The latest reporting and explainers from across business news, personal finance, grants and funding, and the wider economy.

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  Grants and Funding

  Government Financial Assistance for Low Income Families

  For many households, the phrase “government financial assistance” can feel broad and confusing. Support may come through benefits, local council schemes, help with food, childcare, rent, school costs, energy bills or one-off crisis payments. There is rarely one single grant called “financial assistance for low income families”. Instead, families usually need to look across several…

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  Grants and Funding

  Mental Health Funding: Getting Help From Government

  Mental health problems can affect every part of life: work, study, family responsibilities, housing, debt, confidence and day-to-day routines. For some people, the financial pressure is temporary. For others, a long-term mental health condition can make it harder to work, manage bills or cover the extra costs of support. In the UK, there is not…

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  Grants and Funding

  Obtaining A Bursary For Teacher Training

  Training to become a teacher can involve tuition fees, living costs, travel, classroom placements and time away from full-time work. For some trainee teachers, a bursary can make the training year more manageable. In England, teacher training bursaries are available for certain subjects where the government wants to attract more trainees. They are usually linked…

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  Economy | Explainers

  Macroeconomic Terms Defined

  Macroeconomic terms appear regularly in financial news, government announcements and everyday discussions about the economy. Words such as GDP, inflation, recession, productivity and interest rates can sound technical, but they describe issues that affect households, businesses and public finances. Macroeconomics looks at the economy as a whole. It studies broad measures such as national output,…

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  Economy | Explainers

  UK GDP Explained: What Does It Mean For You?

  GDP is one of the most common terms used in economic news, government announcements and financial forecasts. When people talk about whether the UK economy is growing or shrinking, they are usually talking about gross domestic product, or GDP. At its simplest, GDP measures the value of goods and services produced in a country over…

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  Grants and Funding

  Bursary Versus Scholarship: What’s The Difference?

  When people look for help with education costs, two words appear again and again: bursary and scholarship. They are sometimes used as if they mean the same thing, but they usually work in different ways. A bursary is often linked to financial need. A scholarship is often linked to achievement, ability or potential. However, the…

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  Economy | Explainers

  Top 10 Economics Terms Explained

  Economics terms appear regularly in news reports, government announcements, business updates and personal finance articles. Words such as inflation, GDP, recession and interest rates are often used as if everyone already understands them. In reality, many economics terms can feel confusing at first. They describe large economic forces, but those forces can affect everyday life….

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  Grants and Funding

  Government Financial Assistance to Private Schools

  Private schools are often discussed in the same breath as scholarships, bursaries, charitable status, special educational needs, tax rules and government funding. This can make the subject confusing for parents, pupils and general readers trying to understand whether public money is available for private education. In most cases, there is no general government grant that…

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  Explainers

  What Financial Support Is Available For University Students?

  University students in the UK may be able to access several different kinds of financial support, but the system is not built around one single payment or one universal student grant. Instead, support is spread across tuition fee funding, maintenance support for living costs, additional grants or allowances for some groups, bursaries for certain learners,…