Student finance for learners aged 19 and over
If you're aged 19 or over, you may need to pay tuition and exam fees, however many students will be eligible for discounts and bursaries.
And if finances have been holding you back from starting a course, you can also apply for a loan to help with the cost of your course fees for most courses at level 3 and above.
Bursaries for learners aged 19+
Bursaries are subject to an assessment on your personal circumstances and a fully completed Online Bursary application.
If you are starting your course in the new academic year, the earliest date in which you can apply is 1st August.
To be eligible you must:
- be 19 or over on 31st August 2022
- On a course of 6 hours or more per week. (Students on courses of less than 6 hours per week are still eligible to apply for travel and childcare support)
- have ‘home’ student status or have been granted full ‘refugee’ or ‘asylum seeker’ status (British Citizens normally have ‘home student’ status)
- have been ordinarily resident in the UK, Ireland continuously for the last 3 years before the start of your course, with ‘settled’ status which means having indefinite leave to enter or remain (ILE/ILR)
- If you fall into a different Residency leave status, don’t worry. You may still be eligible for the 19+ Bursary. Please speak to our Customer Service Team for further information.
- not exceed the following household income threshold limits:
- your household income is below £40,000
- You will need to provide evidence of your income.
How do we define a household?
- you must not be in receipt of any benefits. Students who have to give up benefits because they are studying a full-time course can also apply. You will need to provide evidence of your income and/or that your benefit has been/is being withdrawn.
How do we define a Household?
- Household income is the total income of all people living within a single household that are financially interdependent on each other
- A single household could beliving with a;
- Spouse/partner
- parents/guardians/other family members who have financial responsibility for you.
A household is not considered to be;
-
- Shared accommodation with friends or relative where there is no financial interdependency
- Living in hostel or care home
The following are not eligible for this bursary:
- Students on Higher Education Courses (Separate HE Bursary students can apply for HE Bursary)
- Students on Work Based Learning/Waged Apprenticeships
- Students who are funding their course with an Advanced Learner Loan. (Students can apply to the Advanced Learner Loans Bursary Fund if they have taken out the Advanced Learner Loan for their fees)
- Students aged under 19 on 31 August of the academic year (students can apply to the 16-18 Bursary Fund)
- Students aged 19 and over at the start of their course studying at Level 3 or above who are funding their course with an Advanced Learner Loan. (Students can apply to the Advanced Learner Loans Bursary Fund if they have taken out the Advanced Learner Loan for their fees)
- Students aged under 19 on 31 August of the academic year (students can apply to the 16-18 Bursary Fund)
Full time course (16 hours per week or more)
| Household Income | Percentage of award | Maximum Grant per annum (Paid over three payments) |
| £0 - £24,999 | 100% | £400 |
| £25,000 - £30,000 | 75% | £300 |
| £30,001 - £40,000 | 50% | £200 |
Part time courses (6 hours - 15 hours per week)
| Household Income | Percentage of award | Maximum Grant per annum (Paid over three payments) |
| £0 - £24,999 | 100% | £200 |
| £25,000 - £30,000 | 75% | £150 |
| £30,001 - £40,000 | 50% | £100 |
- Spouse/partner
- parents/guardians/other family members who have financial responsibility for you.
- Shared accommodation with friends or relative where there is no financial interdependency
- Living in hostel or care home
Payments will be made after the end of term holidays but will depend on when you apply and a satisfactory college attendance.
If you are an asylum seeker we will not be able to make cash payments to you, instead we will provide you with the materials and equipment if your bursary application is successful.- Check that you meet the eligibility criteria outlined above
- Apply online through the Online Bursary Applications System.
Please note - The amount of funding available for tuition fees is extremely limited. All applications for tuition will be considered on an individual basis to determine if there are exceptional circumstances before an award can be made. Please provide information on the Additional Information section of the application form so that a decision can be made. Please note that you may be required to pay all, or part of your fees before receiving your bursary.
Fully completed applications will normally be processed within 10 working days. You will receive an award notification letter informing you of your award from the Bursary Fund and how this will be provided. Please keep this for future reference.
No awards will be made to you until you are fully enrolled on your course. If your application is not successful you will be notified by letter. You will then need to decide if you are able to enrol to your course without financial support from the Fund.
Please contact the Customer Service Team, quoting your student reference number, if you do not receive a letter within Two weeks of applying.
You may also apply for financial help with the following:
To be eligible, you must meet the bursary criteria and live 1.5 miles or more away from the College.
If you have been granted a SWIFT Card, we will ask you to come to the CASC Desk to order your bus pass. This then takes up to 10 working days for this to arrive (dependant on time of year).
You will be notified when this has arrived in college via your college email. You can collect your bus pass from the CASC Desk at the campus you study at to complete the Bus pass collection form. If you do not collect your bus pass in a timely manner, it will be cancelled.
This is a payment towards the cost of equipment which is dependent on your course. This is paid after the October half term and is subject to satisfactory attendance.
19-25 year olds who are subject to a Learning Difficulty Assessment (LDA) OR Education Health Care Plan (EHC Plan) may also be eligible for free college meals.
Successful applicants will receive £4.50 per day (credited to their student card) which will be redeemable at Wisemore, Green Lane and Portland Street Campuses. This allows students to purchase any food or drink that is available at these sites.
All students have to pay the first £50 towards their exam fees. We do not fund Accreditation Fees or Professional Membership Fees.
Support with Childcare costs
We recognise that students may need support with childcare for them to be able to attend college. We may be able to support this through our 19+ Bursary or the Care to Learn Scheme.
Our childcare bursary is for students who need support with childcare for them to be able to attend college and is awarded for your timetabled hours along with reasonable travel time.
Funding is allocated for the duration of your course. Therefore, if your initial course duration is for one term but you re-enrol onto another course in the 2nd term, you will need to advise the Customer Service Team of this. Otherwise your childcare costs will not be covered.
Funding is only available for a maximum of 2 children up to the age of 7 years. Once funding has been awarded, this cannot be increased during the academic year which means any increase in fees will need to be paid by you as the student.
If you receive government funded childcare hours (15/30hours free) these should be utilised to support childcare in the first instance and the bursary would potentially cover the remaining where possible.
If you utilise an External nursery, you will receive 95% of the weekly funding with the remaining 5% to be funded by yourself as the student.
Any childcare funding provided will be paid directly to the childcare provider.
For more information on the Childcare bursary, please contact the Customer Service team on 01922 65700 or email at bursary@walsallcollege.ac.uk
To be eligible you must be;
- aged 20 or over on the 31st August of the academic year they are enrolling
- have ‘home student status or have been granted full ‘refugee’ or ‘asylum seeker’ status (British Citizens normally have ‘home student’ status)
- have been ‘ordinarily resident in the UK continuously for the last 3 years before the start of the course, with ‘settled’ status which means having indefinite leave to enter or remain (ILE/ILR);
- your household income is below £40,000
- you must not be in receipt of any benefits. Students who have to give up benefits because they are studying a full-time course can also apply. You will need to provide evidence of your income and/or that your benefit has been/is being withdrawn.
- How do we define a Household?Household income is the total income of all people living within a single household that are financially interdependent on each other
For example living with a;
- Spouse/partner
- parents/guardians/other family members who have financial responsibility for you.
A household is not considered to be;
- Shared accommodation with friends or relative where there is no financial interdependency
- Living in hostel or care home
Who is not eligible for 19+ childcare:
- International (overseas) students
- Students on higher education courses
- Students on worked based learning/waged apprenticeships
How do I apply?
- Check that you the meet the eligibility criteria
- Apply online through the Online Bursary Applications System.
Care to Learn is a government scheme which supports students who are under 20 years old with childcare funding.
You can receive up to:
- £160 per child per week if you live outside London
The Care to Learn scheme helps with the cost of:
- your childcare, including deposit and registration fees
- a childcare taster session for up to 5 days
- keeping your childcare place over the summer holidays
- taking your child to their childcare provider
To be eligible for Care to Learn you must be:
- a parent under 20 at the start of your course
- the main carer for your child
- living in England
- either a British citizen or have a legal right to live and study in England
- enrolled onto a qualifying course
- receiving childcare from an eligible childcare provider
- enrolled onto a publicly funded course
Who is not eligible for Care to Learn
- Apprentices
- higher education students
- students 20 years old or over (20+ students can apply for the college 19+ childcare bursary)
More information about Care to Learn can be found at Care to Learn information
To apply for Care to Learn, please visit Care to Learn
Free Course Eligibility
Walsall College offer a range of free adult courses - they're is a number of different funding options, each with a different set of criteria - please see below:
West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) offer a number of courses that can be found here, providing you meet the below criteria:
- Residents of the WMCA area are eligible for funding if they fulfil the eligibility criteria as listed below:
- Must be aged 19 or older on 31st August within the 2023 to 2024 funding year
- Not have completed a Level 3 course previously or have achieved a Level 3 before 1st April 2021
- WMCA resident on their start date
- A UK national or other person with rights of abode
- UK nationals in the EEA
- EEA nationals in the UK
- Other non UK nationals
- Resident temporarily outside of England*
To check if your're a WMCA resident please use this map:
https://www.wmca.org.uk/in-my-area/
AEB funding is available on any adult course, providing you meet the below criteria:
- Residents of England excluding other Mayoral Devolved Authorities:
-
- Must be aged 19 or older on 31st August within the 2023 to 2024 funding year
- Not have completed a Level 3 course previously or have achieved a Level 3 before 1st April 2021
- A UK national or other person with rights of abode
- UK nationals in the EEA
- EEA nationals in the UK
- Other non UK nationals
- Resident temporarily outside of England*
-
The Free Courses For Jobs Scheme is designed to gain the skills you need to get the job you want - whatever your stage of life - available courses can be found here.
Eligibility
- are 19 or over and do not already have a level 3 qualification
- already have a level 3 qualification or higher, but earn below the low wage threshold of £22,308 (the threshold of £22,308 is an annual gross salary based on the National Living Wage 2024)
- already have a level 3 qualification or higher but are unemployed
For more information on our free courses, please contact us at mis@walsallcollege.ac.uk.
Advanced Learner Loans
If finances have been holding you back from starting a course, you can now apply for an Advanced Learner Loan to help with the cost of your course fees. You must be enrolling onto an eligible course at Level 3 or above.
Your household income does not affect your eligibility and there’s no credit check. You will not have to pay anything back until you have finished your course and are earning over £27,295 a year.
The amount you will get depends on:
- the type of course you take
- how much the fees are for the course
- the minimum loan you can get is £300.
Courses at Level 3 or above qualify (such as a Certificate/Diploma)
To get a loan you must be:
- Enrolling onto an eligible Level 3 or above course
- 19 or older on the first day you start your course and the start day of your course must be on or after the 1st August 2022 (there’s no upper age limit)
- be living in the UK on the first day of your course
- be a UK national or Irish citizen or have ‘settled status’ (no restrictions on how long you can stay)
- have been living in the UK, British overseas territories, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for 3 years in a row before the first day of the first academic year of your course (apart from temporary absences such as holidays)
- If you have a different residency status to the ones above, you may still be eligible for a loan. More information can been seen within the eligibility section of the following link: https://www.gov.uk/advanced-learner-loan
- Studying at this College or a training organisation in England approved for public funding.
If you are aged 19 – 23 and do not already have a full Level 3 qualification, you will be entitled to receive free tuition and won’t need to apply for an Advanced Learner Loan. If you are aged 19 – 23 and already have a full Level 3 qualification, you can apply for an Advanced Learner Loan.
You can apply for more than one Advanced Learning Loan (up to 4 in total), You can also receive a loan for courses of the same level and type (e.g. Level 3 Diploma in Hair and Level 3 Diploma in Barbering). You’ll be able to take out further loans to complete different types or levels of eligible courses.
You can apply for apply for an Advanced Learner Loan here. You will be able to request the course code from our Customer Service team from May for courses starting from 1st September 2022.
You will need a National Insurance number before any money can be paid and should have this available to enter on your loan application form. You need your passport details or another form of identity to apply – e.g. your birth certificate.
You pay back your loan (plus interest) when you have finished your course and start earning more than £27,295 a year. If your income drops below this amount your repayment will stop. Each month you pay back 9% of any income over £27,295.
If you leave or change your course after 2 weeks you will have to pay back any money that has been paid to the College.
If you get a loan to cover tuition fees for an Access to HE course (e.g. a course that will prepare you for Higher Education) and then successfully complete a higher education course, you will not have to repay the remaining loan for the Access course.
For more details about Advanced Learning Loans contact the Customer Service Team on 01922 657000.
What is the Advanced Learner Loans Bursary Fund?
The Advanced Learner Loans Bursary Fund is used to help students, in receipt of an Advanced Learner Loan, who may be experiencing financial difficulty to complete their course, in particular those with learning difficulties or disabilities, those with parental responsibilities and ex-military personnel. While we recognise that students face financial pressures, the funding you are applying for comes from a government fund and is public money. It is not a right. The College has a duty to ensure that the funds are awarded fairly and to students most in need.
Full time course (16 hours per week or more)
| Household Income | Percentage of award | Maximum Grant per annum (Paid over three payments) |
| £0 - £24,999 | 100% | £400 |
| £25,000 - £30,000 | 75% | £300 |
| £30,001 - £40,000 | 50% | £200 |
Part time courses (6 hours - 15 hours per week)
| Household Income | Percentage of award | Maximum Grant per annum (Paid over three payments) |
| £0 - £24,999 | 100% | £200 |
| £25,000 - £30,000 | 75% | £150 |
| £30,001 - £40,000 | 50% | £100 |
Funds are cash limited and funding cannot be guaranteed so early application is advised.
Advanced Learner Loans
The Advanced Learner Loans Bursary Fund is used to help students, in receipt of an Advanced Learner Loan, who may be experiencing financial difficulty to complete their course, in particular those with learning difficulties or disabilities, those with parental responsibilities and ex-military personnel. While we recognise that students face financial pressures, the funding you are applying for comes from a government fund and is public money. It is not a right. The College has a duty to ensure that the funds are awarded fairly and to students most in need.
To be eligible for the Advanced Learner Loan bursary, you must;
- have had an Advanced Learner Loan approved by the Student Loans Company for your tuition fee. You will need to provide evidence of this.
- have ‘home’ student status or have been granted full ‘refugee’ or ‘asylum seeker’ status (British Citizens normally have ‘home student’ status)
- have been ordinarily resident in the UK, Ireland continuously for the last 3 years before the start of your course, with ‘settled’ status which means having indefinite leave to enter or remain (ILE/ILR)
- If you fall into a different Residency leave status, don’t worry you may still be eligible for the 19+ Bursary. Please speak to our Customer Service Team for further information.
- your household income is below £40,000
- you must not be in receipt of any benefits. Students who have to give up benefits because they are studying a full-time course can also apply. You will need to provide evidence of your income and/or that your benefit has been/is being withdrawn.
- How do we define a Household?
Household income is the total income of all people living within a single household that are financially interdependent on each other
For example living with a;
- Spouse/partner
- parents/guardians/other family members who have financial responsibility for you.
A household is not considered to be;
- Shared accommodation with friends or relative where there is no financial interdependency
- Living in hostel or care home
- Students on Workbased Learning/Waged Apprenticeships
- Students age 19 and over at the start of their course studying at level 3 who are not funding their course with an advanced learner loan (students can apply for the 19+ bursary)
- Students aged under 19 on 31st August (Students can apply to the 16-18 bursary fund)
Apply online through the Online Bursary Applications System