Adult Education in Gloucestershire Fees & Charges Policy 2024/25

1. Introduction

This policy is approved by the Governance Advisory Board (GAB) of Gloucestershire’s Adult Education Service and sets out the way in which fees, including tuition and other fees are set by Adult Education in Gloucestershire (AEiG).

Adult Education in Gloucestershire (AEiG) seeks to balance the sustainability of the Service versus the affordability of the learning opportunities being made available for all learners.

The policy will be reviewed annually.

2. Policy Objectives

This policy is intended to:

• Outline the approach to fees chargeable to learners by Adult Education in Gloucestershire
• Be compliant with the guidance as outlined by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA)
• Be clear on how support may be provided by Adult Education in Gloucestershire where fees are a barrier to participation
• Set out how and when fees are payable
• Set out how and when refunds are allowed.

3. Fee Principles

Adult Education in Gloucestershire will take into consideration market analysis regarding demand for provision and the market rate for fees when setting individual course fees.

This policy acknowledges that Adult Education in Gloucestershire adopts this approach in order to generate optimum tuition fee income in line with ESFA funding regulations and market conditions.

4. Fees

Skills Courses

Skills courses are accredited courses that lead to a qualification up to Level 3. The following categories of learners on skills courses will be entitled to full funding of their fees, subject to satisfactory evidence of status being provided at enrolment:

• Aged 19 - 23 and undertaking a first full qualification at level 2
• Aged 19 - 23 and undertaking a first full qualification at level 3
• Aged 24+ without a full level 3 or above accessing a level 3 qualification on the level 3 adult offer qualification list
• Aged 19+ who have not previously attained a GCSE grade 4 (C), or higher in English and maths, undertaking English and Maths up to level 2
• Aged 19+ who have digital skills assessed at below level 1 undertaking essential digital skills qualifications, up to and including level 1
• Aged 19+ who is unemployed* or low waged* undertaking a course up to Level 2.

* See Annex A for definition of unemployed and low waged

To claim full ESFA funding learners must declare that they are in receipt of a benefit with each enrolment.
For the purposes of ESFA funding age is calculated as defined by the ESFA as the age on the 31st August in the academic year in which the course starts. However, there are two exceptions to this:

• Some level 3 courses are not eligible for ESFA funding, but are fundable by loans if the learner is 19+ on the first day of learning of the course
• Learners aged 16-18, or 19-24 with an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP), who meet the ESFA residency eligibility requirements on ESFA funded courses, are subject to full funding for all elements necessary to achieve the course outcome.

Adult learners studying up to level 3 who are eligible have statutory concessions for tuition fees if they can provide valid supporting evidence, as described in the ESFA Funding Rules (see summary in Appendix 1). The evidence required may be about state benefits or earned income. The concessions may provide:

• Full funding, this means that the learner pays no tuition fees at all.
• Co-funding, this means that the learner may have to pay up to half of the tuition fees for their learning programme
• Adult learners studying at levels 3 to 6 who are not eligible for any fee remission may be eligible to apply for an advanced learning loan to pay for their tuition fees.

All learners of all ages regardless of remission may still be charged for the following:

• Exam costs and subsequent resits where no valid reason is provided for non-attendance at a notified exam
• Costs of equipment which will be retained by the learner following completion of the course. These costs will be made clear at enrolment.

Full Cost Recovery

Fees for Full Cost Recovery (FCR) courses vary as they are bespoke packages based on customer needs; Adult Education in Gloucestershire will set the course costs according to what is to be delivered, how long the learning will be, equipment and venue costs. 

Individual fees will be based on course costs and numbers of learners expected to attend a course. These will remain at competitive Market rates ensuring income is aligned to GCC profitability guidance.

Course fees are payable in full at the time of booking. Places on courses arranged by Adult Education in Gloucestershire are strictly limited. Courses are only provisionally booked until full payment has been received, therefore, a place is not guaranteed until payment is received. All course fees must be received before course start date.

Apprenticeships

All apprenticeship funding will be processed through the Apprenticeship Service portal in compliance with the funding rules.

Apprenticeships fees are calculated following the eligible costs outlined in the funding rules and in line with maximum funding bands.

Apprenticeship price will be negotiated on a case-by-case basis based on prior learning and experience.

No fees can be charged to the apprentice.

Employer contributions will be charged in line with the ESFA guidance with the option of a one-off payment or instalments

Community Learning

What is Community Learning?

The purpose of Community Learning is to develop the skills, confidence, motivation and resilience of adults of different ages and backgrounds in order to:

• progress towards formal learning or employment and/or
• improve their health and well-being, including mental health and/or
• develop stronger communities

Community learning course will be free to learners receiving any of the following benefits:

• Universal Credit
• Job Seekers Allowance
• Employment and Support Allowance
• Working Tax Credit
• Child Tax Credit
• Housing Benefit
• Carers and Disability Benefit
• Pensions Credit
• Other current Department of Working Pensions (DWP) low-income benefits
• Economically in active
• Earns less than £20,319 annual salary

We ‘attribute costs’ for eligible learners, which includes the cost of delivering learning and any support costs. 

For learners who do not receive one of these benefits there will be charge of £5 per session, please note that all material costs will be included within this fee.

5. Pound plus

Pound Plus refers to additional income generated by providers over and above core income from the ESFA’s Adult Education Budget. It is a term used to describe how learning providers can show how they are maximising the value of public investment. This is important because generating additional income and revenue is central to the objective of driving up participation within a very constrained public funding environment. Pound Plus includes income and savings we generate in addition to our usual funding.

This includes:

• Grants, fees, tenders etc.
• Savings from accommodation, use of volunteers and sharing spaces, resources (at no or reduced cost)
• In-kind’ contributions (e.g. free publicity for courses, recruitment of learners, access to learning provider staff and time, reduced or free cost for hire of premises, use of equipment or consumables)
• Volunteer activities (including learner support in the classroom or in other activities, learning champions, curriculum development, signposting, advice, infrastructure or delivery support)

Pound Plus includes both actual and in-kind contributions. Any additional income generated is reinvested to:

• Subsidise targeted courses, which are free
• Support the development of new subjects to meet the needs of priority groups and the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods
• Provide adult learning for smaller groups and at venues in priority areas which are less cost effective but important for widening participation.

6. Financial Fee Support

For learners with financial hardship various fee support routes may be available to fund their tuition and other fees. Currently the main alternatives are as follows:

• Discretionary Learner Support Funds for example for help with travel, course materials and equipment, or childcare costs (please see Gloucestershire’s Adult Education Service Discretionary Learner Support Policy for eligibility). https://www.gov.uk/learner-support 
• Adult learning grants
• Any applicable government scheme.

Learners applying to the Discretionary Learner Support Fund for help towards fees may still be expected to contribute.

7. Cancellation and Refund

Cancellations are to be made in writing. If the learner wishes to cancel/postpone a course, the following policy will apply unless agreed by prior arrangement:

• *We will try and accommodate the learner by transferring them to another scheduled course if possible, avoiding the need to cancel and providing a refund
• If the above* is not possible, then 1 day prior to the course start date: 100% fees are payable
• If the above* is not possible, then 2-5 days prior to the course start date: 50% fees are payable
• If the above* is not possible, then 5+ days prior to the course start date: 0% fees are payable.

Alternatively, a learner can be substituted up to 24 hours before the start of the course. It may be necessary for reasons beyond the control of Adult Education in Gloucestershire to change the date, time, content, and trainer. Adult Education in Gloucestershire reserves the right to cancel a course up to and including the date of the course. In the unlikely event that a course should be cancelled/postponed, Adult Education in Gloucestershire will endeavour to provide an alternative date.

If the alternative date is not suitable a full refund will be provided. In the event that a payment is to be refunded, Adult Education in Gloucestershire will endeavour to process all refunds as quickly as possible. Refunds can only be made to the card account or bank account from which the refundable payment was made.

In the event of a learner failing an assessment, it is the responsibility of the learner to arrange the date and payment for the reassessment direct with Adult Education in Gloucestershire.

Appendix 1

Government contribution table 1: 19 to 23-year-olds

Government contribution table 2: 24+

1. Co-funded learners may be required to contribute towards the cost of the learning.

*Once a learner has been funded by free courses for jobs (FCFJ) they will have exhausted their eligibility for the FCFJ offer

Annex A

Definition of Unemployed

For funding purposes, we define a learner as unemployed if one or more of the following apply, they:

1. Receive Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), including those receiving National Insurance credits only
2. Receive Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
3. Receive Universal Credit, and their take-home pay as recorded on their Universal Credit statement (disregarding Universal Credit payments and other benefits) is less than £617 a month (learner is sole adult in their benefit claim) or £998 a month (learner has a joint benefit claim with their partner)
4. Are released on temporary licence, studying outside a prison environment, and not funded by the Ministry of Justice

Alternatively, a learner who does not meet the above criteria of unemployed may be fully funded if both of the following apply.  The learner:

1. receives other state benefits (not listed in above) and their take-home pay (disregarding Universal Credit payments and other benefits) is less than £617 a month (learner is sole adult in their benefit claim) or £988 a month (learner has a joint benefit claim with their partner), and
2. wants to be employed, or progress into more sustainable employment, and their take-home pay (disregarding Universal Credit payments and other benefits) is less than £345 a month (learner is sole adult in their benefit claim) or £552 a month (learner has a joint benefit claim with their partner), and the identified learning is directly relevant to their employment prospects and the local labour market needs

Low wage Criteria

Learners may be fully funded if they are employed, or self-employed, and would normally be co-funded for provision, up to and including level 2. They must satisfy both:

• Be eligible for co-funding, and
• Earns less than £20,319 annual gross salary

Learners will be asked to provide evidence of their gross annual wages in these circumstances. This could be a wage slip or a Universal Credit statement within 3 months of their learning start date, or a current employment contract which states gross monthly/annual wages.

Adult Education in Gloucestershire Fees & Charges Policy (DOCX, 197.3 KB)