Access to Bristol 2012

Withdrawal

• Withdrawing students will not have to repay any bursary payment as long as the student is in attendance on the date that bursary payments are made, they will receive their bursary instalment. If a student withdraws before the next bursary payment date, they will not receive further payments but the repayment of any previously paid instalments will not be sought.
• Withdrawing students will have their tuition fee waiver adjusted to meet their tuition fee liability for the year in which they withdraw.

Repeating studies

• Students repeating a year without any extenuating circumstances will not be entitled to the Access to Bristol financial package of support for their repeat year but will be able to resume receipt of the Access to Bristol financial package of support once the repeated year(s) is complete.
• Students repeating a year due to extenuating circumstances will be entitled to additional bursary funding for the repeat year.

Change of course or course length

• Students who lengthen their degree programme (e.g. students who transfer to a longer course or who decide to undertake a year abroad) after they have been notified of their bursary entitlement, will only be eligible for the bursary for the original length of their programme.
• Students who intercalate on a Medicine, Dental or Veterinary Science course will not be eligible for the Access to Bristol bursary in their intercalation year.
• After they have been notified of their bursary entitlement, students who transfer to a course with a tuition fee which is greater than the tuition fee for their original course, will be liable to pay the difference between the two tuition fee levels themselves.

Change in household income

• Students who are initially assessed as eligible to receive the Access to Bristol support package, but whose household income increases above £25,000 during the academic year, will stop being entitled to the Access to Bristol tuition fee waiver and Access to Bristol bursary.
• Affect on Tuition Fee Waiver: In such cases, the student's entitlement to the tuition fee waiver will cease and an adjustment made to their entitlement on a pro-rata basis for the period they were eligible. The student will then be advised of the period not covered by their tuition fee waiver and the amount of tuition fees that they will be liable to pay. They would be eligible to apply to their student funding provider (e.g. Student Finance England) for a non means-tested tuition fee loan to cover any amount of tuition fees not covered by the tuition fee waiver.
• Affect on Bursary: The student would not be expected to repay any instalment of the bursary already paid prior to the household income increasing above £25,000, but any instalment of the Access to Bristol bursary not already paid would be cancelled.
• Students who have graduated from the Access to Bristol scheme but who do not qualify for the Access to Bristol support package, on the basis of their household income, will have their entitlement reassessed if their household income falls below the qualifying threshold during the academic year.
• Entitlement to the Access to Bristol package of support will be reassessed annually. Therefore graduates of the scheme who may not have been eligible in one year due to their household income being too high, may be eligible in future academic years if they subsequently meet the qualifying household income threshold.

• The Access to Bristol bursary will be available to students as long as they enrol at the University of Bristol within three years of completing the Access to Bristol Scheme (e.g. students who undertake a gap year, or transfer into Bristol from another University).
• New UK undergraduate students who start a programme of study at the University of Bristol in 2012/13 and who are eligible for 'home' fees.
• Students who have successfully completed the Access to Bristol scheme (successful completion defined as having attended the majority of sessions provided in one academic year).
• Students who satisfy, by virtue of having been on the Access to Bristol scheme, a range of widening participation criteria including parental occupation, parental experience of higher education, domicile progression data and school performance, as collected in the Access to Bristol application form.
• Students whose household income is assessed by Student Finance England to be £25,000 or less.

All students who have successfully completed the Access to Bristol scheme will have any application to the University of Bristol tracked. Any students confirming a place at the University will automatically be eligible for consideration for the Access to Bristol Bursary.

• There are two elements to the Access to Bristol award: a tuition fee waiver and a bursary.
• Eligible students will receive a full tuition fee waiver (£9,000) in 2012/13. This amount will be reviewed each academic year so that the tuition fee waiver matches the tuition fees to be paid.
• Eligible students will also receive a bursary worth £3,750 in 2012/13.
• The University will review the value of the Access to Bristol Bursary from time to time.

Eligible students must firmly accept their conditional or unconditional offer to go forward for consideration for the Access to Bristol Bursary.

• Upon finishing the Access to Bristol Scheme, participants will be notified of successful completion and issued with a certificate. All students for the scheme will be invited to an Access to Bristol graduation ceremony to receive their certificate.
• Students will receive confirmation of their place at University from UCAS, after A-Level results day.
• Once you know your place has been confirmed, if you know that your household income is under £25,000 per year then you can now cancel your tuition fee loan if you requested one in your application for Student Finance. If you are unsure whether your household income is below £25,000 then call Student Finance England to check before cancelling your tuition fee loan (0845 300 5090).
• You can cancel your tuition fee loan by visiting the following SFE web page: http://www.sfengland.slc.co.uk/full-time-study/new-students/how-to-apply/changing-your-application.aspx
• Only once you are fully registered at the University will we be able to generate the tuition fee waiver and bursary payment. We would expect to do this by mid-October and contact you at that point.
• Students will receive correspondence from the Student Funding Office (SFO) confirming their Access to Bristol tuition fee waiver and bursary entitlement at the start of their undergraduate studies in the first term.
• The Access to Bristol bursary element will be paid directly into a student’s bank account using the BACS process.
• The Access to Bristol bursary element will be paid in three termly instalments.
• Students are required to provide the University with the correct bank details to ensure timely bursary payments.
• The University reserves the right to use the bursary to offset any debt owed to it by the student.

Students in any academic year who are entitled to the Access to Bristol package of support (full tuition fee waiver and bursary) cannot also be considered for the main University of Bristol tuition fee waiver/bursary package of support in the same academic year.