Our undergraduate care leaver and estranged students receive an exclusive bursary each year of study.
If you qualify for ‘home’ fee status and meet the eligibility criteria set out below * you’ll be entitled to a bursary from the University each academic year. This bursary is on top of your normal undergraduate student funding package from Student Finance England, Wales or Northern Ireland.
*Students commencing courses in academic year 2025/26 will get a bursary worth £1,000 for each year they study and pay full tuition fees.
Am I eligible for a bursary?
The Care Leaver and Estranged Student Bursary is designed to provide financial support to undergraduate students to full time undergraduate students from care leaver or estranged backgrounds who are studying at our Stoke, Stafford or London campuses.
Considerations:
- Eligible students can claim the bursary in £500 increments, totalling no more than £1,000 per academic year.
- Students cannot claim the bursary twice in the same semester.
- The initiative will close at the end of semester one and reopen again in semester two, before closing for that academic year.
Eligibility Criteria
To qualify for our bursary and support package, you must meet either of the definitions below and be recognised as such by your student finance provider.
Care Leaver
A student under the age of 25 at the time of enrolment who:
- Has spent at least 13 weeks in care (e.g. foster care or a children’s home) since the age of 14 and was in care on their 16th birthday,
OR
- Was privately fostered until the age of 16 or was ‘looked after’ under a Special Guardianship Order.
Estranged Student
A student under the age of 25 at the time of enrolment who:
- Has no communicative relationship with either living biological parent,
AND
- Has been assessed as estranged by their student finance provider.
In addition, you must:
- Be an undergraduate ‘home’ fee status student, studying at University of Staffordshire *, on a full-time or sandwich course, paying the full tuition fee either yourself or through a sponsor (such as the NHS for some health courses).
- Be 25 or under when you start the course.
- Be entitled to funding for fees and living costs from Student Finance England, Wales or Northern Ireland.
- Be in receipt of the full tuition fee loan or comparable funding.
This bursary is only available to Level 4, 5 and 6 Undergraduate (UG) Full Time students studying at the University of Staffordshire Stoke, Stafford or London campuses. Please do not apply if you do not meet these criteria.
*If you are studying at a franchise college or university, please contact your college/university directly to enquire about any bursaries they may offer e.g. South Staffordshire College, City of Stoke Sixth Form College, Burton and South Derbyshire College, CECOS College, Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group etc.
Bursary Timeline 25/26:
First Payment (£500):
- Fund opens: 6th October 2025
- Fund closes: 5th December 2025
Second Payment (£500):
- Fund reopens: 5th January 2026 (start of Semester 2)
- Fund closes: 15th May 2026
How do I apply?
You can apply for the bursary through our partner platform Blackbullion.
If you've not already registered with Blackbullion, you'll be asked to register with them using your student email account before completing your application. Registration is free and will give you access to all Blackbullion's online resources and learning modules designed to help you develop essential money skills, as well as exclusive competitions. For more information on Blackbullion please watch the video Hi, we are Blackbullion (Youtube)
The bursary application will ask you questions about your course and your individual circumstances. You'll be asked to upload evidence to support your application. We won't be able to process your application without the required evidence.
We aim to provide students with an outcome to their bursary application within 10 working days, but this cannot be guaranteed. Decisions are final.
Supporting evidence
You will need to submit the following with your application – you can download a pdf copy of each from your Student Finance portal.
- Student Finance Entitlement letter (from the current academic year)
- Student Finance Confirmation of Care Leaver Status Letter, or Student Finance Confirmation of Estrangement Letter
How will the University know that I am a care leaver or an estranged student?
If you ticked the box on your UCAS application or indicated during online enrolment you’re a care leaver or an estranged student, we will contact you via your student email account.
Student Finance Information on Estrangement 2025/2026:
If you have not done so already you need to complete a Confirmation of Estrangement Form to confirm that you’re irreconcilably estranged from your parent(s). To be considered irreconcilably estranged from your parents, you won’t have had any written or verbal contact with either parent and this is unlikely to change. Usually, for a period of at least twelve months, but Student Finance will consider all cases.