Fees and how to pay

If, at the start of your course, you are aged 16–18 or aged 19–24 with an Education Health Care Plan, you are unlikely to pay any tuition fees for our funded programmes. There may be additional charges for materials, trips, and kit to enhance your learning experience. These are kept to a minimum. If you are not a UK citizen, you can use the  UKCISA website to confirm if you need to pay an ‘overseas’ fee.

You might not have to pay fees on a funded course if you are:

• aged 19+, unemployed (or working less than 16 hours per week), receiving benefits in your own name, seeking employment and enrolling on a programme that is eligible
• aged 19+ and working towards (but have not already achieved) a GCSE in English and maths at Grade 9–4 (A*–C)
• aged 19+, employed (or self-employed) and earning less than £18,525 gross per annum, and your programme is eligible
• aged between 19–23 when you start your programme, this is your first full Level 2 qualification and you are enrolling to a full-time vocational course at Level 1 that will help you progress to a Level 2 programme. Contact us to find out if you're eligible before enrolling.
• aged between 19–23 when you start your programme, this is your first full Level 2 qualification and your programme is eligible. Contact us to find out if you're eligible before enrolling.

If you are not a UK citizen and required to pay fees, you can use the UKCISA website to confirm whether you will need to pay a 'home' or 'overseas' fee.

Free Courses for Jobs

You might not have to pay fees on a Level 3 free course for jobs if you are:

• aged between 19+ when you start your programme, this is your first full Level 3 qualification.
• aged 19+, unemployed (or working less than 16 hours per week), receiving benefits in your own name, seeking employment and you have not completed a full Level 3 or higher or another course through the free courses for jobs offer (except short courses) since 1st April 2021.
• aged 19+, employed (or self-employed) and earning less than £18,525 gross per annum, and you have not completed a full Level 3 or higher or another course through the free courses for jobs offer (except short courses) since 1 April 2021

Community Learning Courses

A limited number of free community learning places will be made available on some courses where indicated and to be eligible, you will need to be:

• aged 19+ unemployed and receiving benefits
• aged 19+ employed and earning less than £18,525 grossper annum

Advanced Learner Loan

If you are studying on a full-time Level 3 or 4 programme (not as part of an apprenticeship), you may be eligible to apply for a loan to help you pay your tuition fees. These loans are not means-tested or subject to credit checks, and you start repaying the loan when you earn over £27,295 per year.

Loans for Access to Higher education programmes are cleared if you go on to complete a higher education programme with the support of a higher education student loan.

For more information regarding eligibility criteria, please visit www.gov.uk/advanced-learning-loans

Please note: the following area is only for those with an offer for a course at our colleges. For access online, a link will be sent with your joining instructions.

Download your learning and funding information letter

See our HE page for financial support information

Activate Learning is pleased to announce that we will be providing three scholarship awards to higher-education learners that wish to study on our HNC and HND Digital Technologies programmes at Reading college and Blackbird Leys Technology campuses, Oxford starting in September 2022.

Our vision is to increase the representation of black and ethnic minorities, women and other under-represented groups within the sector and make it more representative of the modern society we live in.

The award will be up for 100% of the total cost of your tuition fees, £6,165, for either the Level 4 or Level 5 programme. The following higher-education courses can be applied for at both Reading and Blackbird Leys Technology campuses:

• HNC Digital Technologies
• HNC Games and Animation
• HNC Data Analytics
• HNC Cyber Security and Cloud Networking
• HNC Software Development and Programming
• HND Digital Technologies*

*The HND Digital Technologies Level 5 programme will only be running from Reading College as a top up to Level 4.

In order to be eligible to apply for a scholarship, applicants must meet all of the following criteria points below:

• You must possess the qualifications and/or have the relevant experience to satisfy the entry requirements for the course
• You must be from at least one of the following under-represented groups listed as 1), 2) or 3) and live in one of the participation postcodes in 4) or 5);

1. Black, Asian or another ethnic minority group
2. Disabled (including mental, physical, or specific learning difficulty such as Dyslexia)
3. Female
4. From a low participation neighbourhood (POLAR Quintile 1 or 2)
5. Be resident at a postcode which is classified within EIMD 1 or 2

In order to find out if you live in a postcode area from 4) or 5) above, please use the links below in order to search for:

Low Participation Neighbourhoods

Socio-economic areas

Application process

You will need to complete another application form following the submission of your official application via UCAS.

Please contact the HE team to request the scholarship application form, after submission of your UCAS application. Please outline the programme you would like to apply for from the list above.

The deadline for applying is Friday 29 April 2022.

All applications will first be assessed by a panel against the criteria listed above. They will also consider your personal statement and any other relevant information you provide.

If you are successful, you will be notified within ten days of the application deadline.

Guidance

You will need to apply each year for the scholarship programme if you're progressing from a Level 4 HNC to a Level 5 HND.

Please note:

• No cash is given over to learner, payment for the course is made internally to cover the full cost of the tuition fees for 2022 programme.
• Please make sure that you add your UCAS application number onto the Microsoft form in order to complete your application to the scholarship programme.
• When completing your personal statement, you can write us a letter (no more than 500 words) or, if you prefer, you can upload a video of yourself telling us why you have applied for the scholarship.
• We will interview all applicants that make our short list. After all the interviews are complete, we will confirm the names of the three scholars that will join the 2022 scholarship programme.

Payment may be made in person, over the phone or electronically.

• You can make payment (cash or card) in person at your local campus Advice and Admissions.
• To make a card payment over the phone please call 0800 612 6008.
• If you wish to pay by bank transfer please pay to Activate Learning, Lloyds Bank (Carfax Branch), Sort Code: 30-96-35, Account number: 03017129. Please use your student ID as the reference.
• If you wish to set up a direct debit plan, you can speak to your local campus Advice Centre or by calling finance on 01865 551 598.