Course fees to be waived for Brighton and Hove unemployed

The principal of a Brighton and Hove college has welcomed a U-turn by ministers which means that some course fees will be waived for young people without jobs.

Phil Frier, who runs City College Brighton and Hove, said: “These changes are highly significant and will really help City College when it comes to transforming local people’s lives and providing them with the skills that employers are looking for.

“It’s fundamental to City College’s ethos that our courses should be accessible to as many people as possible.

“I also very much welcome tuition fees being waived for GCSE English and maths courses for 19 to 24-year-olds, especially when you consider that in Brighton and Hove over 50 per cent of our students leaving school at 16 do not have these qualifications.”

Under rules that were due to come into force next month, only claimants on jobseeker’s allowance or employment and support allowance would have been eligible to have their tuition fees waived.

But Skills Minister John Hayes has announced that colleges will now be given greater freedom to deliver fully subsidised training to help people on benefits win jobs.

This would have mean them paying £500 to £1,000 in fees for typical courses.

To be eligible, applicants will have to sign a form when they enrol saying that they are unemployed, on benefit, want to find work and need additional skills to do so.