This article covers public funding for education for adults aged 19+ and for apprenticeships, which are available for young people from the age of 16. The funding of education for 16- to 19-year-olds in schools and colleges is covered in the article on ‘Early Childhood and School Education Funding’.

Public funding is made available for adults to:

• participate in formal (accredited) and informal (non-accredited) adult and community learning to acquire new skills
• gain nationally recognised qualifications
• help them improve their skills to enable them to enter the labour market or to respond to the changing demands of the labour market
• undertake apprenticeships.

Further education (FE) colleges (non-profit private corporations) are at the centre of provision, but funded programmes are also delivered by employers, training providers, higher education institutions and community venues.

Depending on the learner and type of programme, adult learners may be entitled to full government funding, which means that no tuition fees are charged. Some programmes and learners are part-funded by government. Other learners, or their employers, have to meet the full cost of their programmes/studies.

Financial support for adult learners is provided through grants and loans including the Welsh Government Learning Grant (WGLG) FE, which is income-assessed.

Main funding principles

Welsh Ministers have a statutory duty, under Section 32 of the Learning and Skills Act 2000, to secure the reasonable provision of education and training for persons aged 19 and over.

Funding for formal and informal adult learning is provided by the Welsh Government in accordance with policy objectives and priorities for adult and community learning, and for the development of employability and skills.

Adult and community learning (ACL) 

Policy priorities for the funding of adult and community learning (ACL) are set out in the 2017 policy statement, Adult Learning in Wales, which determines that ACL should support individuals to develop their skills to enable them to move in to work or further education, to enhance their social integration, or to improve their health and wellbeing. The policy statement confirms also that funding for ACL should focus on those in greatest need. It guides providers’ priorities for adult and community learning, emphasising that ACL should address the needs of local communities at the same time as supporting key areas of national importance. These areas are:

• the development of essential skills in communication (including in English for speakers of other languages, ESOL), application of number, and digital literacy, to ensure that adult learners are best placed to access work opportunities or to progress while in employment
• the development of essential employability skills
• programmes to enable older learners to continue to improve their skills and employability, and social engagement programmes to enable older people to continue to participate in learning in an informal way whilst having a positive effect on their health and wellbeing
• programmes to support parental engagement activity and to re-engage adults with learning
• Welsh-medium provision.

In July 2019, following consideration of responses to a three-month consultation on proposals to restructure the delivery and funding of community-based adult learning, the Education Minister announced the next steps.

Developments will take place in two stages. Stage one will focus on the planning and funding of existing provision across Wales. It will:

• introduce a revised funding model that ensures an equitable distribution of funds across Wales – taking into account population density, and economic and educational disadvantage
• improve the planning of provision to bring it into line with wider further education (FE) planning, and focus on essential skills provision
• restructure existing community-based adult learning partnerships, to align them with Regional Skills Partnerships and provide a more robust focus on the economic and social demands of the country.

Stage two will focus on developing a national strategic body for community-based adult learning in Wales. In doing this, the Welsh Government will:

• learn from current national organisations, including the National Centre for Learning Welsh and the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol (the National Welsh College)
• undertake a feasibility study to determine whether an existing provider would be suitable for taking on this role
• work with the sector to develop the remit for the national body, ensuring it supports existing provision, builds on good practice and develops a strategic overview that encourages and strengthens the opportunities available for adult learners across Wales.

For further, general information, see the National Assembly for Wales’ overview of adult learning in Wales (June 2019).

Employability and skills 

The 2014 Policy Statement on Skills outlined the priorities for adult skills development and employability in Wales, reflecting the need to up-skill and re-skill the workforce in light of economic and industrial change. The linked Framework for Co-investment in Skills (2014), which aims to shift the emphasis for adults skills investment from a government-led to an employer-led approach, details how government, employers and individuals will jointly fund investment in adult employability skills. The Framework highlights the priority areas for Welsh Government funding as:

• apprenticeship provision for under 25s
• support for higher level apprenticeships (including piloting degree apprenticeships)
• support to enable individuals to gain essential literacy, numeracy and ICT skills (up to Level 2)
• support for Welsh for adults
• preparing adults for life and work (includes provision for learners with learning difficulties or disabilities) (p.5).

In March 2018, the Welsh Government published its cross-departmental Employability Plan, aimed at tackling unemployment and economic activity. The plan identifies four main themes:

• an individualised approach to employability support
• the responsibility of employers to up-skill and support their staff
• responding to current and projected skills gaps
• preparing for a radical shift in the world of work.

Actions under ‘an individualised approach to employability support’ include:

• creating a new service to provide employment-related advice and guidance to people in Wales. The ‘Employment Advice Gateway’ will enable people to talk to a trained advisor about employment and skills, aims and aspirations, and any issues or barriers to work
• promoting inclusivity through requiring the organisations which deliver Welsh Government programmes to demonstrate commitment to diversity, inclusivity and equality
• prioritising the co-location of local services to simplify employability support for the individual.

Actions under underlining ‘the responsibility of employers to up-skill and support their staff’ include:

• requiring businesses to support the health, wellbeing and progression of their staff
• working to increase the number of employers who place emphasis on creating workplaces which are inclusive and supportive environments for disabled people and those with long-term health conditions
• continuing to provide quality all-age apprenticeships linked to national and regional priority sectors.

Priorities under ‘responding to current and projected skills gaps’ aim to:

• eliminate the gap between Wales and the rest of the UK at all qualification levels, and ensure in future as a minimum that Wales maintains its performance relative to the rest of the UK
• identify, through working with universities, colleges, schools and Careers Wales, how they can encourage learners to undertake courses which would be beneficial to the Welsh economy and where shortages exist.

‘Preparing for a radical shift in the world of work’ includes actions to:

• implement reforms of the education system to encourage ambitious, capable and adaptable learners who can contribute creatively and enterprisingly to the world of work, and as informed and confident citizens
• pilot a programme which will introduce an individual learning account for workers to fund personal vocational retraining in sectors where there is a skills shortage.

A new employment advice service, ‘Working Wales’ (referred to in the Employability Plan as the Employment Advice Gateway) began to operate in May 2019. Delivered by Careers Wales, it provides an all-Wales entry point to employability support, and aims to reduce the number of people who are not in employment, education or training (NEET). It also looks to support the unemployed, economically inactive and those at risk of redundancy, into work.

The youth strands of Working Wales align with the Youth Engagement and Progression Framework (YEPF), and the Welsh Government continues to look to strengthen systematic approaches to supporting young people back into education, employment or training through mechanisms that better identify, support, and track those at risk of dropping out of the system.

Mechanisms for allocating public funds

Funds for adult and community learning (ACL) 

Each year, the Welsh Government provides funds for adult and community learning (ACL) provision to further education (FE) and higher education institutions (HEIs), training providers and local authorities. Local authorities receive a ring-fenced grant, the Community Learning Grant. The Welsh Government also provides funds to Adult Learning Wales, formed from a merger of organisations offering community and workplace education in Wales.

Adult and community learning covers a diverse range of provision. In line with the 2017 policy statement, Adult Learning in Wales, the Welsh Government funds providers to enable them to target local needs for adult learning. At the same time, in utilising this funding, it expects providers to prioritise adult and community learning which focuses on:

• the provision of essential communication skills courses and qualifications up to Level 2
• the provision of essential application of number courses or qualifications up to Level 2
• the provision of essential digital literacy skills courses or qualifications up to Level 2
• supporting the delivery of essential employability skills courses or qualifications up to Level 2
• supporting the delivery of social engagement courses for older adults
• supporting engagement activity for adult learners and parents
• supporting programmes to encourage learners to engage in activities through the medium of Welsh
• those learners in greatest need.

Once demand for these priorities has been met, the Welsh Government leaves it to providers’ discretion to utilise the remaining funding to offer fully-funded or part-funded programmes to adult learners. It expects that providers will work in formal or informal partnerships, including as part of Regional Skills Partnerships, to ensure that local needs are identified and addressed and that duplication of provision is eradicated. It expects also that learners themselves will part-fund leisure and recreational courses through the payment of fees, and that employers will (at least) part-fund employees engaged in courses of adult learning outside the priority areas for Welsh Government funding.

All learners participating in adult and community learning courses which are fully or partially funded by Welsh Government are expected to have clear outcomes for their learning, which will enable them to progress towards employability, further learning or improved social integration.

The Welsh Government also provides ring-fenced funding for Welsh for Adults courses through its funding of the National Centre for Learning Welsh.

Changes to the funding of ACL

In July 2019, following consideration of responses to a three-month consultation on proposals to restructure the delivery and funding of community-based adult learning, the Education Minister announced the next steps.

Developments will take place in two stages. Stage one will focus on the planning and funding of existing provision across Wales. It will:

• introduce a revised funding model that ensures an equitable distribution of funds across Wales – taking into account population density, and economic and educational disadvantage
• improve the planning of provision to bring it into line with wider further education (FE) planning, and focus on essential skills provision
• restructure existing community-based adult learning partnerships, to align them with Regional Skills Partnerships and provide a more robust focus on the economic and social demands of the country.

Stage two will focus on developing a national strategic body for community-based adult learning in Wales. In doing this, the Welsh Government will:

• learn from current national organisations, including the National Centre for Learning Welsh and the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol (the National Welsh College)
• undertake a feasibility study to determine whether an existing provider would be suitable for taking on this role
• work with the sector to develop the remit for the national body, ensuring it supports existing provision, builds on good practice and develops a strategic overview that encourages and strengthens the opportunities available for adult learners across Wales.

For further, general information, see the National Assembly for Wales’ overview of adult learning in Wales (June 2019).

Funds for employability and skills programmes 

In addition to funding adult and community learning provision and providing funding for learners aged 19+ under the Framework for Co-investment in Skills , the Welsh Government funds a range of specific programmes intended to develop skills for employment and/or support further study that will develop skills for employment.

Its cross-departmental Employability Plan, aimed at tackling unemployment and economic inactivity, included plans to establish an employment advice service to would act as a single gateway to a new unified employability programme. The new service, ‘Working Wales’, launched in May 2019 and delivered by Careers Wales, aims to provide a simpler approach to employability support as a single point of contact through which people can access personalised, expert advice and training. This free advice service is offered through Careers Wales offices, local job centres and community hubs, over the phone or through a dedicated website. It is available to people over the age of 16 who are not in full-time education, regardless of location, accessibility or personal circumstance, to support them into employment, and is funded by the Welsh Government and the European Social Fund.

The unified employability support programme highlighted in the Employability Plan will be known as the ‘Job Support Wales Employability Programme’. It will have 3 strands:

• ‘Youth Engagement’ (16-17 year olds further from the labour market)
• ‘Youth Training’ (16-17 years old closer to the labour market)
• ‘Adults’ (18 and over).

The programme will consolidate the current suite of employability support programmes, which have been extended to provide continuity of employability and skills support in the meantime. These programmes include:

• The ReAct programme through which employers receive a subsidy from the Welsh Government to assist with re-employing workers made redundant or to pay for their training costs.
• The Employability Skills Programme which is aimed at helping unemployed adults to get into sustained employment. It provides a range of support and training, including work experience with local companies, expert help and advice on preparing for work, and training to develop essential skills.
• Jobs Growth Wales through which employers are supported to provide unemployed young people aged 16-24 with a job for six months. Employees are paid at or above the National Minimum Wage, with the expectation that the job will be sustained after the first six months.
• The Access programme, which provides vocational training grants to help people to update their skills and improve their employment opportunities. It is available to those aged 18 or over, living in specified geographical areas of Wales, who have been unemployed for 24 months or less and are registered with Jobcentre Plus.

The Job Support Wales Employability Programme will also complement existing community-based employability programmes - ‘Communities for Work’, ‘Communities for Work Plus’ and ‘PaCE’:

• Communities for Work is a voluntary programme providing support for those aged 16-24 and not in education, employment or training (NEET). It also supports those over 25 with low or no skills; with work limiting health conditions; with care or childcare responsibilities; from jobless households; or from a Black Minority Ethnic group.
• Communities for Work Plus provides specialist employment advisory support and intensive mentoring to people who are either in or at risk of poverty, and who are not eligible for Communities for Work, PaCE (Parents, Childcare and Employment project – see below), or other regional programmes of support funded by the European Social Fund. Participants usually have complex barriers to employment and training opportunities.
• PaCE (Parents, Childcare and Employment) project provides one-to-one advice and childcare support for those for whom childcare is the major barrier to accessing training or employment.

Capital funding 

The Welsh Government does not operate a regular capital budget solely for the further education sector, but has a capital budget for all educational infrastructure administered through the 21st Century Schools and Education Programme. The programme provides grants to cover 50% of the cost of new buildings or major upgrades.

For Band B of the programme (2019-24), there is also a revenue funding stream, using the Mutual Investment Model. The investment objectives for Band B are to:

• provide efficient and effective educational infrastructure that will meet current and future demand for places by 2024
• optimise the use of infrastructure and resources to deliver public services for communities by 2024.

Colleges may also use their reserves or external borrowing to finance capital investment.

Apprenticeship funding 

The Welsh Government provides some support for training and assessment costs associated with apprenticeships.

Apprenticeships are programmes for individuals aged 16+ who are not in full-time education to gain technical knowledge, job-specific skills, practical experience and professional qualifications for their immediate job and future career. Apprentices are new or existing employees. Most of their work-based training is provided by the employer and approved training providers manage the apprentice’s off-the-job training and assessment/qualification programme. Employers pay the apprentice’s wages and, since April 2017, all UK employers with an annual pay bill of more than £3 million (€3.33 million*) have contributed towards the costs of apprenticeships by paying the apprenticeship levy at a rate of 0.5% of their pay bill.

*Exchange rate used €1 = £0.90, 16 December 2020.

Financial autonomy and control 

Providers of further and adult education in Wales must satisfy the conditions on the provision of grant or grant aid set out by the Welsh Government in a Financial Memorandum. This establishes the terms and conditions under which payments are made and the key responsibilities of the governing body and the principal of the institution.

In addition to funding from the Welsh Government, further education (FE) colleges are also able to generate their own income through the charging of fees to learners, other grant sources, running full-cost courses, consultancy services or contract work, and providing services to learners such as refectories and childcare. They may also have secured European Social Fund (ESF) money for specific projects.

European funding 

In funding adult education and training, the Welsh Government also made use of the European Social Fund (ESF) in particular to support projects aimed at raising skills and job prospects. The three priority areas for use of the ESF in Wales during 2014-2020 are:

• tackling poverty and social exclusion by increasing labour market participation and helping people to access sustainable employment
• investing in skills as a driver of productivity and growth, to aid progression within employment and improve the skills mix and diversity of the workforce
• investing in young people to create a responsive future workforce with the skills needed to respond to the needs of a knowledge-based economy.

These funds will cease at the end of the UK’s EU exit transition period in January 2021.

Fees paid by learners 

Some programmes of adult and community learning (ACL) and some courses and qualifications in support of adult employability and skills may be free to learners, i.e. fully government-funded. See the subheading ‘Main funding principles’ for the types of priority programme (and learner) most likely to receive full government funding. Other programmes may be partly government-funded, with individual learners or their employers making a contribution towards tuition fees/course costs. Other courses receive no government funding support and learners have to meet the full cost of their studies.

Where tuition fees are charged, these are set by individual institutions and vary depending on the length of the course, the subject area, and the intensity of study.

Most further education colleges offer free or discounted tuition to learners from low income families, disabled learners or to learners on benefits.

Financial support for adult learners 

Financial support for adult learners is provided largely through grants or loans. There is no tax relief (tax allowance/exemptions) for learners or their parents or families.

Welsh Government Learning Grant (FE) 

The Welsh Government Learning Grant (WGLG) (FE) provides financial assistance to individuals in post-compulsory adult or further education who are aged 19 or over, ordinarily reside in Wales and are studying on an eligible course, which must lead to a nationally-recognised qualification.

The WGLG (FE) is income-assessed. In 2020/21, it is available for individuals with a household income below £18,370 (€20390.15*). The maximum grant available (for those with household incomes below £6120 (€6793.02*)) is £1500 (€1664.96*) for full-time students and £750 (€832.48) for those who study part-time (for at least 275 hours per year).

Further information on the WGLG (FE) is available from Student Finance Wales.

*Exchange rate used: €1 = £0.90, 16 December 2020.

Financial Contingency Fund 

The Welsh Government also makes discretionary funds available to further education (FE) institutions and Welsh language centres for adults through the Financial Contingency Fund (FCF). Institutions make their own arrangements for allocating the funds but they must be used to provide:

• emergency payments to students facing unexpected crises
• financial help to students whose access to further education might be inhibited by financial considerations
• financial help to students who, for whatever reasons, including physical or other disability, face financial difficulties.

Priority groups for support under the FCF scheme include learners who need help with childcare costs, especially lone parents; students who are carers; and learners on low incomes.

Institutions are required to have a published, written policy for the allocation of payments under the scheme and may provide the payments in the form of non-repayable grants or as short-term, repayable loans.

Subsidies for private providers 

Most adult education and training is provided by further education colleges, which are non-profit private corporations, or by training providers who may be for-profit or non-profit organisations. As described in the previous sections of this article, these providers may receive some public funding in respect of this provision. They may also provide full-cost courses, funded only by tuition fees.

Employers may also receive some government funding in support of employees participating in education and training. This includes for employees participating in apprenticeship programmes, in specific employability and skills programmes (such as the ReAct programme) and in other full- or part-funded courses of adult education.