Learning Financial assistance

collis

Hi All,
My partner is wanting to return to full time education in one way or another in order to study childcare so that she can work with disabled children.
Unfortunately she is having problems locating a course that can give her the qualification she wants (to be able to work as the nursery worker and not an assistant).
She is on a reserve list for the local college however she wants to know of alternate ways to get the required qualifications.
Could someone reccomend any ways she can get the qualifications and ways of funding them as we have a very low household income (sub £19k) for the 2 of us with a 2 year old child.

We know of ICS Learn however not sure of any of the local funding solutions will fund one of these courses, the only reason were looking at this is due to a lack in availability of college places thanks to a government/council decision where all college places go to school leavers and not to those who have been out of work for 3 years with-out claiming benefits (JSA namely).

We are living in Wales for those who may have any ideas.

Thanks in Advance.

Lokolo

I think playing the waiting game will be your best bet. College courses will not get a lot of funding either, so for the time being I would be saving up as much as possible in the mean time.

Oldernotwiser

I would suggest that she makes an appointment to see a Careers Adviser with Careers Wales, who offer an all age guidance service.

http://www.careerswales.com/

They'll be able to advise her about training opportunities locally and any funding initiative which might be available.

Avoid private organisations like ICS Learn who offer distance learning courses where practical experience is essential.