Free college courses in england

[love is louder]

i am 19 and have signed on the dole today
i have just finished doing my Bussiness and Admin NVQ level 2
at the moment i cant go any higher because of the changes in education

i am looking for a part time course (hopefully evenings)
that is free! in either arts or business admin

can anyone help me!? :(

[Kaius]

Are you not elidgable for ALG to help you pay for it or anything?

[love is louder]

i dont know what that is
but i doubt it, i cant even get EMA
the art course is just something for my spare time but i really want to finish my NVQ
i can do it but i need to find my own job then get them to let me do it!

[Revolution]

As far as i am aware, after the age of 18 you are no longer entitled to further education unless you referred by the council, ie income support. People who come out of jail, rehab, are unable to speak English, etc will be eligible to free courses. May i ask what you are refering to by dole? Job seekers? I know after 6 months they will put you on a course if you are unable to find a job, although this won't be art or anything.

ALG is adults learning grant, basically the same as EMA for adults in full-time education. However you cannot be on job seekers while in full-time education, it's made to help those who work alongside learning,too boost their income while studying.

Basically what i'm saying is, to receive income and be on a course, the following need to occur;

- Be on income support, under 18 while in full-time education
- Be on income support, any age but unable to work due to criminal records, language barriers or are socially unstable and need weaving into the community.
- Be on job seekers, any age but the course needs to be 15 hours or less so you are still eligible for work. However you will still need to pay course fee's yourself.

There are charity's such as The Princes Trust which you can apply to, and if you are successful they will pay for your course fee's. This could probably be your best bet as there is not much the government will offer you once you able to work and have spent your time in education already.

I know my post sounds pretty dull and depressing, but go to your connexions as they will be able to advise you best. I've gone through a lot of this type of stuff, including hostels, benefits (housing and income), etc and it can get really depressing because you will hit a LOT of dead ends before you get any results. Sometimes those results are not what you're looking for either, but try to keep your chin up and best of luck too you!

[love is louder]

not dull at all, but definately depressing :P
thanks for explaining it to me noone really bothers. and yea by dole i mean JSA thought everyone called it that, my bad. im going to connexions next week and i will look into that princes trust thing although i doubt the will give me an money
thankyou very much!