Funding for financial need or hardship, parents or carers

Adult Dependent's Grant

Care to Learn

Discretionary Learner Support

Helena Kennedy Foundation Trust

Lawrence Atwell's Charity

The Thomas Wall Trust

Adult Dependent's Grant

If you are in full-time higher education and have an adult who depends on you financially, you may be entitled to a government grant (on top of any other student finance). The maximum grant is £2757 and you do not have to pay this back.

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Care to Learn

If you’re a parent under the age of 20 when you start studying, Care to Learn is a government benefit that can help pay for your childcare costs while you’re learning. Your course must have some public funding and can’t be a higher education course at a university.

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Discretionary Learner Support

If you are aged 19 or over, Discretionary Learner Support might be one source of help. To be eligible to apply you must be 19 or over and accepted onto and be studying a programme of learning funded by the Skills Funding Agency. The funds are prioritized for those facing financial hardship and can be used to help with costs such as those for childcare, accommodation, essential course-related equipment, materials, field trips and travel.

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Helena Kennedy Foundation Trust

The Trust offers one-off bursaries of £1,500 to selected students studying at a FE college or sixth form college, and are applying for university degrees beginning in September 2015. They also provide the ‘College Badged Bursary Scheme’ and ‘DISCOVER’ bursaries to participating FE and sixth form colleges, up to the value of £1500 and £1000 respectively.

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Lawrence Atwell's Charity

The charity provides grants for 16-26 year olds from low-waged families, for vocational training or first step qualifications such as foundation courses. The grants are not available for non-vocational courses such as GCSEs or for higher education degrees.

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The Thomas Wall Trust

The Thomas Wall Trust offers individuals, who have encountered hardships, grants averaging £1000 towards vocational training and education that will lead to paid employment. The nature of the hardships must be more than just financial – for example, addiction, family breakdown or time in prison.