No Bursary, No Books

“SOME students experienced minor delays with the payment of the Sport and Books Bursary, associated with the transfer of data between the University and the Student Loans Company. These issues have now been resolved. Any student who believes they qualify for this Bursary but who has not yet received it should contact the Income Office on 028 9097 2767.”

That was the response from QUB when The Gown questioned them on the delay of credit being put on the student cards of students eligible for the Sport and Books Bursary. As late as week 5 a large number of students had to delve into their own pockets in order to buy essential books for their course from Queen’s Bookshop. With a semester totalling 12 weeks, we are now at the midway point, and the issue still appears to be unresolved. Additional to the problem of having zero credit on their cards, students have also been turned away from the bookshop due to their card being deemed “invalid”. In cases where this has occurred, the students have been fully academically and financially registered, suggesting that there is a problem with the system. When The Gown rang the student finance centre to find out more about the issue, and to hear what those responsible had to say, we were put through to more than one person, all of which put us through to someone else. We received the above statement in an email.