Financial Support
Further education funding
Course Fees for Further Education Courses 2026-27
You are eligible for free Further Education if you are:
- Aged 16-19 (under 19) on 31st August 2026
- Aged 19 to 24 with an education, health and care (EHC) plan
- Aged 19, continuing onto the second year of a 2-year course
Students aged 19 or over will usually need to pay for tuition, exam and registration fees.
You may be eligible for tuition fee remission depending on:
- The type and level of qualification you are studying
- Your age at the start of the course
- Your previous achieved qualifications
- Your employment/unemployment status
Applicants who are not UK nationals will need to provide evidence of their permission to live in the UK.
No funding is available for learners who:
- Do not meet the DfE residency requirements for Home Fees, or
- Live outside of England, or
- Live in one of the Devolved Authority areas of England;
- Buckinghamshire Council
- Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority
- Cornwall Council
- Devon and Torbay Combined County Authority
- East Midlands Combined County Authority
- Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority
- Greater London Authority
- Greater Manchester Combined Authority
- Hull and East Yorkshire Combined Authority
- Lancashire Combined County Authority
- Liverpool City Region Combined Authority
- North East Combined Mayoral Authority
- South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority
- Surrey County Council
- Tees Valley Combined Authority
- Warwickshire County Council
- West Midlands Combined Authority
- West of England Combined Authority
- West Yorkshire Combined Authority
- York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority
If you are not eligible funding, you are likely to be charged more than the published price for your chosen course.
To find out more, contact our Bursary and Student Funding Officers on 01225 756405.
Fee Assessments for Students aged 19 and over
Applicants who have been offered a place on a full-time Further Education course will be invited to an appointment with one of our Bursary & Student Funding Officers for fee assessment and enrolment during the summer. We will tell you the cost of the course, assess any eligibility for fee remission and offer information about any financial support/bursaries available to you.
When you enrol, you will be asked to provide evidence of your identity and, (if you are not a UK citizen or have not lived in the UK for 3 years) evidenced of your right to live in the UK
If you are required to pay course fees, payment is due at enrolment (instalment plans are available). For Further Education courses at levels 3, 4, 5 and 6, you may be able to apply for an Advanced Learner Loan.
Bursary funds are available to families on low incomes to help towards the cost of attending your chosen course. This does not include course fees.
Advanced Learner Loans
Advanced Learner Loans are available to learners aged 19 and over who are studying at Level 3 to level 6 on an eligible course.
You can apply for an Advanced Learner Loan once your offer of a place on your course has been confirmed. You will require a Learning and Funding Information Letter in order to complete your application. These will be available in June and your Bursary and Student Funding Officer can provide this at your fee assessment.
Please apply well before the start of your course so that the loan is approved and in place before you enrol. If it is not agreed by the time you enrol, you can either pay in full or pay a deposit and set up an instalment plan for the fees which will be refunded (minus £20 administration) once your loan has been approved.
If a learner takes out an Advanced Learner Loan to pay for an Access to HE Diploma and then goes on to complete a HE qualification, the outstanding balance of the Advanced Learner Loan will be written off. For courses starting after 1st August 2023, Advanced Learner Loan repayments start when your income reaches £25,000 a year (before tax and other deductions).