If you decide to go back to college, your first full Level 2 or first full Level 3 qualification, the Adult Learning Grant (ALG) could pay you up to £30 per week.
Different people are doing different sorts of courses with ALG – but there are some conditions you need to meet in order to qualify.
Whether you qualify for ALG depends on:
• your age, where you live and where you study
• what type of course you’re doing
• your income and whether you’re getting certain types of benefit
Your age, where you live and where you study
• Be 19 or over (though you can apply one month before your 19th birthday).
• Be living and studying in England, and meet the residency criteria. There’s more information about this in the ALG application pack.
Type of course to qualify for ALG
To qualify for ALG, your course must:
• Lead to your first full Level 2 qualification or first full Level 3 qualification.
• Involve at least 450 hours of “guided learning” over a year, or at least 150 hours over a term. It equates to 12 or more hours in college per week
• Be at a further education learning provider approved by the Learning and Skills Council, check with your college if you’re not sure.
Keep in mind you will only get payments if your attendance at college is satisfactory.
Level 2 and Level 3 qualifications
• Level 2 qualifications are equivalent to five or more GCSEs at grades A* to C or NVQ level 2.
• Level 3 qualifications are equivalent to two A levels or NVQ level 3.
But you can find more examples of Level 2 and Level 3 qualifications, and an explanation of how the National Qualifications Framework works.
Your income and benefits
If you get ALG, you can still work part-time, you’ll need to have earned less than the income threshold during the previous financial year.
• The threshold of income is based on your gross income – income before tax or other deductions.
How much you’ll get depends on your income and benefits? You can apply if you’re working part-time, and if you’re claiming most ‘in work’ benefits, like Adult Education Bursaries, Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit. Though, you won’t qualify, if you’re getting ‘out of work’ benefits such as Jobseeker’s Allowance.
Most types of financial help won’t make any difference to whether you can get ALG.
Next step: If you do qualify, find out how much you could get.
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