Adult Support

Balancing study with work, family or other commitments?

Our teams can help with course guidance, financial support, wellbeing, study skills and progression opportunities.

Whether you’re returning to education, retraining or developing your career, we’re here to support your journey.

19+ Discretionary Bursary

We offer a discretionary bursary for students facing genuine financial barriers to completing their course, subject to application and approval.

Apply at: eastdurham.paymystudent.com/portal

Childcare support (students aged 20+)

Need help covering childcare costs while you study?

As part of our bursary offer, we may be able to reimburse childcare costs for your timetabled course.

Before you apply:

• make sure your provider is Ofsted-registered, and the arrangement is agreed with the Bursary team in advance
• use any Free Early Education and Childcare entitlement first – we can only help with costs on top of that (check your entitlement on GOV.UK)
• if you have an Advanced Learner Loan, it must be approved before we can assess your application

How it works:

1. Ask your provider to confirm the daily childcare rate in writing.
2. Apply to the Bursary team (include proof of loan approval if relevant).
3. If approved, pay your provider directly yourself.
4. Submit receipted invoices via PayMyStudent, showing the dates attended, the daily rate and proof of payment.
5. We’ll check your invoices against your attendance, then reimburse you by BACS transfer.

We’ll only ever reimburse the agreed daily rate – not any extra charges or fees added by your provider.

Advanced Learner Loan

Studying Access to HE or a Level 3–6 qualification as an adult?

The Advanced Learner Loan is a government-funded loan to help cover course fees. It’s easy to apply for, doesn’t take household income into account, or involve a credit check.

Key facts:

• Repayments depend on what you earn, not how much you borrowed.
• Repayments usually start the April after you finish or leave your course, only once you earn above the threshold.
• You currently repay a percentage of income over £25,000 a year before tax, and repayments pause automatically if your income drops below the threshold.
• You can make voluntary repayments any time.
• Interest applies from your first payment to college until the loan is repaid – for loans from 1 August 2025, this is based on the Retail Price Index.
• Thresholds and rates may change – check GOV.UK for the latest.

For more information visit gov.uk/advanced-learner-loans/overview or call the Student Loans Company Learner Helpline: 0300 100 0616

Other useful links

• Advanced Learner Loan – overview
• Advanced Learner Loan – repayments
• Advanced Learner Loan – terms and conditions guide
• The Money Advice Service
• Student Finance England