You may receive extended funding if you’re unable to complete the final placement of your course in the time required.
Who can apply
If your extra attendance relates to any module other than your final placement, you will not be eligible for extended funding.
If you're only eligible to receive the Placement Travel Allowance (PTA), extended funding is not available regardless of your circumstances.
Read our guidance on repeat funding to see if this applies to you.
To be considered for additional funding, the reason for your placement extension must include either:
- serious illness of either yourself or a close family member
- bereavement in your close family
- lack of available places resulting in the late start of your placement but not if you have previously refused an available placement
- breakdown of a placement resulting in the need to start again through no fault of your own.
Additional funding will not be considered if:
- you delayed your placement to take a holiday
- you had unauthorised or unexplained absence
- you failed your placement unless this was for an exceptional reason.
To be considered for extended funding, you must also be:
- extending or deferring your final year placement, as agreed by your university or college.
You will also need to be:
- in receipt of an undergraduate or postgraduate bursary in the academic year you require an extension. This must not be only the PTA.
- studying an approved undergraduate or postgraduate social work course.
How to apply
To apply for additional funding, ask your university or college to contact us with the details.
You can also upload a letter to your MyFunding account or email us. We may ask for evidence of your circumstances.
Contact Social Work Bursaries.
A new application isn't required unless you're a postgraduate course student and you’re applying for additional childcare costs during the dates of your extension.
To apply, download and complete a Childcare Allowance (CCA) application form. This is available in the 'Apply' section of your MyFunding account. Once completed, upload this to your MyFunding account.
The final decision will be made by Social Work Bursaries and not your university.
Available funding
Additional funding is available for up to 20 weeks.
This is available for any part of your new placement schedule that goes past both:
- the scheduled end date of your original placement and
- the end date of your normal bursary award.
Your bursary award end date is:
- 31 August if you started the year in September
- 31 December if you started in January.
Any more funding will include the non-income assessed element of the bursary. It will also include the income-assessed element if you receive this. Additional funding will not include any contribution towards your tuition fees.
Calculating your extended funding uses a pro-rata amount of your final year award. This is based on the number of days of your placement extension and does not include any CCA you claim. The CCA will be calculated using the actual costs you expect to pay.