Financial Support in the Sixth Form at The Thomas Hardye School

Academic Year 2025-2026

The Thomas Hardye School is committed to doing everything possible to financially support students in overcoming specific financial barriers to participation in their education. This usually means providing financial support to students from low-income households to assist them with:

• School meals
• Transport to and from school
• Books, equipment, and specialist clothing that they need for their study programme
• Trips that are a compulsory part of their study programme

In addition, we are able to loan laptop devices to students who do not have access to a suitable device at home to support their studies.

Financial support is either provided by:

• Providing a daily allowance for school meals,
• supplying resources directly to the student that the school has purchased,
• Allocating a place on an essential trip without requiring payment,
• Reimbursing the student for costs that they are able to prove (such as transport costs). Receipts are usually required.

Every application is assessed individually, and support is based on need.

Eligibility for free-school meals and bursaries for defined vulnerable groups are set by the government. The school also has a discretionary bursary fund, and eligibility for support under this fund is set by the school.

Students who are eligible for free school meals, will generally also be eligible for a bursary. Students who are not eligible for free school meals, but who meet the eligibility criteria for a bursary, may still receive a meal allowance under the bursary scheme.

Applications must be submitted by the 30^th September 2025, for the autumn term. Later applications will be accepted, but financial support will not usually be provided until the start of the term following the receipt of the application. Support will then continue for the remainder of the academic year, but new applications will be required for September 2026.

Further Information regarding Free School Meals, the Bursaries, thorough eligibility information, and our application form, is available on the school website under the Sixth Form section.

NB The application form is not currently active - please come back for updates.