Financial support

Tuition fees are free for all courses for 16-18 year olds.

A grant – or ‘bursary’ – to help with the costs of living as a student might be available to you.

You can apply for help with:

Travel expenses
The cost of essential uniforms, books, or equipment for your course
Support towards the cost of lunch on timetabled days at college
Other learning-related costs (e.g. trips)
Childcare costs for timetabled days in college

To be eligible for support, you or your household must be in receipt of a means-tested benefit, or have a total annual household income below £50,000 (with no individual income exceeding £30,000). Funding is based on individual eligibility and funding rules apply. Apprenticeships, Work Based learning and full-cost programmes are not eligible for support.

Application process

1. Register and complete the online application form at bdc.paymystudent.com
You will need to be enrolled at the college and log in using your college details.

2. You will receive a confirmation email once your application has been received – this can take up to 2 working days to receive.

3. Once your application has been assessed, an email will be sent confirming eligible payments, a payment schedule and details of any next steps. Processing time is 25 working days from day of submission

Payment dates

Payments can only be released after 42 days of study (6 weeks) from your course start date. Once approved, payments are usually made once a month, directly in your bank account. This rule applies to all students and cannot be changed.

Payments may be considered for backdates to the date an application has been submitted. Backdated payments before this date are not guaranteed and may require additional support.

Attendance criteria

You must have at least 95% attendance to receive your financial support payments. Missing classes without a valid reason may delay or stop your payments. Always speak to your tutor if you have issues affecting attendance. If you withdraw from your course, your bursary payments will stop and will not be backdated.

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All correspondence is sent to your college Gmail account, so please familiarise yourself with this. If you are unsure, your tutor should be able to help you.

Payments should be made into a bank account in your own name. If you do not have a bank account in your own name, please speak with the Student Financial Support team prior to submitting your application.

For more information, visit BDC Online (BDC Google account required), call 0203 667 0050 or email sfs@bdc.ac.uk.

Under the government’s Care to Learn scheme, you can get help with childcare costs if you’re aged under 20 at the start of your course.

Read about the scheme, who qualifies, and the kinds of help you can get on the government website: gov.uk/help-with-childcare-costs/support-while-you-study

Transport for London offers a range of Travelcards that offer students discounted or free travel. Including:

16+ Zip Oyster Photocard – offers free travel on buses and discounted travel on the Tube.
18+ Student Oyster Photocard – offers a 30% discount on weekly or monthly Travelcard season tickets.
19+ Student Oyster Photocard – offers a 30% discount on weekly or monthly Travelcard season tickets.
Apprentice Oyster Photocard – offers a 30% discount on weekly or monthly Travelcard season tickets.

Visit www.tfl.gov.uk to apply.

For further help, visit the Financial Support team on Advice Street at our Rush Green campus, or call us on 0203 667 0050.

A grant – or ‘bursary’ – to help with the costs of living as a student might be available to you.

You can apply for help with:

Travel expenses
The cost of essential uniforms, books, or equipment for your course
Support towards the cost of lunch on timetabled days at college
Other learning-related costs (e.g. trips)
Childcare costs for timetabled days in college