Eligibility and fees

This is a surprisingly difficult question to answer. It depends on your personal circumstances.

Most of our courses are subsidised by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA). Some are subsidised by the Department of Education. A few aren’t subsidised at all.

Where a course is subsidised, we can only claim the money if you meet the criteria for funding. (It’s a bit like claiming benefits. Not everyone can claim them.)

To make things even more complicated, even if you are eligible for the Government/WMCA subsidy, depending on your circumstances it may not cover the full cost of the course, so we may still ask you to contribute to the cost of delivery.

This means that there are 5 scenarios to consider:

1. Our Leisure Programme courses. These are not subsidised at all.
2. Our Community Programme courses. These are only partially subsidised. Everyone must pay a fee, but there are different fee rates depending on your circumstances.
3. Courses that are fully subsidised, but you are not eligible for the subsidy. (You can still do the course, but you’ll have to pay the full cost so the fee for you will be quite expensive.)
4. Courses that are fully subsidised, you are eligible for the subsidy, but your circumstances mean you don’t get the full amount and will still have to pay a fee.
5. Courses that are fully subsidised, you are eligible for the full amount. The course will be free for you.

The pages in this section give more details about these scenarios to help you work out which one applies for your course and circumstances. Given this can get quite complicated, if you’re not sure please do get in touch and ask. You can contact us at the email or phone number below.

But what’s the fee for my course?

Some courses you can enrol directly onto. Others, we need to do an assessment with you first to understand what level you are currently working and make sure we’re enrolling you on the correct course.

For courses you can enrol directly onto, you can do so on our online enrolment portal. When you do, you’ll see 3 possible fees listed.

• Full Fee – this is the cost of the course if you meet the WMCA/DfE eligibility criteria
• Over 66 – this is the cost of the course if you meet the WMCA/DfE eligibility criteria and are over 66.
• Go CV+ – this is the cost of the course if you meet the WMCA/DfE eligibility criteria and have a Go CV+ card.

For courses where an assessment is necessary, you’ll need to attend an enrolment & assessment meeting first. If you need to pay a fee (and for many people these courses are free) we’ll discuss it with you then.

Please look around our website to find the course(s) you’re interested in. Each course will tell you whether you can enrol directly or if you need to book an appointment first.