Purpose-built for 16–19 bursary management

Bursary admin that doesn't cost you half your week.

myBursary replaces the spreadsheets, paper forms, and chased-up emails. One platform to collect applications, assess evidence, approve awards, and produce DfE-ready reports.

Spring term 2025 Updated 3m ago
142
Applications
28
Pending review
103
Approved
£87k
Disbursed
Student Type Status Amount
Jamie Rasheed Vulnerable Approved £1,200
Sofia Patel Disc. Band B Pending -
Amara Mensah Vulnerable Approved £1,200
Tyler Webb Disc. Band A In review TBC
The problem

Bursary admin is broken.
And everyone knows it.

Most colleges are still running their 16–19 bursary on Excel, shared inboxes, and printed forms - creating backlogs, inconsistencies, and DfE compliance risk.

Spreadsheets weren't built for this

Tracking applications, evidence status, payments, and attendance checks across shared Excel files leads to version conflicts and missed decisions.

Hours lost to spreadsheet upkeep Single source of truth

Evidence chasing by email

Asking students for P60s and bank statements over email or in person means documents buried in inboxes (or actual boxes!), no audit trail, and evidence arriving too late to process.

No document tracking Upload portal + status alerts

DfE audit season is stressful

Manually producing utilisation reports, eligible cohort lists, and evidence bundles for DfE (previously, EFSA) audits takes days and leaves room for compliance gaps.

Days of manual report preparation One-click export

Students missing their entitlement

Paper-only or inaccessible application processes mean vulnerable students - the ones who most need support - often don't apply at all.

Low application rates Mobile-friendly student portal
The platform

Everything your team needs. Nothing it doesn't.

01 - Applications

A student portal your applicants will actually use.

Students apply online at their own pace - from any device, progress saved automatically. Your team receives structured, complete applications instead of paper forms with missing fields.

  • Branded student-facing portal, hosted under your domain
  • Guided bursary type selector - prevents wrong-category applications
  • Built-in document upload with file validation
  • Automated confirmation emails and status updates to students
  • Accessible and WCAG 2.1 AA compliant
Progress saved · Step 3 of 5 complete
Your details Complete
Household & income Complete
3
Bursary type In progress
4
Upload evidence Upcoming
5
Review & submit Upcoming
02 - Assessment

Review, approve, and assign - without leaving your chair.

Your assessors get a unified inbox of applications with all evidence attached and eligibility indicators pre-computed. Approve, reject, flag, or request more information in one click.

  • Assignable assessment queue - split workload across your team
  • Side-by-side document viewer and application details
  • Flag applications that need a second look
  • Immutable decision audit trail with timestamps and user IDs
  • Bulk approval for straightforward vulnerable bursary cases
All 28 Mine 9 Flagged 5
JR
Jamie Rasheed Vulnerable · Care leaver
TW
Tyler Webb Disc. A · Docs unclear
⚑ Flagged
SP
Sofia Patel Disc. B · 2 docs uploaded
03 - Payments

Scheduled payments, tracked automatically.

Set payment instalments per term, per student. myBursary tracks what's been paid, what's upcoming, and flags attendance-related holds - so nothing slips through.

  • Term-by-term payment schedule builder
  • BACS export or meal card system integration
  • Attendance-linked payment holds - automated or manual
  • Student-visible payment status through their portal
  • Full payment history export for finance team reconciliation
Next batch 07 Feb 2025
Total this batch
£14,400
24 students
Jamie Rasheed £400 Scheduled
Tyler Webb - ⚠ Att. hold
Amara Mensah £400 Scheduled
DfE compliance

Audit-ready.
Every day of the year.

myBursary is built around DfE 16–19 Bursary Fund guidance. Your data structure, eligibility assessments, and evidence retention all meet DfE requirements out of the box.

  • Eligibility criteria enforced by the system — not by assessor memory
  • Immutable decision audit trail with timestamps and user IDs
  • Evidence stored securely for the 6-year DfE retention requirement
  • One-click DfE utilisation report
  • Vulnerable cohort verification checklist built in
  • GDPR-compliant with configurable data retention policies
97%
Compliance score
All eligible students identified
Evidence retained for all approved awards
Decision audit trail complete
Vulnerable cohort verified
3 applications pending final docs
Reports
DfE utilisation
Payment schedule
Eligible cohort
Audit bundle
Pre-audit compliance review included

Professional and Enterprise plans include a pre-audit review session with our team to check your configuration against current DfE guidance before inspection.

Pricing

Simple pricing. No surprises.

All plans include unlimited staff users, student portal access, and UK-hosted data. Billed annually.

Starter £990 per year · up to 150 students

For smaller colleges and sixth forms running a straightforward bursary process.


  • Student application portal
  • Document upload & evidence tracking
  • Assessment queue & approval workflow
  • Payment schedule tracker
  • DfE utilisation report
  • BACS payment export
  • Multi-campus support
  • Custom branding
Get started
Enterprise Custom Large or multi-site providers

For multi-campus colleges, academy trusts, and large providers with complex requirements.


  • Everything in Professional
  • Multi-campus dashboard & reporting
  • MIS/SIMS integration
  • SSO / Microsoft Entra ID
  • Custom data retention policy
  • Dedicated customer success manager
  • SLA guarantees & on-site onboarding
Talk to us
FAQ

Common questions from bursary teams.

Can't find what you need? Email our team — we respond within one working day.

We work with you to configure and brand the platform, import any existing student records, and run an onboarding session for your team. The timeline depends on your setup, but most colleges are operational within their first intake window.
You can start fresh or import existing student records from a CSV. If you have historical bursary data in spreadsheets, our team can help migrate it as part of onboarding — particularly useful if you need historical records available for future audits.
All data is stored in UK-based data centres and encrypted at rest and in transit. myBursary acts as a data processor under your institution's privacy notice. We provide a Data Processing Agreement (DPA) as standard and support configurable retention periods aligned to your GDPR obligations.
The platform covers both the guaranteed vulnerable bursary and discretionary bursary pathways, with eligibility logic built to match current DfE 16–19 Bursary Fund guidance. We update the platform when DfE guidance changes and notify all customers.
All plans include unlimited staff users with role-based access controls. You can configure separate roles for assessors, approvers, finance staff, and administrators — each seeing only what they need. There is no per-seat pricing.
All plans include email support with a guaranteed response within two working days. Professional plans receive priority support with a one-day response. Enterprise customers have a dedicated customer success manager.