You must meet all of the following criteria:
- You are entering or already studying on a social work course that has been approved by the General Social Care Council (GSCC), the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC), the Care Council for Wales or the Northern Ireland Social Care Council (NISCC).
- If you are studying a joint discipline course which includes social work, you should apply to NHS Student Bursaries.
- You must not already hold a higher education social work qualification, including the Diploma in Social Work (DipSW).
- You are studying on a college based course and you are not receiving any of the following support from a social care employer:
- any paid time off to allow you to attend your studies;
- payment of all or part of your tuition fees;
- payment from a practice learning provider for undertaking placement duties for them;
- funds through the Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC);
- funds through the Department of Children, Schools and Families (via social work reform funds - for example the CWDC graduate recruitment scheme)
- any other form of support to assist with your social work training
- You are studying on a college based course and if you are receiving a retainer, the retainer meets all of the following criteria:
- the retainer is offered as an incentive to engage in employment with the retainer provider once the recipient qualifies as a social worker, and not as support towards the recipient's social work training;
- the retainer must be paid back if the recipient does not complete their training or engage in employment with the provider;
- the recipient is not and will not be engaged in employment with, be contracted to, on a temporary assignment with or seconded to the organisation(s) providing the retainer, throughout the social work training;
- the retainer is not funded from the CWDC or Department of Children, Schools and Families (via social work reform funds - for example the CWDC graduate recruitment scheme).
- You are studying on a college based course and you are not receiving funding from a publicly funded body. Note: funding through the Access to Learning Fund, Student Finance England, Government Benefit Agencies and bursaries from your HEI is excluded