Funding Part-time Study

This page contains information on funding part-time study:

• SDS Individual Learning Account
• SAAS Part-time Fees Grant
• Fee Waiver Policy
• Eligibility for fee waiver
• Evidence required for fee waiver

Please note that funding rules are subject to change by funding bodies and you are strongly advised to check the most up to date information on the relevant funding websites. 

SDS Individual Learning Account (Part-time FE/HE study)

If you are 16 or over and living in Scotland, you may be eligible for and ILA Scotland account to help pay your part-time course fees.  The money is not a loan so you don't have to pay any of it back. 

Learners must have their SDS Individual Learning Account set up and approved before enrolling on a course of study in order to use their ILA to pay part of the course fees.

Scottish residents who meet the following eligibility criteria will be eligible to open an ILA account:

• have an annual income of £22,000 or less or are in receipt of a qualifying benefit
• not currently participating on an SDS training programme (the Employability Fund and the Modern Apprenticeship)
• not currently participating on the Community Jobs Scotland programme
• not currently participating in secondary, further or higher education
• not already qualified to degree level or above.

Further information is available from:
SDS ILA
T: 0800 917 8000
E-mail: ilalearners@sds.co.uk
Website: www.myworldofwork.co.uk

Using your SDS Individual Learning Account at SLCek

You will go through this process each time you use funds from your SDS ILA to pay for a course at South Lanarkshire College.

1      When you enrol, you must enter your SDS ILA number on the College enrolment form.  You will be directed to the Finance Department to complete an SDS ILA booking form.

2    SDS will then send you:

• a letter confirming the course details
• a statement showing how much of your account will be used to pay for the course
• an SDS ILA booking token, which has an expiry date, attached to the bottom of the letter.

3    Sign the booking token and pass the token to the college immediately.  If you have enrolled for distance learning, send the token to the college once you receive your learning materials.

4    Pay the college any balance that you owe if your SDS ILA funding does not cover the full cost of your course.

IMPORTANT
Please remember, it is YOUR responsibility to:

• have registered with SDS before you enrol
• complete the college’s SDS ILA booking form in College
• ensure that you receive a booking token from SDS
• sign the SDS ILA token immediately you receive it
• give the SDS ILA token to the college Finance Department before it expires

If you do not do this, your place on the course will be withdrawn unless you immediately pay the full cost of the course.

SAAS Part-time Fee Grant (Part-time HE study)

If you are over 16 and living in Scotland with an annual income of less than £25,000, you may be eligible to apply for support towards the fees for part-time college and university courses. Support is only available for one course per academic year and you must apply no later than 3 months after the course start date.  Your application needs to be endorsed by the College.

• The level of fees payable will be pro-rata based on the number of credits studied - between 30 - 119 credits.  If this amount is more than the maximum fee the student is being charged, SAAS will only pay the lesser amount.

• Higher Education courses at SCQF levels 7, 8, 9 and 10 are eligible. This includes Higher National Certificate (HNC), Higher National Diploma (HND) or undergraduate degree courses and some Professional Development Awards.

If you are studying fewer than 30 SCQF credits per year above SCQF level 7, you may be eligible for support through the SDS ILA account (see above).  You cannot apply for both.

Contact the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) for more information and to apply.
Web:          www.saas.gov.uk
Facebook:   www.facebook.com/saasfb
Twitter:      www.twitter.com/saastweet

Part-time Tuition Fee Waiver Policy 2012/13

If you are in receipt of a relevant UK benefit, and studying less than 16 hours per week, the tuition fees for many part-time and evening classes may be waived.  Not all courses offer fee waiver, so please check before enrolling.  Commercial courses or exam fees for sign language courses do not qualify for fee waiver.

Appropriate documentary evidence of benefit MUST be produced before a fee waiver can be authorised. The burden of proof is on the student to satisfy the college with evidence of their eligibility status.

Eligibility

Students may apply to have class fees waived subject to the conditions set out below.

1 Where the student and/or PARTNER are in receipt of:

• Income Support
• Working Tax Credit (not Child Tax Credit)
• Pension Credit
• Income-based Job Seekers Allowance
• Income Related Employed and Support Allowance (ESA)
• Housing Benefit

2 Where a dependent student's family are in receipt of:

• Income Support
• Working Tax Credit (not Child Tax Credit)
• Pension Credit
• Income-based Job Seekers Allowance
• Income Related Employed and Support Allowance (ESA)
• Housing Benefit

3 Where the student is in receipt of:

• Carer's Allowance
• Disability Living Allowance
• Severe Disablement Allowance
• Attendance Allowance
• Incapacity Benefit
• Contributory Employment & Support Allowance (ESA)

4 Where the taxable income of the student's family in the previous financial tax year (2011-12) is equal to, or lower than the threshold of:

£8,282 - Households with only one person
£12,395 - Households consisting of a couple without children
£18,977 - Households with dependent children

5 Where the student is:

• An asylum seeker living in Scotland
• The spouse of an asylum seeker living in Scotland
• The child of an asylum seeker living in Scotland

6 Where the student is in the care of a local authority and is living in a foster home or children's home, regardless of the students' age.

You will be required to fill out and sign a Part-Time Tuition Fee Waiver Application Form and produce evidence at the time of enrolment to substantiate their claim.
This evidence will be checked by a member of college staff and the type of evidence produced noted on the fee waiver application.

Types of acceptable documentary evidence

The following official documents will be accepted as valid proof of Fee Waiver evidence. This evidence must show your address, the type of benefit and be relevant to the category of fee waiver for which you are claiming.

• Letter from Department of Work & Pensions
• Letter from Job Centre Plus
• Letter from HM Revenue & Customs
• P60 2011/12
• SAAS Award letter
• Local Authority Letter
• Home Office Documentation

NB 
Fee Waiver applications or discounted fees cannot be used in conjunction with Individual Learning Account Scotland funding.