Barclays Learning Support Grants Programme

Be a parent/carer with legal responsibility for a child/ children aged under 18.

Be in receipt of one or more of the means-tested benefits listed below or have a household income of £30,000 or less.

• Income-based JSA
• Income-related ESA
• Income Support
• Universal Credit
• Housing Benefit
• Working Tax Credit
• Child Tax Credit
• Pension Credit
• Council Tax Support

Please note:  we will require a copy of the applicant’s bank statement, showing their name and means-tested benefit(s) received that is less than three months old (the statement provided should be for the complete month).  If the applicant is only in receipt of Council Tax Support or Housing Benefit, which may not be detailed on their bank statement, we will also require the most recent documentary evidence that they are in receipt of these benefits.

Have right of residency in the UK.

Be a student currently studying on a course at a partner Further Education College or Adult Education Institution at the following national framework levels:

• England, Northern Ireland and Wales: Levels 2 and 3
• Scotland: Levels 5 and 6

Further educational colleges and adult education institutions that have signed a contract, or Family Action’s services and partner organisations delivering Barclays LifeSkills where the student has completed 6 LifeSkills sessions.

Only the following Colleges and organisations are eligible to apply:

• Ayrshire College
• Belfast Metropolitan College
• Burnley College
• Coventry College
• East Coast College
• Family Action Lifeskills Central
• Family Action Lifeskills North
• Family Action Lifeskills South
• Gower College, Swansea
• Hartlepool College of Further Education
• Hull College
• Stanmore College
• The City of Liverpool College

Authorised members of staff from further educational colleges and adult education institutions that have signed a contract, or Family Action’s services and partner organisations delivering Barclays LifeSkills where the student has completed 6 LifeSkills sessions. Only the following Colleges and organisations are eligible to apply:

• Ayrshire College
• Belfast Metropolitan College
• Burnley College
• Coventry College
• East Coast College
• Family Action Lifeskills Central
• Family Action Lifeskills North
• Family Action Lifeskills South
• Gower College, Swansea
• Hartlepool College of Further Education
• Hull College
• Stanmore College
• The City of Liverpool College

If you are a student studying at one of the above colleges, please contact the college student support/welfare department to have an application submitted on your behalf, if you meet the eligibility criteria.  If you are participating in one of Family Action’s LifeSkills programmes please contact your support worker to discuss submitting an application.

Prior to submitting an application on behalf of a student you need to ensure they understand how the data will be used and to obtain their consent to their data being processed by Family Action, for the purposes of making an application for a grant from the Fund.  For full details please refer to the Terms and Conditions attached to the on-line application form.

• Students who are not studying at a registered referral college.
• Students who do not meet all the eligibility criteria above.
• Employees of registered referral colleges.
• Students with savings of £6,000 or more.

The “additional” costs directly associated with a course of study as follows:

• Laptop/computer/tablet (that includes Microsoft software package)
• Smartphone
• Broadband OR Smartphone Data
• Computer software for
  • special needs or disability only, e.g. to assist those with visual impairment.
  • software required for the course that is not provided by the learning provider (excluding Microsoft).
• Books required for the course of study
• Equipment required for the course, that is not provided by the place of study
• Travel
• Exam fees
• Contribution to basic household needs (food, gas, electric, oil) of up to £500 dependant on the size of the household and the length of time remaining on the course at the time the application is submitted.

In addition to the items above, participants of Family Action’s LifeSkills programme can also apply for the following:

• Course fees
• Clothing for interviews or work placements
• Registered childcare

We will not fund course fees (except for LifeSkills applicants), costs already incurred, items provided by the place of study, courses outside the UK.  We will only fund items listed above.

The maximum grant will be £1,000.

We are only able to consider one application per applicant per academic year.

The on-line application process will be available from the date organisations are informed Family Action has activated their profile to the date funds are depleted.

Prior to submitting an application on behalf of a student, it is essential that you obtain their informed consent to ensure they understand how information provided on the application form will be used and to obtain their consent to their data being processed by Family Action, for the purposes of making an application for a grant.

You will be asked to confirm that you have received the informed consent of the student before submitting an application on their behalf on the application form.

Full details are provided in the Terms and Conditions which you need to confirm you have read before completing an application.

1. Press CTRL and click on this link https://family-action-trustsearch.org.uk/apply/barclayslsg/intro.aspx
2. Enter your email address and click on the link to continue.
3. If you are new to the system, the system will ask you a few basic questions about you before creating your account. It will then email you a temporary password.
4. Click on the link provided in the email and follow the instructions to set up your account password.
5. Click “Create a new Barclays Learning Support Fund Application” and complete the application form.
6. The application is saved automatically as you move from one page to another. If you wish to save your application form and return to it later click the save button on the last screen completed.
7. Click “Submit” to send your application to Family Action. Note:  After you click “submit” you will not be able to make changes as you will no longer be able to access the application.

NOTE:  Once you have a password it can be used for all applications.  If you forget your password just follow the instructions on the screen to create a new password.

1. Press CTRL and click on the link provided above.
2. Enter your email address and click on the link.
3. When prompted, enter your password and click on the link.
4. Either click on “create a new application” OR select an incomplete application by clicking on the application number to continue.

Yes, we will require a copy of the applicant’s bank statement, showing their name and means-tested benefit(s) received that is less than three months old (the statement provided should be for the complete month).  If the applicant is only in receipt of Council Tax Support or Housing Benefit, which may not be detailed on their bank statement, we will also require the most recent documentary evidence that they are in receipt of these benefits.

1. Email the Grants Service on [email protected] detailing the problem and using screen grabs to illustrate your problem, if appropriate.
2. Or phone 07816 408119 on Tuesday to Friday from 1pm to 3pm. Calls will not be taken outside these hours however you can always email us.
3. The grants service will get back to you as quickly as possible.

1. You will immediately receive an automated email providing you with a unique reference/application number for the application submitted (please quote this number in any future correspondence) and the latest date on which the application will be considered (usually within 3 working days of receipt).
2. You will be informed of our decision, by email, within 2 working days of the date on which the application is considered.
3. College referrals: If the grant application is successful a payment will be made BACS to the referral college’s nominated bank account within 3 working days of the application being considered.  A remittance advice will be sent to the email address provided in the signed agreement.
4. LifeSkills referrals: If the grant application is successful a payment will be made within 3 working days of the application being considered by the method chosen by the referring member of staff submitting the application form.

All grants will be paid, by BACS, to the registered referring Further Education College or Adult Education Institution.

In order to be able to provide the generous donors, our supporters and the wider community with the assurance that donations are directly benefiting those eligible to apply to this grants programme, we need to be able to demonstrate the difference the award of a grant has as made to student.  We therefore ask you to use your best efforts to provide us with feedback about the impact of grants awarded to the student.

Feedback may be requested through Survey Monkey or in any other format, electronic or otherwise, as determined by us from time to time. The feedback that you provide must be anonymised and not include any personal data about the student.

If we consider that you have unreasonably failed to provide any feedback we have requested, we reserve the right to refuse to consider any further applications made by you.

The majority of unsuccessful applications are because the student does not meet our eligibility criteria so it is very important to check these before taking the time to submit an application.

If your grant application is unsuccessful and you would like us to review our decision we are happy to do so on receipt of an email detailing the reasons why you feel a review is required.  In your email please provide the unique reference number of the application in the subject line of the email and send it to [email protected]

We will respond to each review request individually as soon as we can which will usually be within 7 working days.

Please note we will only enter into correspondence with the college that submitted the application. 

Email:               [email protected]

Post:                With regret we are unable to acknowledge or respond to postal enquiries unless an email address is provided.

Phone:             07816 408119 on Tuesday to Friday from 1pm to 3pm. Calls will not be taken outside these hours however you can always email us.

NOTE:  The grants service is open between 9.00 a.m. and 3.00 p.m. Tuesday to Friday. The grants service is closed on Mondays.