Applying for a course, booking your assessment and enrolment
Once you have identified a course you would like to apply for, please click the button below and complete the online booking form. This will provide us with the basic information we need to determine whether you are eligible for any course discounts.
Once we have received your booking form, one of the team will get in touch with you in seven working days.
If you are eligible for course fee discounts or exemptions, we may need to ask you for further information and evidence. This is so that we can prove to the Department for Education (DfE), on your behalf, that you are eligible for funding.
Enrolment will be done face to face at our main centre on 330 Northumberland Avenue. Our onboarding team will walk you through the process and we can provide support at every step of the way.
Payment of any course fees can be made over the phone or in person at one of our centres. We are currently working on offering all of our learners a wholly digital service where both enrolment and payment of fees will be done online. We hope to launch this service soon.
Course Fees
Annually, the Department for Education (DFE) contracts with New Directions College to deliver a range of adult and tailored learning opportunities and issues an annual funding grant to support that delivery. The grant funding is not intended to fully cover delivery costs and except for provision which is available through the Legal Entitlement (English, Maths, Digital and some L2/L3 vocational qualifications), the DFE expects the service to charge course fees to learners to contribute towards the cost of delivery.
In addition to DFE funded provision, the College also delivers a range of courses that are not publicly funded and therefore a full course fee is to be paid by the learner to participate.
When you apply to study with us, we will ask you for personal information that will help us to determine your funding eligibility. We will then be able to tell you whether you need to pay a fee or not.
The type of information we need to know is:
- Your age and residency status:
- You must be 19 or older on 31 August of the academic year you are studying in;
- You must live and be resident in an area of England that is outside of a ‘devolved authority’ area* (see detailed list below)
- Asylum seekers are eligible to receive funding if they:
have lived in the UK for 6 months or longer while their claim is being considered by the Home Office, and no decision on their claim has been made, or are receiving local authority support under section 23C or section 23CA of the Children Act 1989 or the Care Act 2014. - An individual who has been refused asylum will be eligible if:
they have appealed against a decision made by the UK government against granting refugee status and no decision has been made within 6 months of lodging the appeal, or they are granted support for themselves under section 4 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, or are receiving local authority support for themselves under section 23C or section 23CA of the Children Act 1989.
- Individuals who are not eligible for DFE funding:
- those who are here without authority or lawful status
- those who are resident in the UK on a student visa unless they are eligible through meeting any other of the categories described above
- those who are in the UK on holiday, with or without a visa
- they are in the UK on a sponsorship visa
- those whose biometric residence permit or residence permit imposes a study prohibition or restriction on the individual.
- Your employment status: If you are employed, we will ask you to confirm your salary. If you earn a ‘low wage’ as determined by the Government (currently £25,750 PA) your course may be free.
- Pre-existing qualifications
- The course and qualification you plan to apply for
Once we have assessed your details and considered the type of course you are applying for, we will let you know which funding category applies to you. There are three categories of funding available for learners:
- Full Funding (100%) – the Government will pay the whole course fee.
- Co- Funding (50%) – where 50% of course fees will be met by the Government and the other 50% plus a registration fee is due from the Learner/Sponsor.
- No Funding/Overseas Learners (0%) – the learner or sponsor will need to pay the course fee in full.
- Advanced Learning Loan – For some L3 courses, some learners may be eligible to apply for an advanced learning loan to pay for the course fee. The loan is repayable to the Student Loans Company by the learner over an agreed period of time.
- Course eligibility – Some learners have a legal entitlement to free courses such as English, Maths and some digital skills courses. Some courses will be fully or co-funded (50%) by the Government depending on the type of provision.
Some courses, especially Leisure courses, are not funded by the DFE and therefore regardless of learner eligibility, these courses will require a fee to be paid in full.
Financial Support
New Directions College has an additional learner support policy which offers financial support to learners to pay for their course fees if they can evidence significant financial hardship. The pot is small and applications limited. Learners must meet basic residency criteria and be eligible for funding to apply for financial support. Please contact the College for more information or see information on our Additional Learner Support Policy.
Childcare
If you are aged 20+ and live within an eligible postcode you will automatically be eligible for help towards childcare. If you don’t live within an eligible postcode area then we will require evidence of your household income to demonstrate you have financial hardship and require support. If you are 19, you should apply for help with childcare costs through the Care to Learn Scheme: https://www.gov.uk/care-to-learn
Please complete this online application form to be considered for support through our Learner Support Fund. Your application will be assessed on receipt and we will contact you if we require any additional information or evidence. We aim to assess each application as quickly as possible and will contact you within 5 working days with a provisional outcome.
Initial Assessments
Initial assessments are required for most of our accredited courses. These assessments will look at literacy (reading, writing, speaking & listening) and numeracy (maths). This will help us to determine the right course and level for you. We will then be able to provide you with advice and guidance about available course dates.
Some of our Digital Skills and Skills for Work courses will also require an initial assessment. These assessments will look at your current knowledge and skills in literacy and numeracy but may also scan your level of skill within a specific occupational area. This again will help us to identify your strengths and key areas for development. The results will help inform your Individual Learning Plan (ILP) and your targets and goals for learning.
These initial assessments are not exams and will be conducted in a relaxed environment. You cannot pass or fail them, they are a standard set of assessment questions that will help determine the level of your current skill and knowledge. The outcome of the assessment will be discussed between you and the course leader.
How to pay for your course
All fees must be paid in advance unless:
- An instalment agreement has been authorised and implemented; or
- Confirmation of a loan agreement is in place with the Student Loans Company; or
- A purchase order for the training fees has been received from an employer or government agency
New Directions College operates a cashless payment system and no longer accepts cash or cheques as a method of payment. Our payment methods of Payment are by debit card or credit card.
Receipts will be issued to the registered learner with whom the contract for service provision has been made unless an employer or other organisation is sponsoring an enrolment, in which case a receipt will be issued on receipt of payment accordingly. Payment will be credited to the learner’s account even if actual payment has been made by a third party on behalf of the learner.
Standing orders
For courses lasting 10 weeks or more and costing over £80.00, payment by Standing order is available. 25% of the course fee will need to be paid on enrolment with the remaining amount divided over 4 payments. It is the learner’s responsibility to set up the standing order and ensure payments are made to clear the outstanding balance before the date at which the course finishes. Failure to do so will result in the enrolment being cancelled and the learner remaining liable for the outstanding debt. Learners may be excluded for non-payment of fees. New Directions College reserves the right to refuse this payment option in all cases.
Additional Learning Aims as part of a course:
To offer a high-quality education to all our learners, we often provide additional qualifications/skills workshops that promote the skills development of ICT, English and Mathematics as well as employability and personal development and education for sustainable development. Where this is delivered in addition to the ‘main aim’ on any of our medium and longer courses, this provision will be offered as supplementary to the main learning aim and will be delivered free of charge to the learner. Stand-alone courses in ICT, English and Mathematics and employability and sustainability are dealt with separately within this policy.
Amendments to course fees:
The College reserves the right to change a course fee, even if it has been advertised previously. This right will be exercised if an error has been made, or if there are changes to funding rules, the type of provision, minimum numbers or cost.
Registration (Administration Fees)
A registration fee (sometimes referred to as an administration [admin] fee) will be charged on each course unless the Government, Department for Education (DfE), or local policy restricts the service from charging such a fee. This is often the case with fully funded courses available through the Legal Entitlement or Free Courses for Jobs Offer.
The registration fee will be set at a level that will a) contribute to enrolment administration costs and b) to the provision of support services. The current fee is £36 per learner, per course for regulated learning and £19 per learner, per course for tailored learning. In the event of a refund of course fees, the registration fee will be retained and deducted from the refund unless New Directions cancels the course.
Exam Fees and Fees for Exam Re-sits
Courses that are fully funded or co-funded by the Department for Education (DFE) will not carry a fee for exams. First re-sits will also be free of charge. However, re-sits for a second attempt or more, will come at a cost to the learner/sponsor and will be charged separately for each re-sit. Exam charges levied by awarding bodies and a local fee of £36 for administration and invigilation will be passed on for payment by individual learners/ sponsors.
Courses that are not fully funded by the DFE will have a fee for exams. Exam charges levied by awarding bodies and a local fee of £36 for administration and invigilation will be passed on for payment by individual learners/sponsors. These charges will be built into the course fee where possible. Re-sits for exams on courses that are not fully funded will each carry an additional charge. This will be charged using the same principle set out above: Exam charges levied by awarding bodies and a local fee of £36 for administration and invigilation will be passed on for payment by individual learners/sponsors for each re-sit.
If a fee has been paid by the learner to sit an exam, the exam has been registered and booked and the learner fails to attend, a refund cannot be issued as payment would have already been made to the awarding organisation. In this case, the learner would need to pay again, including the local fee, for another exam to be scheduled. Unfortunately, this would also apply if non-attendance was due to unforeseen sickness or other absences. By definition, an exam re-sit is when the exam must be taken again following a previous fail.
Exam Re-takes
Exam re-takes are classified as an exam that must be registered and sat again for purposes of:
- previous non-attendance
- the learner/employer wants to have a second attempt to achieve a higher grade.
Learners studying courses that are fully or co-funded by the DF will not be charged for their first retake. However, charges will apply for a second re-take and each further re-take (as outlined above).
Learners on courses that are not fully funded by the DFE who request a re-take, will have to pay a fee.
The fee for each re-take will be inclusive of the exam charges levied by the awarding body and a local fee of £36 for administration and invigilation.
Cancellations and Withdrawals
Withdrawal is the complete termination of a learner’s registration in both the programme of study and all units associated with it.
Withdrawal by a learner
If a learner is planning to withdraw from a course at New Directions College, the learner must:
- Make an appointment with the curriculum manager to explain the reasons and to let them know what they are planning to do next. If the learner cannot withdraw in person, they should telephone or email the relevant Curriculum Manager, supplying the following details: Name, date of birth, date of withdrawal, reason for leaving and what they will be doing next (e.g Work, another course)
- Pay any outstanding fees (including monies still due under standing order) and;
- Return any New Directions College property.
Learners on Job Seekers Allowance, Employment Support Allowance or Universal Credit and who are actively seeking work must also:
Complete a self-declaration letter indicating that the reason for withdrawing is due to obtaining employment that prevents them from continuing the course. Failure to do so may affect their benefits.
Learners who have a Student Loan must:
Complete the Student Loans Company Withdrawal Form. Failure to do so may mean that the loan liability will continue to increase.
Withdrawals of a course offer/place by New Directions College
Absence – Automatic withdrawal of a learner by New Directions College:
New Directions College will automatically withdraw a learner from a course because of non-attendance or non-participation of any element of their agreed learning plan after four consecutive weeks of absence from planned sessions of their course and no communication. If a learner knows of a reason why they are going to be absent for more than four weeks, they must send information to the respective Curriculum Manager in writing explaining why they are going to be absent, and the timeframe of this absence. New Directions College reserves the right to withdraw the learner after four weeks absence if we are not satisfied that the learner is going to genuinely return to their programme of learning and any outstanding fees will be pursued if applicable.
Behaviour – Automatic withdrawals by New Directions College due to violations of the Learner Code of Conduct .
New Directions College reserves the right to suspend or dismiss a learner from their programme of learning at any time during the course. This may be initiated as a result of disciplinary issues, non-payment of tuition/fees, or incomplete admission/health records, or other situations where the learner code of conduct is broken. The learner will receive confirmation of this in writing, and be told which set of administrative procedures apply, indicating that the learner may be withdrawn from their programme of study. The learner may be pursued for any outstanding fees or costs incurred if applicable.
Refund of fees
Fees are not refunded unless there is a statutory requirement to do so or unless New Directions College cancels the course. There is no obligation for the College to refund course fees unless the service is not provided with reasonable care and skill. The refund policy, which does not affect statutory rights, is as follows:
Automatic full refund of inclusive course fee for all:
- Courses cancelled by New Directions College prior to the start date
- Courses cancelled by New Directions College on the day the course is due to start or if there are insufficient enrolments two weeks after the course start date.
- Learner cancellations, notified in writing within 14 working days of the initial booking and prior to attending the course
- An overcharge in error
- Transfer to a lower priced course following cancellation of a course by New Directions College.
Pro rata refund of course fee may be claimed for:
- Transfers to a lower priced course following cancellation of a course by New Directions College.
- Permanent withdrawal from a course by a learner due solely to a long-term new medical condition of the learner which prevents attendance on the course, or of a person for whom the learner has a permanent care responsibility, reported in writing and supported by the written advice of a qualified medical practitioner.
- The administration fee of £30/£15 will be retained on all refunds.
Refunds for original payments made by credit/debit card must be refunded onto the original card. As card details are not stored, the cardholder will be required to present the card or card details again before the refund can be processed.
All refunds will be made to the registered learner unless (a) the registered learner provides written authorisation to make a payment to a third party or (b) the enrolment is being sponsored by an employer or similar organisation
Payments made by third parties on behalf of a learner form a contract between the registered learner and the third party. If a refund is due to a learner and a third party (other than an employer or other organisation sponsor) who made the original payment on the learner’s behalf, the refund will still be made to the registered learner. If the original third-party payment was made by credit/debit card the cardholder will need to present the card or card details again and the registered learner will need to sign to confirm payment can be refunded to the third party. The decision of the Principal or delegated Officer is final.
Advanced Learning Loan
For specific L3 courses, some learners may be eligible to apply for an advanced learning loan to pay for the course fee. The loan is repayable to the student loans company by the learner over an agreed period of time.
Please speak to us if you would like to apply for an advanced learning loan. We can guide you through the application process and provide you with key information about your course. You will need this to make an application.
You can find out more information about an advanced learning loan by visiting the Gov.uk website here.
*Devolved Authority Areas
In order to be eligible for funding, learners must live outside of the following devolved authority areas:
- West Yorkshire Combined Authority
- West Midlands Combined Authority
- Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority
- Greater Manchester Combined Authority
- West of England Combined Authority
- Liverpool City Region Combined Authority
- Sheffield City Region
- North of Tyne Combined Authority
- Tees Valley Combined Authority
- Mayor of London