If you have a disability or a health problem, or you are or have been looking after a family member or friend who can't cope on their own - you might want to get back into education or do some training.

Learning a new skill is great for self-esteem and confidence. Courses might not be as expensive as you may think and there is often help available to cover costs. It doesn’t matter if you didn’t finish school. Find information here about how to get support to think through what you want to learn or study and how to get started.

There are a wide range of courses on offer in Bath & North East Somerset. These include:

  • vocational or practical courses
  • courses that will earn you a qualification (like GCSEs, A-Levels, NVQs etc.
  • courses just for fun – like cooking, fishing or yoga.

What can I ask my college/training provider to do to make life easier?

Help with paying for education

If you have a disability, you may be eligible for financial support to pay for any fees for your course or training. For more information read this Disability Rights Factsheet about funding for disabled students.

You may also be eligible for a Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) if you have a long-term health, mental health condition or a specific learning difficulty e.g. dyslexia.

Find our more about further education courses and funding from gov.uk

Where can I get help?

If you have a disability or health problem and want to get advice on what to study because you are looking for work or thinking about doing some job-related training, contact a careers adviser.

Specialist career advisers at Bath College can help support you to find learning and/or work opportunities. You will get a careers management action plan to steer you towards your goals. To contact their additional learning support team, click here.

Find out about free confidence building, health and wellbeing and employability skills courses across Bath and North East Somerset through the community learning team based at Bath College. They work in partnership with other organisations including Virgin Care, MIND, Age UK, Julian House and the Wellbeing College.

Get in touch with a disability employment adviser at your local job centre on 01225 303213 who can advise on training or education to suit you.

Contact Developing Health and Independence (DHI), a charity based in Bath that supports socially excluded people to achieve their potential. Their work includes supporting people to find training opportunities

Find the information or support you are looking for on Wellbeing Options - a website containing lots of useful information about local care providers, clubs, services and activities, along with links to other useful websites and resources.

Call, email or live message the National Careers Service.

You might also find some useful information about studying as a disabled person.

Support for young people

If you are aged between 18-24 and have completed your final year of school education, then the local internship scheme Project SEARCH could be for you.

Support for people with autism and other learning disabilities

Get careers guidance from advisers with expertise in autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) from the Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership (AWP)

If you have learning difficulties or autism, Virgin Care's employment inclusion team job coaches can support you on suitable training to help you get a paid job.

Support for people with mental health problems

If you have mental health problems, Virgin Care's mental health support team can help you access training and education opportunities.

Support for people with sensory impairment

Action on hearing loss offers advice and support for people who are hearing impaired.

Vision plus offers advice and support for people who are sight impaired

Support for older people

It’s never too late to learn something new and continuing education can improve physical and mental health. Age UK lists organisations who offer courses for older people, like the University of the Third Age.

Support for carers

If you are looking after a family member or friend and thinking about starting a course, contact our partner the B&NES Carers' Centre to find out how carers can be supported to get back into training/learning.

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