How to find grants for training courses

Grants and bursaries change people’s lives by upskilling them, making stronger communities and a stronger country. The cost of training is, ironically, often the barrier to obtaining skills to ensure employment or career progress.

Grant and bursary programmes are designed to help people that are in valid financial need to access training programmes and thereby gain meaningful employment. The grant or bursary usually covers the total cost of studying and, often, more than that.

As studies have shown that employment take-up nearly doubles, due to grants and bursaries, there has been a growth in investment into grant and bursary programmes.

COVID-19 may have slowed down the administration time taken to award bursaries but the opportunities are still there. Indeed, the government and industry have recognised that grants and bursaries are needed for skills development more than ever before.

Grants and bursary options

To apply for most grants and bursaries, you need to apply directly to the organisation offering them. There is usually an online application form or qualifying calculators that can tell you if you qualify.

In addition to addressing training, if you are a parent you might also be able to get childcare grants while you study. There are a few options available on the Gov.co.uk website.

Another platform that has collated information on sourcing grants is Turn2Us. Here you can find information about training grants and do a grant search.

A grant is only awarded if you meet the eligibility rules of that fund. They are also not necessarily always given as money as some are in the form of products or services.

In any form, they don’t have to be paid back. There are also some supporting services offered, such as advice, information and support.

Grant sources

Here are a few options for different bursaries, grants, trusts and funds that you may be eligible to apply for:

• City and guilds bursaries

City & Guilds bursaries were created to address the huge skills shortages in sectors that are extremely important for the future of the UK. Feedback from employers has highlighted a swiftly increasing difficulty in filling available jobs due to skills shortages. The City & Guilds bursaries program was established 20 years ago and strives to give citizens the best possible chance of finding long-term employment and transforming the economy and the country.

• Dance and drama awards

Dance and Drama Awards help with fees as well as assisting with living costs. A DaDA (Dance and Drama Award) is awarded by one of the 17 private dance and drama schools. You should apply directly to the school, simultaneously notifying them that you want to apply for a DaDA.

Requirements: Age 16 – 23, must show talent and a likelihood to succeed in the industry.

• Trade unions educational trust

The General Federation of Trade Unions Educational Trust has grants for students of economic theory and history, industrial law and industrial relations.

• NHS bursary

NHS bursary is an option if you are training in medicine, dentistry or healthcare. You do not have to pay your NHS bursary back. If, however, you are not eligible for a bursary, you may still want to consider applying for student finance.

Additionally, you can also apply for extra help if you have:

• Children
• Adult dependants
• A disability, long-term health condition, mental health condition or specific learning difficulty

Or if:

• You choose to do a practice placement
• The medical course runs for more than 30 weeks and 3 days in the academic year

The details and qualifying criteria information on extra help can be looked up on the NHS Student Bursaries website.

• Social work bursary

A Social work bursary is available if you wish to work in the social work sector. If you are granted a Social Work bursary, you will receive help with living costs and tuition fees. The granting of it does not depend on your household income and does not have to be paid back.

• Teacher training funding

If teacher training is your target, then you can get help with these costs:

• Undergraduates can get full or part-time teacher training course funding for initial teacher training (ITT) – including early years and school-centred initial teacher training (SCITT).
• Postgraduates can get full or part-time teacher training course funding for ITT – not including early years, Postgraduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) and SCITT.

You do not qualify for an undergraduate tuition fee loan if you already have a qualified teacher status.

• Advanced learner loan

Advanced Learners are not forgotten in the training funding world. You can apply for an Advanced Learner Loan. This will assist you with the costs of a college course or a training provider in England and is not subject to your income levels and credit checks. This does have to be paid back.

When you repay your loan, it is only expected when your income is over a certain threshold.

• The 16 to 19 bursary fund

A 16 to 19 Bursary Fund will help with your training and education costs if you’re aged 16 to 19.  You will need to be at a publicly funded school or college in England – not a university or on a training course. The latter includes quantifiable unpaid work experience.

• The education, health and care (EHC) plan

You are not excluded if you are over 19. If you are continuing on a course you started aged 16 to 18, or have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).