This section gives advice about the funding available for students studying an eligible part-time course.
The following links take you to the relevant section of this page.
- Part-time Fee Grant (previously known as ILA 500)
- ILA200
- Disabled Students' Allowance
- Discretionary Funds
Part-time Fee Grant (formerly known as ILA 500)
This scheme provides up to £500 a year towards the cost of tuition fees.
Eligibility
To qualify for this funding, you should have an individual income of £22,000 a year or less. You also need to be studying a part-time Higher Education course, Professional Development Award (PDA) or Continuing Professional Development (CPD) at levels 7-11 of the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) and complete between 40-90 SCQF credits per year. You must also be studying at a Scottish Institution. Eligible learners studying less than 40 SCQF credits may qualify for the ILA200 offer. This support also extends to eligible students studying part-time taught postgraduate courses at SCQF Level 11 (please note that part-time fee grant eligibility for taught postgraduate courses is under review for 2012-2013).
Eligible students must also meet our residence conditions as set out in The Students' Allowances (Scotland) Regulations 2007 (as amended).
Your college, university or private training provider must be approved and validated before funding can be offered.
Any student in receipt of full-time student support from SAAS is not eligible for the part-time fee grant. This includes students who are registered as full-time but attending on a part-time basis. Also, we cannot offer any part-time fee grant funding if you are already receiving support for other government training schemes. This includes ILA200, Training for Work, Get Ready for Work and the Modern Apprenticeship Scheme.
HOW DO I APPLY
Your application must be with SAAS no later than one month after your course starts.
If your application is with SAAS later than one month after your course starts then your application will be rejected. You should check with your learning provider whether they can accept your application after registration for your course has closed. We will not accept any applications for the academic year 2011-2012 after 31 July 2012.
You can only apply by downloading a copy of the Part-Time Fee Grant (PFG1) application from this website. You should also download the notes (PFG2) to help you complete the application. Please make sure you download the correct form and notes which will depend upon when your course starts.
If you are applying for support, you may have to complete our ‘Certification of Income' forms. You can also download them from this section of our website.
Applying for support – courses starting between 1 August 2011 and 31 July 2012
Download a copy of:
- the PFG1 – the part-time fee grant application for 2011-2012. This form should only be used for courses commencing on or after 1 August 2011.
- the PFG2 - the notes to help you complete the PFG1.
- Certification of Income form.
- Certification of Self-Employed Income form.
- Certification of Benefit Income form.
ILA200
The ILA200 offer provides up to £200 a year for learners to fund a wide range of courses.
Eligibility
To qualify for this funding, you should be 16 or over and have an individual income of £22,000 a year or less. Many courses focus on vocational learning, however it also supports those learners furthest away from learning to do shorter pieces of learning to encourage a more lifelong learning approach.
Applying for support
You can use ILA funding with over 430 approved learning providers across Scotland, offering around 26,000 courses. These include colleges, universities, private training providers, voluntary and community-based providers and distance-learning providers. Application forms and further information including information on learning provider registration is available from the ILA Scotland helpline on 0808 100 1090 or by visiting www.ilascotland.org.uk.
Disabled Students' Allowance
There is also extra help available through supplementary grants for those who incur extra costs because they have a disability. Further information can be found in the disabled student section of our website.
To qualify for this support you must be undertaking at least 50% of an eligible course of Higher Education. This includes part-time postgraduate courses providing you are not receiving equivalent support from another source (such as a Research Council). You will also be eligible to apply if you are undertaking at least 60 credits of an eligible Open University course.
Discretionary Funds
Colleges and universities have discretion to give extra support from their Discretionary Fund. They can use this flexible support for full-time and part-time students for study costs, travel costs and childcare costs and they base it on the individuals need rather than on fixed levels of income.