Covid-19 can now receive financial support from a package of new measures. First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, made the announcement at Thursday's daily press briefing, saying that the Scottish Government has brought forward early access to £11.4 million of discretionary funds - support for higher education students in financial difficulty – which will be administered by colleges and universities.
Unlike continuing higher education students, most former further education students can receive benefits if they are unemployed.
Colleges will now have flexibility to offer discretionary funds to bridge the timing gap between bursary payments ending in June and Universal Credit payments starting.