The Welsh Government Learning Grant Further Education (WGLG FE) provides financial support for people aged 19 or over.

It is meant for students who want to continue with their education at a school or further education college.

It is a means-tested grant, paid in instalments, based on the number of terms in the student's course or programme of study.

The WGLG FE scheme is an incentive for students from lower income households to stay in or return to further education. It is meant to:

• encourage students to gain qualifications
• help to increase their employment opportunities

These guidance notes follow the stages of the WGLG FE scheme, from application to payment. They'll give recognised Learning Centres a clear idea of how the scheme works and how your important role fits into the overall processes.

You should read these notes in conjunction with the Learning Centre Portal user guide.

Learning Centres play a vital role in the promotion of the WGLG FE scheme and the initial application stages. We therefore ask you to promote awareness of the financial support available under the scheme.

The bilingual WGLG FE application pack contains important information and guidance notes for students. However, we also ask you to offer encouragement and advice about completing and returning the form. This could also apply to parents or guardians.

Please tell your students that Student Finance Wales provides a bilingual service. The WGLG FE application form and other guidance forms for students and parents are also available in Welsh. They can download these on the Student Finance Wales website.

To be eligible for WGLG FE, a student must:

• be resident (normally live) in Wales
  
  
• be aged 19 or over on or before the first day of the academic year (1 September)
  
  
• meet the nationality and residency requirements
  
  
• live in a household that has an annual income of £18,370 or less
  
  
• have applied within 9 months of starting their course, and have completed it within 12 months of starting

They must not be receiving funding for the course or programme of study from some other source, for example:

• Work Programme
  
  
• Training Allowance
  
  
• Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA)
  
  
• Work Based Learning (WBL)

Some students from Wales may be attending learning centres in England. English learning centres may offer Advanced Learner Loan funding to cover the course fees. In situations like this, both Advanced Learner Loan and WGLG FE funding may be available to the student.

We'll assess the household income differently for students who are care leavers. For an eligible student to qualify as a care leaver they must be under 25 at the beginning of their course. 

Students may be considered care leavers if at any point from the age of 14 to the first day of the first academic year of their course:

• they have not been under the legal care of their parents for a total of 13 weeks or more
  
  
• they were under a special guardianship order, or in the custody or legal care of the local authority
  
  
• they've been given accommodation by the local authority for 13 weeks or more

Applicants who were returned to the legal care of their parents between the ages of 14 and 16 might still be considered care leavers.

To receive WGLG FE, students must be studying a designated course. The course must be provided by or in a recognised school or college.

The school or college is responsible for confirming that the student’s course is eligible for WGLG FE funding. You can do this through the Learning Centre Portal, as part of the process for confirming the student’s WGLG FE Learning Agreement.

Contact hours

All students must follow or intend to follow a designated course that has at least 275 contact hours. For the purposes of WGLG FE eligible designated courses must have:

• 500 or more contact hours if they are full-time
• 275 to 499 contact hours if they are part-time

The WGLG FE scheme leaves some room for interpretation of contact hours. These are the time when an eligible student receives teaching or supervision during periods of study or practice.

Generally, this should include any time when a member of the Learning Centre staff is present to give specific guidance towards the learning activity. It can also be a member of staff of a subcontracted organisation.

Contact hours may include lectures, tutorials and supervised study in the workplace. They may also include contact time with staff assessing the student's achievements, for example, assessment of competence.

You must ensure the number of contact hours the course has meets the requirements for WGLG FE support. You must also ensure you can record attendance for administration and audit purposes.

Course type

Eligible course criteria are set out in the WGLG FE scheme. An eligible designated course must:

• be publicly funded
• require attendance at a recognised education provider

Courses must be recognised qualifications up to and including National Qualifications level 3.

An important requirement is that the course must show some measure of progression for the student from beginning to end. Both academic and vocational courses are included.

Only further education courses are valid for WGLG FE. Higher education courses (level 4 and upwards) do not qualify.

Eligible course types

Entry level:

• preparation for level 1 qualifications
• Traineeship Engagement

Foundation level 1:

• BTEC level 1
• NVQ level 1
• Traineeship level 1
• City & Guilds level 1
• VRQ level 1

Intermediate level 2:

• BTEC level 2
• NVQ level 2
• GCSEs
• City & Guilds level 2
• VRQ level 2

Advanced level 3:

• A levels
• Access to Higher Education
• BTEC level 3
• NVQ level 3
• VRQ level 2

You can find more information about qualifications and how to process these in the Learning Centre Portal user guide.

If you are not sure if a course is valid or not, you should email the Welsh Government at studentfinancedivision@gov.wales.

Eligible courses – Independent Living Skills programmes

For the WGLG (FE) scheme, eligible students must be undertaking a further education course up to level 3. This is equivalent to A levels or NVQ level 3, leading to a qualification issued by a recognised awarding body.

From academic year 2019/20, the Welsh Government extended support to students with learning difficulties and disabilities on Independent Living Skills (ILS) programmes that are made up of unaccredited provision.

All Learning Centres offering ILS programmes are responsible for determining the suitability of the students.

ILS programmes follow a robust schedule of processes for:

• initial student assessments
• target setting
• monitored achievement against target

These processes set by the Welsh Government fit with current WGLG FE agreements.

The revised curriculum was developed in response to recommendations set out in a recent Estyn Thematic Report. Each new programme is designed to provide a practical approach for gaining and consolidating skills, to prepare students for adult life.

Under the new curriculum, ILS students follow tailored individual programmes which develop their skills across 4 pillars of learning:

• health and wellbeing
• employability
• independent living
• community inclusion

To support this new development, students with learning difficulties commencing an ILS programme are eligible for WGLG FE support from academic year 2019/20. This is subject to satisfying all other eligibility criteria. These include personal eligibility, income thresholds and residency requirements.

The programme is wholly non-accredited. It leads to the achievement of a personalised learning programme funded by the Welsh Government under Preparation for Life and Work.

Work-related study

Students who attend a school or college as part of an apprenticeship or work-related study are not eligible for WGLG FE.

If a compulsory work placement is part of the student's course, this will count towards the overall contact hours for WGLG FE.

If placements are a compulsory element of a course, it is important that there is no double funding. This could occur if students receive a work-based learning (WBL) allowance.

Distance Learning

The WGLG scheme rules do not have provisions for distance learning. We may award discretionary payments to students who are unable to attend in person learning sessions at a learning centre due to a disability. This must be set out in their learning agreement.

The main principle of the WGLG FE scheme is to support the progression of eligible students from a previous year of study.

To show progression from a previous year, students must be enrolled on the following year of their course. Alternatively, they may be enrolled on a course at a higher level of study from when they were last eligible for WGLG FE.

Students will not be eligible for WGLG FE if they’ve previously received WGLG FE support for attendance on a course at the same or higher level. They must normally show advancement to a higher level of learning to remain eligible.

In exceptional cases, WGLG FE eligibility may be considered for a repeat period of study. This is usually when the student could not pass the academic year due to extenuating circumstances. You should ask our Partners Support Desk to review these cases.

In each case, the student must give documentary evidence from all appropriate sources when you ask for this. Some students may have made significant progress but may not have progressed in purely academic terms, for example from level 1 to level 2. This could include students with additional learning needs or disabilities.

Another exception is if a student is studying at the same level as the year before, but in a related area of study. This may complement their original course and show progress as a whole. For example, they might follow Level 3 Beauty with Level 3 Hairdressing.

In such circumstances, you should use your discretion and consider each case on its own to decide if there is progression.

If a student changes their programme of study, we may need to reassess their entitlement or eligibility.

These changes include:

• change of course
• change in contact hours
• change of Learning Centre

If any of this happens, you should start a reassessment on the Learning Centre Portal. You must enter the new information as soon as possible. Any delay may cause an overpayment to the student.

If a student is transferring to another eligible course during the academic year, the transfer must involve an academic progression. The new course must be of the same or higher level. Otherwise, the student cannot be considered for WGLG FE for the rest of the academic year.

 There is an exception to this rule if all of the following apply:

• the new course is at a lower level than the original one
• the student transfers within the first 20 weeks of the start of the original course
• the student has not received WGLG FE support for a course at that lower level before

If these conditions are not met, the student will not be eligible for WGLG FE until they can show progression from the first year of their original course.

Examples

Student A studies Level 2 Hairdressing up to week 24, then transfers to Level 2 Beauty. Student A remains eligible for WGLG FE.

Student B studies Level 3 Beauty then transfers to Level 2 Hairdressing at week 12 of the course. Student B has not received WGLG FE for level 2 study before. Student B remains eligible for WGLG FE.

Student C studies Level 3 Beauty, then transfers to Level 2 Hairdressing at week 12 of the course. Student C has received WGLG FE for level 2 study before. Student C is no longer eligible for WGLG FE for the rest of the academic year.

Student D studies Level 3 Beauty, then transfers to Level 2 Hairdressing at week 26 of the course. Student D is not eligible for WGLG FE for the rest of the academic year until they can show they’re progressing.

There are a number of changes in personal circumstances that could prompt a reassessment of the student’s eligibility or entitlement.

Students should contact Student Finance Wales to check if they need to complete a reassessment form.

In exceptional cases, an eligible student might be unable to meet the attendance criteria of the WGLG FE scheme due to the nature of their disability. If a student appears to meet the exceptional case criteria, you should contact our Partners Support Desk. The student must still meet the rest of the eligibility criteria, such as age, income threshold and residency.

WGLG FE is intended to help with the cost of attending a school or college, not the cost of living. For this reason, receiving WGLG FE will not affect any Universal Credit payments.

WGLG FE does not count towards the assessment of Universal Credit. It should not be deducted from any Universal Credit amount the students may receive. We've also made a change to the student Award Letter to say this.

If you or your students have any further questions about Universal Credit assessments, please contact the Department for Work and Pensions or the Welsh Government.

If students think WGLG FE has been included in the Universal Credit assessment, please advise them to follow DWP’s process for a mandatory reconsideration.

If you have any students serving custodial sentences, please contact our Partners Support Desk about their eligibility. This includes any students serving custodial sentences who are attending courses on day release.

We perform a sample check of auto-renewal students in November each academic year. We’ll publish sample check dates on the Learning Centre Portal for your information.

We’ll contact the students and ask them to provide financial details or income evidence depending on their dependency status. If they do not respond or fail the sample check, we will stop future payments and will attempt to recover any payments we’ve already made.

Any students affected by this will have their WGLG FE Learning Agreements suspended. This will show on the Learning Centre Portal as 'SLC suspend'.

Once a student has completed a WGLG FE application form and returned this along with their original evidence, we’ll assess their application. We’ll contact the student if any information or evidence is missing.

There are 2 stages to determining whether a student is eligible for WGLG FE and what amount they're entitled to.

Personal eligibility is based on the personal and financial information the student has given on the application form. This determines whether the student is eligible to receive WGLG FE support. It also determines their entitlement band. If the student is eligible, we’ll send them a Provisional Award Letter to confirm this.

Course eligibility is something you'll need to confirm. We need this information before we can issue a Final Award Letter to the student. It includes the course details, progression and number of contact hours. This will ultimately determine if the student is entitled to a part-time or full-time amount of support.

Before academic year 2019/20, our assessment process collected the income of independent full-time students. If these students had a partner, the partner’s income was assumed to be higher and the student’s income was disregarded. Scheme rules require all students to give details of their income, which should then be measured against any other income from the same household.

As of academic year 2019/20, our assessment process has changed so all independent students have their income taken into account.

Before academic year 2020/21, we did not ask for any income information for eligible dependent students. Instead, we used the income of their parents and any partners of the parents to determine the household income. Now, we need dependent students to give information about any taxable income in the previous tax year (-2 tax year).

We’ll compare the income of a dependent student to the income of their parents or guardians to determine which is higher. We’ll count the higher income as the household income and use this to determine the student’s entitlement.

For returning students, signing their WGLG FE Learning Agreement acts as a formal application for WGLG FE support under the terms and conditions for that academic year. This replaces the need for them to complete and return a new application form.

The applications of eligible returning students are automatically rolled over to the next academic year. However, you must still confirm that both you and student have signed the WGLG FE Learning Agreement. This will let us know that the application remains valid.

The content of the WGLG FE Learning Agreement should be the same for a returning student as for a new student.

New students must apply for WGLG FE within 9 months of starting their course.

Returning students must understand that by signing their WGLG FE Learning Agreement, they're formally applying for WGLG FE support for that academic year. Signing the agreement replaces the need to complete and return an application form. They must thus sign their agreement within 9 months of starting their course.

WGLG FE Learning Agreements are a clear and concise way of setting out what the students need to do to receive their termly payments. They cover the terms of attendance for the students.

Both new and returning students must sign an and WGLG FE Learning Agreement. For returning students, their WGLG FE Learning Agreement signature is their formal application to the WGLG FE scheme. For this reason, you must use the mandatory WGLG FE Learning Agreement template, issued by Student Finance Wales, for both new and returning WGLG FE students. You can find this on the Learning Centre Portal.

Learning agreements can be signed in person on a paper form. You can also email the agreements to your students if meeting in person is difficult. You should request an email from the student as confirmation that they agree to their WGLG FE terms. Please store these return emails in an electronic file for audit purposes.

Both you and the student must sign and keep a copy of the WGLG FE Learning Agreement. You must keep copies of all WGLG FE records for 7 years for audit purposes.

The WGLG FE Learning Agreement template includes a question to capture the student’s language preference (English or Welsh). You should select the correct language preference on the Learning Centre Portal when you confirm that the student has signed the agreement.

You can use the Nominated Person WGLG FE Learning Agreement Form if a student is not capable of signing the WGLG FE Learning Agreement. This form lets a nominated third party sign it on their behalf.

The nominated third party could be a parent, guardian or carer responsible for the student’s administrative or financial affairs.

The Nominated Person WGLG FE Agreement Form is available on the Learning Centre Portal.

You need to collate your attendance data each term, as you'll use it for authorising WGLG FE payments. This is the evidence that lets you decide if the student is in attendance or not.

You should use the processes your Learning Centre already has for collating the attendance data. In case of any unplanned school closures, you must still confirm the attendance of your students.

You must keep all records of your attendance monitoring and payment decisions in a format suitable for auditing. This includes both authorised and unauthorised absences. You must keep these records for 7 years in line with standard audit requirements.

Once you’ve made a decision about a student’s attendance, you must submit it on the Learning Centre Portal.

We cannot release any payments until you’ve confirmed that the student is in attendance in this academic year.

In term 1, you must confirm attendance after the student has been in attendance for 2 weeks. You must also confirm that the student remains enrolled and continues to attend at each term.

The two-week rule applies for term 1 only. There is no specific time frame for the following 2 terms, but we expect you to confirm attendance as soon as possible. This ensures your students receive their funding without a delay.

The following examples could be acceptable reasons for authorising absences:

• a visit to a university open day or a career-related interview
  
  
• a work placement, which is an integral part of the student’s course and for which the student does not receive payment
  
  
• attending a funeral, wedding or civil ceremony of a close family member 
  
  
• attending a probation meeting
  
  
• severe disruption to a student’s method of transport that leaves the student with no method of travelling to school or college
  
  
• a driving lesson (not during taught classes)
  
  
• a driving test
  
  
• a family emergency, such as the need to look after a family member – this may be important to students who have caring responsibilities, such as young and young adult carers
  
  
• extracurricular activities that represent a significant personal achievement, such as sports participation at national or county level or voluntary work
  
  
• medical appointments that could not be made outside of school or college hours
  
  
• for young or young adult carers, attending medical appointments for the person they care for
  
  
• extracurricular trips organised and authorised by the Learning Centre during term time, for example ski trips and days out
  
  
• delayed or cancelled public transport
  
  
• attending accommodation or housing viewing appointments when this is unavailable outside of school hours
  
  
• signing accommodation or housing agreements and contracts when required to do so during school hours

This list is an example and not exhaustive. If in doubt, please check with our Partners Support Desk.

You should assess each absence on its own merits. For example, you might consider the following questions:

• Was the absence reasonable?
  
  
• Was it backed up by authentic evidence?
  
  
• Has the student had many absences before this one?
  
  
• Has the student used the same reason before?
  
  
• Has the student told you in advance, or as soon as is practicable?

Some students, for example young and young adult carers or students with disabilities, may have special circumstances which may unavoidably affect their attendance. You should consider all circumstances when you decide if an absence is authorised or unauthorised.

The following reasons are not acceptable on their own for authorising an absence:

• holidays, as students are expected to take these outside of term time
  
  
• part-time or full-time work that is not part of the study programme
  
  
• leisure activities
  
  
• birthdays or family celebrations (not including weddings or civil ceremonies)
  
  
• babysitting siblings (not including family emergencies)

This list is not exhaustive and is for guidance only.

The WGLG FE Learning Agreement includes a question about extenuating circumstances. This may prompt a discussion between you and the student about whether their circumstances may affect their attendance.

The purpose of this is to support vulnerable students who are at risk of not participating in education. This may include caring responsibilities or disabilities, but is not limited to these.

If the student has highlighted extenuating circumstances, you can note this on their WGLG FE Learning Agreement and the Learning Centre Portal.

You should acknowledge these issues when you confirm attendance. Please take them into account when you decide if the student should receive their payment.

You can count isolated periods of illness as authorised absence if you're convinced the illness was genuine. Please ensure the students provide appropriate evidence. You have the right to turn down a request for authorisation if you suspect the reason was not genuine.

We recommend that you apply your Learning Centre’s current procedures for illness absences for WGLG FE purposes. This is in line with the general rule for authorised absences. For example, a student might self-certify an absence for up to 5 days, but it is at your discretion how many 5-day certifications you accept. Beyond this period, the student must produce evidence such as a medical certificate.

WGLG FE can help with the costs of attending a school or college. For this reason, long-term illness is not an acceptable reason for authorising absences.

You must review any medical absence of 3 weeks or more and decide whether it should be categorised as long-term illness.

You should make your criteria for authorising absences clear and consistent. It helps to ensure that all students know what the criteria are and how they're applied.

You should use your general attendance and absence policy when dealing with WGLG FE for students not in attendance for pregnancy, maternity or paternity related reasons.

If you deem pregnancy, maternity or paternity related absence to be authorised, then WGLG FE will be payable. You should use your discretion for maternity related absence and assess each case as unique depending on individual circumstances.

You should apply the same approach to students not in attendance for paternity related reasons.

You should apply your absence policy for maternity and paternity consistently to all your students, whether they receive WGLG FE or not.

You should also take into account whether the student has highlighted genuine extenuating circumstances.

If a student has not fulfilled the attendance criteria, they will not receive a WGLG FE payment. You must ensure they understand the reasons for that.

If students contact us with any questions about their attendance, we'll tell them to come to you instead. This is because it is at your discretion to decide whether students are in attendance and to authorise payments.

The WGLG FE scheme is paid for by public funds. As such, it is subject to similar levels of auditing as other education schemes that involve public funds.

Retention of records

You must keep all school and college records relating to financial data for at least 7 years. This includes:

• student data
  
  
• WGLG FE Learning Agreements
  
  
• authorised absences
  
  
• attendance evidence
  
  
• correspondence about WGLG FE
  
  
• supporting documentation of eligibility, such as course and academic year
  
  
• management information

This includes electronic and paper-based records.

In compliance with the Data Protection Act 2018, you must keep your records in a secure and suitable format and environment.

Students have the right of appeal about:

• WGLG FE entitlement
• their attendance payments

If students have any questions about the amount of their WGLG FE entitlement, they should contact Student Finance Wales.

If students have any questions about WGLG FE scheme rules, they should email the Welsh Government at studentfinancedivision@gov.wales or isadrancyllidmyfyrwyr@llyw.cymru.

It is up to your Learning Centre to decide whether a student is entitled to WGLG FE payments or not. Appeals about these decisions should therefore come to you first. We expect you to have your own established appeal process which is published and available to your students.

Some students, for example young and young adult carers or students with disabilities, may have special circumstances. These may unavoidably affect their attendance. You should consider all circumstances when you decide if an absence is authorised or unauthorised.

As part of our work to comply with the Data Protection Act 2018, we'll delete some information from our systems that we no longer have a reason to keep.

This includes deleting applications and customer information where:

• no payment has ever been made
• agreed retention triggers and periods have passed

There are some exceptions where we will be keeping the data for longer, such as cases of fraud.

The normal retention triggers are:

• WGLG FE applications that have not been approved – the end of the current academic year (31 August)
  
  
• WGLG FE applications that have been approved – the end of the following academic year (31 August) if no payment has been made

The retention period after the trigger is 6 months for all applications.

Your most important responsibilities are to confirm the student’s course details and attendance. This will let us release WGLG FE payments to the students.

Your responsibilities also include:

• distributing application forms to your students when needed
  
  
• being the point of contact for students after they’ve received their Provisional Award Letters
  
  
• offering help and advice on progression, courses and programmes of study
  
  
• giving advice about the attendance rules at your school or college
  
  
• producing and confirming WGLG FE Learning Agreement Forms for all eligible students
  
  
• entering student information on the Learning Centre Portal, including confirmations that they’re attending an eligible course
  
  
• dealing with any appeals about course details and attendance confirmations
  
  
• keeping audit trails of evidence and supporting documents for 7 years
  
  
• telling us immediately if you become aware that a student may be committing fraud in applying for WGLG FE – your WGLG FE administrators can find fraud guidance on the Learning Centre Portal