Guidance for local authorities on Care Experienced Bursary
Deputy First Minister John Swinney has written to Chief Executives all all local authorities in Scotland to highlight issues following the introduction of the Care Experienced Bursary for students in higher and further education. The letter includes a Policy Note to support local authorities, post-16 education bodies and relevant Corporate Parents.
The Policy Note clarifies how the Care Experienced Bursary should work alongside other financial support for care experienced young people provided by local authorities across a range of settings, including Continuing Care and Aftercare. The Note was developed by CELCIS in collaboration with COSLA (Convention of Scottish Local Authorities).
The letter highlights that some care experienced students in receipt of the Care-Experienced Bursary may have been subject to reduced financial support since the bursary was introduced. The bursary was never intended to replace other financial support which students may already receive, and for care experienced students, this replaces student loads with a non-repayable bursary.