College Course asking for Benefits

LazyLump

So I applied for a Free 6hrs per week Course working from home. Doing the enrolment and it’s asking for what Benefits/income I receive.

Why if it’s free do they need this information? Am I missing something here?

Passerby

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/139817/college-course-asking-for-benefits

It's free for you but doesn't seem to be free for them to offer it to you, and therefore, they need to be paid by the government, which seems to be funding such a programme.

Kimi87

These providers often get funding based on delivering the courses to people on certain benefits.

LazyLump

so basically its misleading

Passerby

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1082449#Comment_1082449

No, it's not misleading at all. The course is free, as they're not asking you to pay for it. About 20 years or so ago, there were plenty of free courses all over the country. For instance, the European Social Fund (ESF) was used to fund many courses and employment support programs in the UK for decades. This funding officially ended in late 2023 following the UK's withdrawal from the EU. I know these free courses quite well, as I used to teach a number of them myself.

Passerby

I failed to notice the word "college"!

Colleges are well known to run all sorts of free courses to date. They used to even offer free of charge evening courses for learning foreign languages to people who were on benefits, though I don't think this is still the case..

LazyLump

it still is kinda misleading if its saying its Free but then asking for income without saying why they need this information

Passerby

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1082477#Comment_1082477

They need information on applicants' income in order to assess their eligibility to the course, as the course is not per se free for everyone.

Free college courses are primarily funded by government schemes such as the Adult Education Budget (AEB) and the Adult Skills Fund (ASF) in England. These funds are distributed through bodies like the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), which then work with colleges and training providers to offer free courses to eligible adults,

Biblioklept

Sometimes it's just so they can get stats on the people claiming, like when they ask about age, gender and ethnicity, they use the anonymised data to claim for funding. It doesn't make it not free for you, it helps them get support to pay their staff and enable them to do the courses for free