Universal credit disregarding student nurse bursary.

I have a client who is a student nurse, in Wales and in receipt of a NHS bursary and student loan top up from student finance Wales. She has just had a baby and her bursary is in payment whilst on maternity.

As far as I can see from the CPAG student handbook the bursary payments should be disregarded in full in her UC calculation. UC however are taking them into account in full.

How the student loan is dealt with in a UC calculation is clear in the UC regs and DM guidance.

However I cannot see anywhere in the legislation a specific reference to disregarding a ‘bursary payment’.

Could someone please direct me to the relevant guidance or law on this so I can use it in my challenge to UC.

Thanks
Pippa

A bursary would normally fall within the definition of “grant” in UC Reg. 68. See also specific guidance on NHS funding at ADM H6077. Only, a ‘bursary’ paid to a 16-19 yr old (previously called an educational maintenance allowance) is specifically ignored by the regs.

It is worth noting that benefit regs. on issues like student funding and its treatment is often ‘one step behind’ developments in education. Amendments to benefit regs. and DWP guidance sometimes lags behind the introduction of changes within education provision. Add to that the differing student (inc NHS) funding available within the devolved administrations and that terms like ‘bursary’ can be used by individual education institutions / funding providers etc to mean rather different things.

My understanding is that there are variety of funding streams / types for NHS professionals dependent on the qualification, education setting / provider / mode of attendance / devolved govt. etc. So it may be worth checking exactly which NHS funding/bursary your client receives just in case it can be argued that it does not fall within the “grant” definition. For example I recall (and memory may not be serving me well) that there was a big issue way back when about NHS Nurse 2000 funding and whether it was a “grant” or earnings for means tested benefits when the scheme was introduced. Similarly Ruskin College here in Oxford changed the terms of it own bursary scheme (paid in addition to student loans etc) a few years ago which caused issues with how it should be treated for benefits.