FAQ's
FAQ's
WHEN CAN I APPLY FOR FUNDING?
You will be able to apply for funding as soon as you are offered a place on your chosen course. If your course is a Further Education course, then you will be automatically sent an invite to your registered email address from the Funding Team with instructions on how to apply as soon as your offer has been processed.
If you are studying at Higher Education Level (HNC or HND) then you must apply to the Student Awards Agency for Scotland at www.saas.gov.uk. Both Further and Higher Education applications must be done online.
WHAT IF I DON’T HAVE ACCESS TO A COMPUTER TO COMPLETE MY APPLICATION
If your course is a Further Education course, then the Information Hub team can help you do this. Please contact the Information Hub on 0300 303 0303 and a member of staff will talk you through the application form.
Alternatively, you can email them at info@ayrshire.ac.uk and request a call back or appointment on campus.
HOW DO I APPLY FOR HNC/HND STUDENT FUNDING?
Students studying at HNC or HND level need to apply to the Students Award Agency for Scotland at www.saas.gov.uk for funding. If you need assistance or advice to complete this process, then our Student Services team can help. You can email the Student Services team and request a phone call and a member of staff will talk you through the application form or make you an appointment on campus.
Student Services: studentservices@ayrshire.ac.uk
HOW DO I SUBMIT MY DOCUMENTS?
The Funding Team now operates in a paperless environment and no longer accept paper copies of your documents. All documents submitted must be in electronic format and there are different ways that this can be done:
Your college online funding application allows you to upload your documents straight into your account. On the ‘Home’ page of your funding application, there will be a tab to ‘Upload Documents’, select this function and you will have the option to upload the document to the relevant section of your checklist (e.g. Upload your birth certificate/valid passport to ID Documents). This will then be checked by Student Funding staff. If your document has been rejected, for example, your passport is out of date, we will send you an email explaining what has been rejected and the reason it has been rejected.
You can also email photos of your documents straight to the team using one of the funding email addresses.
WHAT HAPPENS IF I CAN’T UPLOAD OR EMAIL MY DOCUMENT?
Please do not send these by post as the Funding Team do not accept hard copies. You should email or phone the Information Hub team to let them know and they will be able to advise or offer you an appointment on campus. You will then be able to bring your documents to the nearest campus where a staff member will take photos and then send to a secure location for processing.
WHEN WILL I KNOW IF MY APPLICATION HAS BEEN SUCCESSFUL?
You will be notified at the initial assessment stage if you are not eligible for student support funding and whether you have the right to appeal. We will email you an appeal form, if eligible, which will need to be completed and returned by email to the appropriate campus. If you need assistance in completing the appeals form, you can email our Information Hub team who can assist you with this.
HOW DO I KNOW YOU HAVE EVERYTHING TO MAKE AN ASSESSMENT?
You can access your funding application at any time with the email address and password you set it up with. You will be able to check if there is anything outstanding on your checklist. Outstanding documentation will be highlighted with a red cross. We will also send automated reminders to your registered email address every fortnight requesting the outstanding documentation. Please ensure that you update Student Funding with any changes to your email address.
If there are documents that are marked grey, we no longer require this. If the documents are marked green, it means we have this document and you do not need to provide any further evidence for this category.
If your application states ‘Documents Requested’ but all documents are marked off this means that Student Funding staff have still to review your documents and application.
If your application states ‘Documents Requested’ but there are documents that have not been marked off, then this means that Student Funding staff cannot move your application forward until you submit the requested information.
If your application states ‘Documents Requested’ but there are documents that have not been marked off, but you know you have submitted these then please allow 5 working days for these to be matched with your application and reviewed.
If your application states ‘Admin Checked’ this means that your application and documents have been looked at and you will be in the queue to be calculated to receive your award letter.
I’M A CONTINUING STUDENT, DO I NEED TO SUBMIT ALL MY DOCUMENTS AGAIN TO BE ASSESSED?
Continuing students who received funding in the previous year will not need to resubmit proof of ID as we can take this from your file. All other documents will be required as we assess your application on your current personal and financial circumstances.
I’M A CONTINUING STUDENT WHO IS CARE EXPERIENCED AND RECEIVED FUNDING IN THE PREVIOUS YEAR. DO I NEED TO EVIDENCE THIS AGAIN?
Continuing students who received funding in the previous year will not need to resubmit proof of ID as we can take this from your file. All other documents will be required as we assess your application on your current personal and financial circumstances.
WHEN WILL I EXPECT TO RECEIVE MY AWARD LETTER?
If you are a Further Education student, then you will receive this directly from the college funding team. Within your online funding account, if your application is ‘Admin Checked’ it means we will be sending details of your award to you shortly.
Your award letter is sent electronically to your registered email account along with your acceptance. Acceptances are done through a confirmation email, and you must reply to this before payments will start. Remember you must return this form using your registered email account that we hold on record.
If you are a Higher Education student and have applied to SAAS then your award letter will be issued directly from them. You will have your own online SAAS account where you will be able to view your own information and status of application.
Childcare and Discretionary awards are issued separately for both FE and HE students and these will be sent by college funding staff.
WHAT IF I FORGET MY PASSWORD TO LOG IN TO THE FUNDING APPLICATION?
Remember this is not your college application and it will be the details you had set up for your funding application. If you are a continuing student, it will be the same details you had set up for the previous year.
If you have forgotten your password for the funding application, you can select the ‘Forgot your Password’ link on the main page of the application. You will then enter your email address, click submit and an email will be sent to you containing a temporary password.
Go back to the login page and enter your email and copy and paste this password to gain access. Do not type this password into the application as it will not recognise it. You can then change your password within the ‘My Account’ section to something more memorable.
WHEN SHOULD I EXPECT TO RECEIVE PAYMENT OF FUNDING?
If you have received your award letter double check it to make sure your payments are not on hold (e.g. for proof of income etc.). You must have submitted any appropriate documentation, where applicable and confirmed your acceptance via email to student funding prior to the payment date – this is normally the Friday before the payment date. Your award letter will detail when you will expect to receive your payment and how much you should expect to receive. If you download the MyAyrshire app then you will also be able to view your own payment details from any award and the status of your payments.
Further to this we advertise our payment dates for each fund online and you can access these via the following web address:
https://www1.ayrshire.ac.uk/students/funding-and-fees/funding/student-engagement-and-payment-1/
You must also have completed the enrolment process and be a “Live and Current” student within our college systems.
WILL MY ATTENDANCE/ENGAGEMENT ON MY COURSE AFFECT MY PAYMENTS?
It may. Payments will be automatically withheld for periods where you are not fully engaged, progressing or your conduct is deemed unsatisfactory by the college. This will be reflected in your register marks which you can view through your MyAyrshire app. Payment reporting periods can be viewed on the appropriate payment schedule which we advertise on the college website within the funding section which you can also access through the app.
Students will have access to their own attendance record via https://ayrshire.myday.cloud/dashboard/student. Please download the MyDay app for your phone. You can submit your self-certificates here if you have not been in attendance. Students are allowed a maximum of 3 self-certificates per semester. This must be done prior to the published cut-off dates.
If you are struggling with any aspect of your course, then please speak to a member of Student Services or your course lecturers who will be able to offer advice and support.
WHY HAVE I RECEIVED A TEXT AND EMAIL REGARDING PAYMENTS?
If you have received a text and email from student funding about payment, then it can mean two things.
- We are alerting you in advance to a possible issue with your upcoming payment which is determined by the information on your attendance/engagement register. If you have any unauthorised marks or have exceeded your self-certification allowance, then your payment(s) automatically go on hold. We let you know in advance so that you can resolve any register, attendance, or engagement issues with your curriculum before you miss the payment date.
- We now also like to let you know if your payments have been released and that you are getting paid so we will text and email you two days before the payment is due to go into your bank account. The alerts will fall in line with the payment dates on your award letter. The email that we send not only tells you what you are getting paid but if you still have payments that have not been released and why.
HOW DO I CONTACT THE FUNDING TEAM IF I NEED TO SPEAK TO SOMEONE?
If you need to speak to a Student Funding Assistant then you can either email the team with your enquiry or call them on 01563 495033. If emailing please provide a contact number in the event that your enquiry cannot be answered via email. We also have staff available on each of the campuses if you need to speak to someone face to face.
COURSE FEES AND PAYMENT
If your enquiry is regarding fees or payment for your course you would contact our Finance team. They can be contacted via email at coursefees@ayrshire.ac.uk
I NEED HELP PAYING MY RENT OR ARE IN FINANCIAL HARDSHIP – DISCRETIONARY FUNDING
The Funding team have Discretionary Funding that you can apply for. Only those who can prove they are in financial hardship will be considered as our funds are cash limited. Students who are single, paying full rent and only have student income are a priority access to this funding.
Other financial hardship will also be considered subject to funds available.
Contact Student Funding for further advice and to let them know if you want to be considered for additional discretionary assistance.
I NEED HELP WITH CHILDCARE COSTS
The Funding team have Childcare funds that you can apply to. Funds are income assessed and we pay a maximum of £6.00 per hour per child. We will take into consideration any alternative funding you may receive to support the cost of childcare including Child Tax Credit (Childcare element) and Local Government funding.
Childcare applications are now online and are accessed through our CAMS system. If you need childcare costs, then you can contact Student Funding for further advice and information.
If you are a student studying at Higher Education (HNC/HNC) and require childcare costs, then you should contact student funding to inform them so that you can be emailed detail on how to access CAMS.
I DIDN’T RECEIVE AN INVOICE PACK WITH MY CHILDCARE AWARD
Invoices are sent directly to your childcare provider via email on a monthly basis for each relevant payment period. Your childcare provider will then simply complete electronically and email the completed form back to funding. For your own record, you will also receive an email confirming that this has been sent to your childcare provider.