19.0 Part-time higher education and professional qualification grant
19.1 What is this new support for part-time learners?
ILA Scotland now offers a part-time higher education and professional qualification grant of up to £500 a year that will be available to part-time learners wanting to study 40 Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) credits or more an academic year.
19.2 Does this replace the current £500 loan facility?
Yes. This new funding is not a loan and so it does not have to be paid back.
19.3 Who can get this funding?
To be eligible to receive the new part-time grant, learners must be aged 16 or over and have an income of £22,000 a year or less, or receive one of the following benefits:
- Jobseeker’s Allowance
- Income Support
- Incapacity Benefit
- Carers Allowance
- Child Tax Credit (maximum rate)
- Employment and Support Allowance (as from 27th October 2008)
- Pension Credit
It is available to new and existing learners, as long as they are studying 40 SCQF credits or more an academic year.
19.4 Is the income assessment process the same as the £200 learner account?
Yes, the process will be the same.
19.5 What courses are eligible?
Higher education courses, Professional Development Awards (PDA) and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses at SCQF level 7 - 10 are eligible. And for academic year 2010 - 11 learners can also get up to £500 towards part - time taught postgraduate, PDA and CPD courses at SCQF level 11.
19.6 Who can offer ILA500 funded courses?
Any learning provider who is ILA Scotland registered and who offers courses that are eligible for ILA500 can use the funding. No separate application is necessary. Please see the table of eligible qualifications for 2010 - 2011 to assess whether your courses would meet these criteria. Also note that learners must be studying 40 Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) credits or more an academic year to be able to apply for ILA500.
19.7 What are the differences between the ILA500 and ILA200 schemes?
There are several differences between the schemes including:
Application process – learners will apply to the ILA Scotland helpline in the same way however, they will bring their application form to their learning provider to have it endorsed. You will need to confirm, by stamping and dating the form, that they are studying an eligible course at 40 SCQF credits or more an academic year, they are not in receipt of fee waiver and the start date and cost of the course is correct.
Account renewal process – ILA200 accounts run for a “learner year” and are renewed automatically (so long as the individual returns their income assessment form to us and they are still eligible to receive funding). ILA500 accounts however will run for an academic year and do not renew automatically – nor do we issue any reminders to learners asking them to re-register. Learners will need to re-apply every year of their course.
Booking process – there is no need for learning providers to publish their ILA500 courses on the ILA Scotland database. There are no booking tokens required to claim payment for the ILA500 scheme. Providers are asked to endorse the application form to certify that the learner is studying 40 SCQF credits or more an academic year, then stamp and date the form.
Minimum contribution – there is no requirement to collect a minimum contribution although the learner will be required to meet any shortfall between the course price and the ILA Scotland contribution and pay this directly to the institution.
19.8 How will we know that the learner has been awarded funding?
Once you have endorsed the application form, the learner must return it to SAAS who will complete an eligibility check. Successful applicants will receive an Award Notice which they will be asked to give you a copy of. You will be required to keep a copy of this on file for 6 years (electronic copies are acceptable).
19.9 Is it possible to have an ILA200 and an ILA500 account at the same time?
No, this won’t be possible. The learner will have to choose what type of account to apply for and will have that account for that year.
19.10 When will we receive payment from SAAS?
Payments will be issued in the next fee run after the course start date provided the endorsed application meets the rules of eligibility. Payments will be issued with the same frequency as for full-time tuition fee support.
19.11 Do our learners need to reapply every year of their course?
Yes, the funding is awarded for an academic year only so they will have to reapply and have their eligibility assessed each year.
19.12 How is ILA Scotland promoting this offer?
Online advertising will be used to promote this funding, with adverts running across many websites at certain dates thoughout the year. Press releases will also be issued locally and nationally over the summer to raise awareness of the new funding.
We do of course need every learning provider to play their part in helping us promote this offer – both to your new and existing students.
You can order materials from ILA Scotland free of charge that you can use at your Open Day and Enrolment events. There are leaflets and posters available, as well as a basic banner ad that you can run on your website that links through to the ILA Scotland site.
19.13 Can learners apply for the part-time fee grant after starting their course?
Applications for the part-time fee grant must be made before the course start date.
19.14 Do previous study rules apply? Can a student get funding to repeat a year?
There are no previous study rules and it will be possible to receive funding for repeat years.
19.15 Can you have a £500 account one year and a £200 one the next?
The £500 account will run for one academic year. It will not be automatically renewed so after that time has lapsed, learners can apply for a £200 learner account. It is not possible to have two learner accounts at the same time.