Cyngor Gofal Cymru / Care Council for Wales

Information for Applicants

Following a review of the Care Council for Wales Social Work Bursary Scheme, there has been a refocus to ensure that the Scheme continues to be sustainable and remains as a fair and equitable incentive to train for students across Wales. Changes include allocating a notional number of Bursaries to each Social Work Programme in Wales to ensure a fair distribution of Bursaries across Programmes.

Guidance for the new intake of Social Work students wishing to apply for a Social Work Bursary in the academic year 2012/13:

• 226 Social Work Bursaries are available, an increase of 10% on 2011/12
• Of these 226 Bursaries, each Social Work programme will be allocated a set number to ensure a fair distribution of Bursaries across Programmes
• Each programme will ‘nominate’ a selection of students who will be able to apply to the Care Council for a Bursary.
• If you wish to apply for a Bursary, please inform the Social Work Department of your university or college as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.
• Programmes will provide a list of nominated students and their contact details to the Care Council’s Student Funding team, to enable the Care Council to distribute application forms. Programmes will have no further involvement in the Bursary application process - the Care Council remains responsible for distributing and assessing all Bursary applications, and will communicate directly with applicants on the progress of their applications
• Nominated students will receive a Social Work Bursary application form and guidance booklet via email from studentfunding@ccwales.org.uk
• Application forms will be distributed from the 1st June onwards.
• Applications should be completed electronically and returned via email to studentfunding@ccwales.org.uk
• The closing date for applications is the 3^rd of September 2012
• Applicants will be notified of their eligibility by email within six weeks of submitting a complete application. Notification letters (electronic) will contain information about payment schedules
• Unallocated Bursaries will be redistributed by the Care Council for Wales

Please note that a nomination for a Bursary from a Social Work Programme does not guarantee Social Work Bursary funding – the Care Council must conduct an assessment of each application in order to determine eligibility.

Nominated students can check if they satisfy the Social Work Bursary Scheme eligibility criteria before presenting an application to avoid disappointment. In order to be eligible, applicants must:

• ordinarily be resident in Wales
• be studying on a Social Work Degree or Masters Degree in Wales which has been approved by the Care Council
• not be receiving a financial incentive to train from an employer

If you are unsure of your eligibility, or have any other unanswered questions about the Social Work Bursary, please contact the Student Funding Team:

For Social Work Bursary related news and updates go to our 'Student Funding Updates' page.

Please note that these changes will NOT affect continuing students, who will continue to receive the same level of Social Work Bursary Funding throughout eligible periods of study. The Care Councils’ Student Funding team will email the relevant application forms to continuing students when available (May/June 2012). The closing date for continuing applications will be August 1 2012.