Special support grant: 2012 cohort students
A special support grant is available to provide extra support for 2012 cohort students who are regarded as particularly vulnerable. You must be a full-time student eligible to claim means-tested social security benefits.
1Reg 38 E(SS)(W) Regs 2017Note: most full-time students cannot receive UC or other means-tested benefits. Some students, however, can claim – eg, if you are a lone parent, or you and your partner are both full-time students and you have a child, or you get the housing element in UC, or you receive DLA or PIP. See the relevant benefits chapter for details of which students can claim UC or means-tested benefits.
If you are entitled to UC or means-tested benefits, you should claim the special support grant rather than the Welsh government learning grant. Like the Welsh government learning grant, the special support grant is a non-repayable, means-tested allowance of up to £5,161.
2Reg 39 E(SS)(W) Regs 2017 The special support grant is based on the same income scales as the maintenance grant for each cohort (see
here).
Unlike the Welsh government learning grant, however, the special support grant does not substitute any part of the student loan, and it is not taken into account as income when calculating your entitlement to means-tested benefits.