Funding Support

ACL receives funding from the Education and Skills Funding Agency to deliver courses to Essex residents. This funding could cover some or all the costs of your course depending on your circumstances or prior achievements. A few examples are below but please come and talk to us so we can see what you may be entitled to.

• Maths and English courses including GCSEs could be free if you don’t already have a C/4 grade or equivalent
• Essential Digital Skills programmes could be free for those with basic IT skills assessed below level 1
• If you are unemployed or earning a gross annual income of £20,319 or less you could be eligible to complete a level 2 accredited course without charge
• The Level 3 Entitlement means that adults without a full level 3 qualification eg. A Levels or an Advanced Diploma, or are earning a gross annual income of £20,319 or less, could undertake an accredited course that’s fully funded from the Free Courses for Jobs Offer.
• Advanced Learner Loans are available for courses at levels 3 to 6 and are only paid back once you start earning £25,000 a year (before tax and other deductions)
• Support with travel costs, childcare and course materials including books, laptop loan and WiFi could be available whilst you study if you have either a gross household income of less than £35,000 per annum (not including house shares, or where rent is paid separately) or a personal gross income of less than £20,319 per annum
• If you are in receipt of certain benefits or earning a gross salary of less than £20,319 you could receive a 50% discount on non-accredited courses
• In addition to the above we have a dedicated team that provide financial advice and guidance to learners during their course should they need it

Accredited courses (Qualifications and Skills for Employment)

The Discretionary Learning Support Fund can assist learners who are studying accredited courses with ACL. It can be used to help with the cost of course fees (up to 75%), childcare, study resources including compulsory books, and travel costs.

Non-accredited (Creative and Cultural Learning)

The CL Bursary Fund can assist learners who are studying non-accredited courses with ACL. It can be used to help with the cost of course fees (provided you have paid the full fee), childcare, study resources, and travel costs.

The Advanced Learning Loan Bursary (Advanced Learning Loans)

This fund is for learners who are on a Level 3 course or above and have taken out a Advanced learning loan. It can be used to help with the cost of childcare, study resources including compulsory books, and travel costs.

For full information, please read our financial guidelines.

• Resources Claim Form
• Travel Costs Claim Form