Learner Support Funds

Learner Support Funds are available in school sixth forms and colleges to help students with learning costs. The funds are prioritised for those who face financial hardship; however, each institution sets its own criteria and manages its own procedures, so the way funds are allocated and the amount of funds available to individuals may differ. Payments may be given as a grant (i.e. the money does not have to be paid back) or as a loan (the money must be paid back to the institution).

Learner Support Funds can be used to help with financial hardship and emergencies, tuition, registration and exam fees, living costs, accommodation costs, child care costs, essential course related materials, equipment and field trips, travel costs and support services for students with disabilities.

Eligibility

To be eligible for a Learner Support, students must fulfil the following criteria:

• be 16 or over
• have been living in the UK for 3 years before the start of the course
• be ordinarily resident in England or Wales

In addition, they must not be:

• receiving full public funding for higher education
• an overseas or EU student who is eligible for tuition fee support
• on an Adult or Community Learning course, a learndirect course, an apprenticeship training scheme or a Work Based Learning course
• on a New Deal programme (except New Deal for Lone Parents)

Learner Support Funds are intended to meet special needs and circumstances which cannot reasonably be met by other grants, and so students who are in receipt of an Adult Learning Grant (ALG), Disability Living Allowance, Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA), New Deal for Lone Parents or Career Development Loan (CDL) will still be eligible to claim. All applications may be made through the college or sixth form student support or welfare officer. Proof of income or expenditure must be provided with the application.

Learner Support Funds were previously known as Access Funds and Hardship Funds.

Priority Groups

Individual institutions determine specific priority groups and the maximum amounts they award. Common priority groups include:

• economically or socially disadvantaged students
• young parents
• disabled students
• mentally ill students
• students with learning difficulties
• students who have been in care
• students who are on (or have been on) probation
• students who are considered 'at risk'