Fees and Finance

If you are 16-18 years old, there will usually be no fees to pay for a full-time Education Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) course. There are some exceptions, please see the college’s fees policy 2019/20 for more information.

For people aged 16,17 and 18, it is your age on the 31 August that is used to decide if you meet the eligibility criteria. If you are over 18, it is your age on the start date of the course that is used.

You may be able to receive assistance with the cost of travel to and from college if you live more than 1.5 miles from your campus of study. The shortest walking route on Google Maps is used to calculate the distance.

Passes may be provided for the use of First West Yorkshire, Arriva, TransDev and Metro buses. This is at the discretion of Leeds City College and the most suitable method of transport will be determined upon receipt of a successful application.

By studying at Leeds City College, you may be eligible for a meal worth up to £2.75 for every day that you are timetabled to attend.

If your gross household income is £22,000 or below, your student ID card will also work as a meal card which can be used in the canteens across Leeds City College’s campuses.

Similarly, if you are attending a placement you may receive a cash-equivalent voucher to the value of £2.50 per day to be used at a supermarket of your choice.

If you received free meals at school, you may be able to continue receiving them at college.

Please note, funding and financial support is only available to students attending college for five hours or more per week. Only students attending two sessions or more spanning a meal break per day, or students who attend college five hours or more per day, are eligible for meal support.

To be eligible, you must be 16-18 years old on 31 August 2019, have an EHCP or be a 19+ continuer. Additionally, your parents must be in receipt of one or more of the following benefits:

• Income support.
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA).
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).
• Support under part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.
• The guarantee element of State Pension Credit.
• Child Tax Credit (provided they are not entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190, as assessed by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
• Working Tax Credit run-on (paid for four weeks after someone stops qualifying for Working Tax Credit). 
• Universal Credit with net earnings not exceeding the equivalent of £7,400 per year.

To find more about the different funding streams and eligibility criteria, check the Student Financial Support Fund Policy.

Once you are enrolled, you will be sent an email with a link to the online Student Financial Support Fund application form. Click on the link and apply immediately, otherwise, once you have access to the student intranet, apply here. Once you have logged in to the intranet, you are directed straight to the online Student Financial Support Fund application form.

Once your application has been completed, see your curriculum admin team immediately with evidence of your household income to enable an assessment to be carried out so you can receive the support you are entitled to.

If you are 16-19 and live in a household with a gross annual income of £22,000 or below, you may be eligible for support with meals and travel. For students with a gross household income between £22,001 and £26,000, only travel help may be available.

Awards may also be made to students in the following circumstances:

• Students with a gross annual income of £16,009.50, based on the Social Mobility Commission’s low pay threshold of £8.07 per hour in 2016 and on the assumption of a 37.5hr contract with paid statutory holiday entitlement) or less per year if they are a single person living independently.
• Students with an annual gross income of £7,400 or less per year if single, not living independently but within a household such as with parents, carers, relatives or friends.

If you are aged 16-18 you could be entitled to a weekly payment as well as support with travel and meals. To be eligible for Priority Fund you must fall under any of the following categories:

• In care
• Care leavers
• Receiving Income Support or Universal Credit because you are financially supporting yourself or yourself and someone who is dependent on and living with you such as a child or partner.
• Receiving Disability Living Allowance or Personal Independent Payments in your own right as well as Employment and Support Allowance in your own right.

Apply for Priority Fund via the Student Intranet.

If you are aged under 20, you may be eligible for help under the government’s Care to Learn scheme which pays for childcare with an Ofsted-registered provider while you are at college up to a maximum of £160 per week for each child.

The Care to Learn Scheme can help with the cost of your childcare, including deposit and registration fees, a childcare taster session for up to five days, keeping your childcare place over the summer holidays and taking your child to their childcare provider.

To apply, you must choose your childcare provider before you make a Care To Learn application. The childcare advisor can assist you with this. Once you have done this, complete an application online at gov.uk. 

After you have applied, you must show a copy of your child’s birth certificate and a letter confirming you are claiming child benefit for your child to the childcare advisor. Your childcare provider will only be paid once you have shown evidence of this.

For further information about the Care to Learn scheme, visit gov.uk.

If you are aged 19-23, full-time FE course fees are up to a maximum of £1,100 plus exam fees and any course extras. Waivers are available depending on each individual, please see the college’s fees policy 2019/20 for more information.

If you are aged 24 or over and taking a FE course below Level 3, course fees are a maximum of £1,100 plus exam fees and any course extras. Waivers are available depending on each individual, please see the college’s fees policy 2019/20 for more information.

Please note, the ESFA will no longer fund 19-23 students on a Level 3+ course who have already achieved a Level 3 qualification or 24+ students on a Level 3+ course. All fees are payable for these courses and can be paid for by students, employers or through an Advanced Learner Loan.

College fees may include tuition fees, awarding body registration fees or examination and certification fees and course-specific charges. Please note, college fees may vary according to your age, level of study, type of programme and course location.

All students will be expected to make arrangements to pay their fees at the time of enrolment. The college accepts payments by cheque and all major debit and credit cards as well as instalment payments by direct debit.

Instalment payments are allowed on long courses (over 20 weeks) with a minimum value of £100 with an initial payment of 25% of the course fee, with the rest of the fee payable over a maximum of four further direct debit payments.

Please note, this information on this page is updated regularly, but we cannot guarantee that the details will remain accurate, as government policy often requires changes to how we operate. Applicants receiving an offer of a place will be sent further updated information.

Please also note that information about financial support, loans, fees and funding is given based on information available from a range of sources, but does not claim to be complete. All applicants and students are advised to check how the information applies to their personal circumstances.

All details on what the Adult Education Budget (AEB) funding rules from 01 August 2019 to 31 July 2020 can be found on the government website at gov.uk. For more information, please refer to our fees policy or contact us.

If you are 19-23 and plan to study a course at Level 3 including A levels, Access to HE diplomas, and professional qualifications, you may be eligible for free tuition. This is dependant on the qualifications you have previously achieved and the qualification you study. Please contact us for further information.

For some courses funded through Leeds City Council, concessionary rates are available if you are in receipt of certain benefits.

To help cover the costs of part or all of the fees, the government has introduced Advanced Learner Loans. These are government loan options that help bridge the gap between where you are now and where you want to be, by providing financial support while you study.

You can apply for an Advanced Learner Loan if you are:

• Aged 19 or over
• A resident in the UK
• Accepted on to an eligible course at Level 3

The minimum you can borrow is £300 and the maximum depends on the fees for your course. You can apply for an Advanced Learner Loan via Student Finance England. Your household income isn’t taken into account and there are no credit checks involved. 

You must be aged 19 or over on the first day of your course and, in most cases, have lived in the UK for three years immediately before this and enrolling on to an eligible course.

If you would like more information on eligibility, please contact us or details can be found at gov.uk.

Once your offer has been confirmed and you’ve received the learning and funding information letter from college, you can register and apply for a loan online. You need to have an approved Advanced Learner Loan in place before you enrol. If you don’t, you will need to discuss your options with us at enrolment.

You do not need to pay your loan back until:

• You have finished your course
• You earn more than £25,000 per annum (or £480 a week or £2,083 a month) and repayments will stop and start in-line with these thresholds.

Repayment calculations are simple and any balance outstanding is written off after 30 years.

To work out your potential monthly repayments, take a look at the following example.

On a salary of £27,000

Subtract £25,000 from the annual salary (£27,000 – £25,000 = £2000).
Work out 9% of the remainder (9% of £2000 = £180).
Divide the figure by 12 (£180/12 = £15).
The monthly repayment would be £15 per month.
You don’t have to borrow the full cost of your course and you can choose to pay some or your entire loan at any time without any extra charge.

If you get a loan to cover tuition fees for an Access to HE course, then go on to successfully complete a HE course, your loan will be written off in most cases. Bursaries may be available so please contact us.

If you are 19-23 and have already achieved a full Level 3 qualification, are 24 or over, or you want to study at Level 4 or above, then full fees are payable regardless of personal circumstances.

If you choose not to take out an approved Advanced Learner Loan, or the qualification is not eligible for other public funding, or is over £100, you may be able to pay using an instalment plan.

You will pay 25% of your course fees at enrolment and the remainder will be spread between one and six months, depending on your requirements and the length of your chosen course. All fees must be paid in full, one month before the end of the course. The minimum course fee eligible for instalments is £100.

If you have a gross annual household income of £26,000 or below, you could be eligible for support with meals and travel at Leeds City College.

Awards may also be made to students in the following circumstances:

• Students with a gross annual income of £16,009.50, based on the Social Mobility Commission’s low pay threshold of £8.07 per hour in 2016 and on the assumption of a 37.5hr contract with paid statutory holiday entitlement) or less per year if they are a single person living independently
  

Students with an annual gross income of £7,400 or less per year if single, not living independently but within a household such as with parents, carers, relatives or friends.

All information on our financial support funds and bursaries including eligibility criteria and what they cover can be found on our Student Financial Support Frequently Asked Questions document.

Further education students who are 20 years of age or over and meet the income eligibility for their course can apply for assistance with childcare fees during their timetabled hours of study. A contribution of up to £7,000 to cover childcare costs may be made per student over the course of the academic year.

To apply for childcare support, complete the following steps:

• Download the 2020/21 childcare application form here.
• Arrange for the childcare quote form to be completed by your childcare provider. The childcare quote form must be submitted with the childcare application form.
• Ensure that the childcare provider you are going to be using is registered with Leeds City College.
• Please take your completed childcare application form, birth certificate or Child Tax Credit award notice with your income evidence to your curriculum admin team for checking.
• If you are able to provide a completed childcare quote form at this stage then please do so, however, if you are unable to do so, you will be asked to submit your childcare quote form once your application has been assessed and your childcare has been provisionally approved.
• The checklist on the front of the childcare application form must be signed off confirming that your application is complete before it can be submitted.

Please note, funding will not be agreed until you have returned the signed childcare agreement. The childcare agreement must be signed by both the student and the childcare provider.

The maximum contribution towards childcare per student per academic year is up to £7,000. The daily cap is now £55 and the cap on a morning or afternoon session is £30.

For more information on the childcare application process, view our flowchart.

Leeds City College works in partnership with Ofsted-registered childcare providers to help student parents with childcare costs so they can overcome barriers which may prevent them from continuing in learning

To find out more about our childcare costs, click here for our FAQ.

Adults and young people are entitled to free English and maths GCSE tuition if they do not already have a grade 4 (or C) in that subject.