The Student Room Group

Do you have to pay back the bursary

Hey everyone, just a quick question.
I have just been accepted onto a PGCE course for next year to do Mathematics, and I do really want it to go well for me. I do currently think I want to teach Maths but I do have a nagging feeling in my mind that maybe I wont be good enough for it to work out for me, so Im just wondering whether if it goes wrong during the year and I feel that teaching isnt for me, then do I have to return the bursary that is given to us trainees to fund our training year?

Thanks for the help and please dont take this thread the wrong way, Im not after the 9K to train and then run away with it, that will obviously all go on the course fees, my accomdations and any basic living expenses.
Cheers, Joe
I don't know if you have to pay back the bursary. I personally think you should have to pay every penny back.

I am giving up a paying job to do teaching as it's something I have always wanted to do. At the time of submitting my application I was told that I would also receive a bursary...but low and behold...the ConDems have decided that they don't need ICT teachers. So i am doing this all of my own back. There is no cash incentive in me doing this. The bursary was going to pay my rent for the year..now I have to work two jobs for the next 6 months to try to make up the gap now left.

I hope you complete the course and try your best to... otherwise you have selfishly taken the place of someone else whos dream it is to teach!

..On a more positive note... you've already gone through the process and the university obviously seen soemthing in you that makes them think you'll make a good teacher - so try to be a bit more confident!!
You don't have to pay the bursary back if you don't go into teaching... However, if you were to drop out of the course part way through, I'm not sure what happens then (not saying you would do that, just that it may be different!). It would be too difficult to work out who would pay it back... What if you tried and wanted to be a teacher, but you just couldn't get a job for whatever reason? It wouldn't be fair then, for example
Well OP said "Im just wondering whether if it goes wrong during the year"..so assume they want to know if they will have to pay it back if they drop out before completing the course.

I would guess that you would have to pay it back. Though I am just guessing.
The bursary is paid in monthly instalments and I would expect the payments to cease if you drop out but I would not expect the payments already made to be clawed back. I am more concerned about your negative attitude - why do you think you might not be good enough?
Reply 5
I don't understand some people's reaction to your post, you asked a simple question. To answer it: bursaries never have to be repaid. Good luck with the course.
Original post by mypsuedonym
I don't know if you have to pay back the bursary. I personally think you should have to pay every penny back.

I am giving up a paying job to do teaching as it's something I have always wanted to do. At the time of submitting my application I was told that I would also receive a bursary...but low and behold...the ConDems have decided that they don't need ICT teachers. So i am doing this all of my own back. There is no cash incentive in me doing this. The bursary was going to pay my rent for the year..now I have to work two jobs for the next 6 months to try to make up the gap now left.

I hope you complete the course and try your best to... otherwise you have selfishly taken the place of someone else whos dream it is to teach!

..On a more positive note... you've already gone through the process and the university obviously seen soemthing in you that makes them think you'll make a good teacher - so try to be a bit more confident!!


To be honest most providers don't fill all their secondary maths places so chances are he's just filling a space that would otherwise be empty!

But I do agree that if people don't go in to teaching within say 3 years of completing a PGCE then the bursary they recieved should turn in to a loan and they should pay it back like a normal student loan. Would stop so many people doing maths/physics PGCEs for "something to do" for a year, getting a decent amount of support then never actually entering the proffession.
Reply 7
I am wondering the exact same thing. I am half he way through my training year. I hate to say it but it is absolutely killing me. I feel like an absolute failure, the stress of it makes vomit regularly I don't sleep and feel I am slipping into depression. I never foresaw these feeling however having had such a turbulent few months. I feel I need to move on in a new direction for my own health and well being.
Being a science trainee I receive white a sizeable bursary and will no way be able to pay that sort of money back. On top of this I have two young children (reallynch doesn't help with the year). Now I am caught in a dilemma I want to leave and quit to make myself happy and we'll, but I fear financiallygthusbwould cripple me and my family.
Original post by Jnos
I am wondering the exact same thing. I am half he way through my training year. I hate to say it but it is absolutely killing me. I feel like an absolute failure, the stress of it makes vomit regularly I don't sleep and feel I am slipping into depression. I never foresaw these feeling however having had such a turbulent few months. I feel I need to move on in a new direction for my own health and well being.
Being a science trainee I receive white a sizeable bursary and will no way be able to pay that sort of money back. On top of this I have two young children (reallynch doesn't help with the year). Now I am caught in a dilemma I want to leave and quit to make myself happy and we'll, but I fear financiallygthusbwould cripple me and my family.


You only have to pay any money that arrives after your last day of attendance.

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