Officially Outstanding - Read MoreFunding Support and College Bursaries for 2025-26
What is the purpose of the Adult Skills Fund (ASF)?
Introduction to the Adult Skills Fund (ASF)
The main purpose of ASF is to support adult learners in both devolved and non-devolved areas to gain necessary skills to progress into further education and employment.
Within ASF there is also provision available which supports wider outcomes such as health and wellbeing and developing stronger communities, in the form of tailored learning courses.
ASF Funding Rules 2025-2026
For 25/26 Academic Year there are two types of ASF funding sources, either devolved or non-devolved. The type of funding applicable to the individual is determined by an individuals’ home postcode on enrolment as well as course delivery location.
Within both types of funding sources, learners will have to meet additional study eligibility criteria as well as further funding eligibility applicable to each course.
Please note, funding offers are subject to change and after a course placement offer you should be sent a tuition fee sheet applicable to your course.
Cornwall Devolved areas
The local authority for Cornwall will fund courses for learners who have a home address of Cornwall at the start of their course and the course delivery takes place in Cornwall. This is effective from 1st August 2025. Below are key points to be aware of, which may apply to you:
- Individuals must be 19+ effective 31st August 2025.
- Individuals must be ordinarily resident in Cornwall, at the start of the course.
- For certain level 2 and level 3 Free Courses for Jobs (FCFJ) offers who are employed, unemployed* or self-employed may be fully funded, if they earn less than £26,009 annual gross salary. You must provide evidence of earnings on enrolment and can include wage slip, recent P60 or employment contract.
- For unemployed* learners, individuals will need to provide evidence on enrolment showing take-home pay (disregarding UC payments and other benefits) is less than £952 a month (sole claimant) or £1534 a month (joint claimant).
- For certain subject sector areas identified as areas for growth at level 2, individuals will need to provide evidence on enrolment showing achievement of a full level 2 qualification to use this offer.
- English speaking for other languages (ESOL) fully funded regardless of employment status or earnings threshold. However, still subject to necessary immigration checks.
The detailed tuition fee will be sent to you by the Admissions Team, subsequent to your course placement offer. Please note, student bursaries do not cover course tuition fees.
Non-devolved areas
DfE will fund individuals’ resident in England and outside of any devolved authority areas. For Cornwall College Group this pertains mostly to learners’ who are resident in Devon. Below are key points to be aware of, which may apply to you:
- Individuals must be 19+ effective 31st August 2025
- Individuals will be eligible for ASF funding if they meet criteria in the who we fund section of the rules, are outside of devolved authority areas, learning is taking place in England, and they are ordinarily resident in the UK on the first day of learning.
- For certain level 2 and level 3 offers Free Courses for Jobs (FCFJ), individuals who are employed, unemployed or self-employed may be fully funded, if they earn less than £25,750 annual gross salary. You must provide evidence of earnings on enrolment and can include wage slip, recent P60 or employment contract.
- For unemployed learners, individuals will need to provide evidence on enrolment showing take-home pay (disregarding UC payments and other benefits) is less than £952 a month (sole claimant) or £1534 a month (joint claimant).
- Continuing learners who are resident in devolved authority areas, who have not completed their learning by 31 July 2025, but start their learning before the authorities’ devolution date with providers who have an Education and Skills Funding agreement (grant) only.
The detailed tuition fee will be sent to you by the Admissions Team, subsequent to your course placement offer. Please note, student bursaries do not cover course tuition fees.
Bursaries available for 2025-26
The Cornwall College Group (TCCG) is committed to helping as many adults as possible to access our courses. Dependent upon how your course is funded, we may be able to offer financial support towards travel, childcare, essential equipment and much more.
Further Education Bursaries for Adults (19+)
If your individual income is £32,000 or less, per year, then you could be eligible for a College Bursary to offer financial support towards travel costs, childcare, essential equipment and access to hardship funds. We have limited funds available, so please apply as soon as possible. If you apply late and all funds have been allocated, we may not be able to provide financial support to you.
How do I apply for a college bursary?
It is easy to apply for a college bursary and you can now do this online and directly upload your household income evidence to our online portal. This can be done on a PC or a phone or tablet.
Please watch our demonstration video which takes you through the steps needed to apply for your bursary. Alongside this please read through our FE Financial Support Guide to see what household income evidence we require from you to confirm your award.
How can I apply for Hardship support?
If you are experiencing an unforeseen financial difficulty, that is impacting your studies, we may be able to support you with a cash payment via our hardship fund. To apply please click here and complete the application. Once completed, please email a copy to bursaries@cornwall.ac.uk or hand in to your Student Experience Manager
Once we have assessed your application, we will contact you by email to let you know the outcome of your bursary application.
FAQ’s
- You must live more than 3 miles from your chosen campus to be eligible for any transport assistance.
- If eligible, we will pay you a mileage allowance of 30 pence per mile, for your timetabled college sessions. The allowance will be paid to you monthly in advance, by BACs. The first payments will be received in October 2025. Mileage allowances will be monitored against monthly college attendance and can be suspended if necessary. All mileage allowances are capped at a maximum of £120 per month.
- Yes, you can apply for up to £5000 per year, per child, once your free hours have been used, for a maximum of 3 children. This is for timetabled sessions only and does not include work placements or additional study sessions.
- To be eligible for support with childcare, cohabiting couples must have a combined income of less than £38,000 and single parents less than £28,000.
- Please read through our Childcare Bursary Booklet for more information and guidance.
- To help you with the cost of your studies we can support with the cost of any essential PPE or uniform, as necessary for you to complete your course. Consumables such as in class equipment cannot be funded through the bursary.
- We can support with the costs of registration fees, professional memberships and essential college trips.
- If you are studying a full-time level 2 or 3 qualification and your daily return travelling time would be greater than 2 hours per day you may be eligible for funding support with accommodation costs.
For funding purposes, the Government define a learner as unemployed if one or more of the following apply, they:
- receive Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), including those receiving National Insurance credits only
- receive Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- receive Universal Credit (UC), and their take-home pay as recorded on their UC statement (disregarding UC payments and other benefits) is less than £952 a month (learner is sole adult in their benefit claim) or £1534 a month (learner has a joint benefit claim with their partner)
- are released on temporary license, studying outside a prison environment, and not funded by Ministry of Justice.
Download a PDF Guide for more information
For advice on funding, bursaries or anything else please get in touch:
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