Additional learning and support needs

Learn about the additional learning and support services available to you on your apprenticeship, including how to apply and declare your support needs.

If you're an apprentice with additional learning and support needs

If you have declared your learning support needs on your apprenticeship application form, you will be contacted by Student Support Services who will invite you to book an appointment with them.

During that appointment, your additional learning needs will be discussed. Subject to providing relevant medical / diagnostic evidence, an Access Statement will be written, informing your tutors of any additional support you need within the learning environment (e.g. additional time in assessments).

Depending on the nature of your additional learning needs, you may be eligible for a higher level of support (e.g. one-to-one support with a specialist tutor or assistive technology to support your learning). A further assessment is needed for this support, which your advisor can provide more information about, as well as any additional evidence needed.

Following further assessment, if an additional learning support need is identified, the apprenticeships team is notified (with your consent). The team will liaise with the Educational and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) to access funding to support you. This funding is not a cash grant but funding from the ESFA to the University to cover the costs of your additional learning support.

If you need to take a break in learning from your apprenticeship, the additional learning support will be paused until your return. Get more information about taking a break in learning.

Additional payments towards your apprenticeship

The Main Provider of the apprenticeship and your employer will receive a payment towards training costs if you are aged between 19 and 24 years old at the start of the apprenticeship, and you have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan provided by your Local Authority, or if you have been in the care of your Local Authority.

Before any additional payments can be claimed, you must provide evidence that you are eligible for them. e.g. Your EHC plan and / or a signed email or letter from a Local Authority-appointed Personal Advisor to confirm your care leaver status.

Care leaver bursary

For an apprentice to be eligible for the care leavers’ bursary, they must:

• be aged under 25 at the time they start their apprenticeship,
• not have received the care leavers’ bursary before,
• be either an eligible child, a relevant child or a former relevant child.

Young people should speak to their local authority personal adviser (PA) or social worker for professional advice and information about their leaving care status.

For apprentices who start their apprenticeships up to and including 31 July 2023, the bursary is a single payment of £1,000. It can only be received once by an individual care leaver.

For apprentices starting their apprenticeship on or after 1 August 2023, the bursary will be £3,000. It is payable in instalments over the first year of the apprenticeship.

Email the Apprenticeships team if you are eligible to for a care leaver bursary.

If you don’t want to inform your employer about previously being in care or that you have an EHC plan

We would never inform your employer without your consent. In this instance, providing the relevant evidence to support eligibility had been provided, the Apprenticeship Team would generate the appropriate funding without informing your employer.

Please note: Additional payments are not in the form of a cash grant, but funding from the ESFA paid to the University to cover the costs of your additional learning support.

The Care Leaver Bursary is a one-off payment that is paid to the apprentice.

Extra support available to you

Access to Work

Access to Work is a government programme aimed at supporting people with a physical or mental health condition or disability to take up or remain in work.

If you have a physical or mental health condition, or a learning disability, you can apply for:

• a grant to help pay for practical support with your work
• advice about managing your mental health at work
• money to pay for communication support at job interviews

Practical support with your work

Access to Work could give you a grant to help pay for things like:

• specialist equipment and assistive software,
• support workers, like a BSL interpreter, a job coach or a travel buddy,
• costs of travelling to work, if you cannot use public transport,
• adaptations to your vehicle so you can get to work,
• physical changes to your workplace.

Access to work will not pay for ‘reasonable adjustments’. These are changes your employer must legally make to support you to do your job. Further information can be found on the government website link below:

• Access to Work: get support if you have a disability or health condition