sixth formers not eligible for Free School Meals whose household income is below £30,000 including all benefits
• 97% attendance each term. Authorised absence will be taken into consideration
• A good behaviour record with no more than a Level 1 Disciplinary Hearing in a term
• Aged over 16 and under 19 at 31 August 2016 and not an asylum seeker

The school reserves the right to cease the bursary should a sixth former not meet the criteria in a given term for example if attendance drops or there are behaviour concerns.

Application

There are three application points in the academic year. Should a sixth former have a successful application they do not need to reapply, assuming they continue to meet the criteria as laid out above. For sixth formers not eligible for Free School Meals, evidence of household income is required. The school is required to keep copies of documents for 6 years and will do so securely in accordance with data protection guidelines.

All applicants must sign an agreement to use the bursary for the purposes laid out above, to immediately inform the school should the household income change in an academic year and to demonstrate understanding that the bursary may be suspended if the criteria above are not met in a given term.

Payment

Sixth formers who are not eligible for Free School Meals will receive 50% of the bursary amount on their lunch cards to be used for purchasing meals in the school canteen and 50% placed on ParentPay. Sixth formers eligible for Free School Meals will receive 100% of the bursary on Parent Pay.

The bursary amount varies based upon the number of successful applications in a given term.

The bursary will be provided using ParentPay, which can then be used to purchase a number of items relating to educational need, such as educational trips and visits, sports kit and school lunch.