What do I have to pay?
Our courses could be FREE to you depending on your financial circumstances and other eligibility criteria. In terms of fees and eligibility, many of our students are able to access our courses for FREE including accommodation, meals and learning resources and even if you are working, if your own individual income is less than £32,000 per year, our courses could also be FREE to you.
Even if you have to pay for our courses that are funded by the West Midlands Combined Authority (Group B) – our course fees are a small contribution towards what they actually cost – we want everyone to benefit from our learning without cost being a barrier!
To find out if a course is funded by the West Midlands Combined Authority, look at the course website page and the WMCA logo will be on there:
If you apply for a course that is not funded by the West Midlands Combined Authority (Group C) you will need to pay full cost.
Our courses are funded mostly by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) and are therefore for people over the age of 19 (by 31st August 2023) living in the West Midlands county including Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Walsall, Sandwell, Dudley, Solihull and Coventry. If you are interested in applying for a course but you do not live in any of these areas, please contact the Admissions team to see if you are eligible to apply.
All our courses also have their own entry requirements, which are referred to on our course pages.
Group A Students
A student may be eligible for full funding support if they are:
Unemployed and……
- They receive Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), including those receiving National Insurance credits only, receive Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) or receive Universal Credit (UC), and their take-home pay as recorded on their UC statement (disregarding UC payments and other benefits) is less than £617 a month (learner is sole adult in their benefit claim) or £988 a month (learner has a joint benefit claim with their partner)
- They are unemployed, not seeking employment and/or claiming an active benefit as unemployed. This includes Income Support and Pension, Credit Guarantee.
- They are in employment and earning less than £30,000 individual income per annum.
Group B Students
A student may be eligible for part funding if they are:
- Employed on an income above £30,000 per annum.
Group C Students
A student will need to pay full cost for a course if they are:
- Enrolled onto courses not funded by the West Midlands Combined Authority
The payments below are for the full course and include accommodation, meals and learning resources where relevant:
If you have any questions about fees please contact our Admissions team on 0121 472 0116 or email admissions@fircroft.ac.uk
| Group A Students | Group B Students | |
| Functional Skills (English and Maths) Digital Functional Skills, One Day Taster courses and ESOL courses | FREE | FREE |
| Short courses (3 days, 2 nights) | FREE | £50 |
| Full Awards Level 2 or below | FREE | £60 |
| Full Certificate Level 2 or below | FREE | £100 |
| Full Awards Level 3 or above | FREE | £100 |
| Full Certificates level 3 or above | FREE | £150 |
| Access to Higher Education Diplomas | Please contact the Admissions team |
