About our services
General information
Find out about all of our courses and terms and conditions.
Contact us
Thomas Calton Centre
Alpha Street, Peckham
SE15 4NX
Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm
Telephone 020 7358 2100 or 020 7358 2101
Email adult.learning@southwark.gov.uk
Courses are delivered from the Thomas Calton Centre, online or at a prearranged meeting place offsite.
How to enrol
Please check the relevant course entries section to see whether you need to attend an assessment session for your chosen course.
We ask that you, where possible, enrol online (except for ESOL, English, computing and maths courses where you are asked to enrol in person and have an appointment for assessment) rather than visit the centre in person.
Enrolment is subject to eligibility, space and course viability.
You can enrol on only one course per academic year. Exceptions to this may only be permitted within accredited courses.
To secure your place on any chosen course, you must provide evidence of your eligibility (see below for full details) and pay any fees applicable at that time. Places will not be reserved without payment.
Please check our course information to see if you need to attend an assessment for your chosen course.
Am I eligible to learn with Southwark Adult Learning Service (SALS)
Learners must be aged 19 years or older on 31 August 2024, and have a National Insurance number, unless they're attending a family learning session with a parent.
To enrol on a SALS course, we must satisfy the requirements of the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA)/Greater London Authority (GLA) that you're entitled to participate in one of our courses. You may be asked to provide suitable evidence to support your entitlement. If we have previously seen such evidence (within the academic year) you will not normally be asked to provide it again.
Types of evidence may include passports, national identity cards, application registration card (ARC), Home Office confirmation, and in exceptional circumstances a photo driving licence, council tax bill or two utility bills.
We may also require proof of residential address in certain circumstances.
Evidence for eligibility
UK/EU citizen
- your passport showing indefinite leave to enter or remain, or other immigration permission, and proof of benefit eligibility
Non-UK/EU citizen
- your passport showing indefinite leave to remain, and proof of benefit eligibility
Asylum seekers (and those whose applications have been turned down but are unable to return home)
- letter with your Home Office reference number, proof of benefit or proof of permission to work
- an application registration card (ARC)
- confirmation from the Home Office of Section 4 support within three months of the issue date
Refugees
- either proof of benefit and travel document, or passport
What to bring to enrol, or for a skills consultation
Bring along the relevant documents listed above.
Fees
Fees for each course are shown on our course information pages.
Course, exam and materials fees are due on enrolment. The standard fee for learners not receiving an active/means-tested benefit is £5 per hour. Concessionary fees for learners on a means-tested benefit are £2.50 per hour. All students (except those in basic skills and family learning classes) pay an annual non-refundable registration fee of £5.
National fee guidelines
The ESFA/GLA funding approach assumes that all students (excluding fully funded learners) are charged a tuition fee as a contribution toward the costs of their learning. The ESFA/GLA also recommends that accreditation costs be paid by the learner.
Additional expenses
Some of our courses may incur other expenses in addition to course fees. For example, clay for pottery, wood for woodwork or common materials in upholstery and sewing classes. In sewing, woodwork and upholstery, you must purchase materials for your bespoke projects. Please do not purchase anything before your first session unless requested to do so on your course information sheet or by your tutor. No liability can be accepted for expenses incurred for a course cancelled/altered at short notice.
How to pay
You can only pay by debit or credit card.
Instalment payments
Fees are normally payable in full before the start of the course. If your course is 20 weeks or longer you can pay in instalments. You must complete a payment options form to qualify for instalment payments. Exam fees and materials fees must be paid on enrolment.
Non-payment of fees
Until all outstanding fees and any other outstanding monies relating to studies have been paid, students with outstanding debts at the end of the academic year or from the previous academic year will:
- not be permitted to re-enrol
- not be issued with certificates
- not be issued with any academic references
No cost to the learner (full fee remission)
For 2024/25, the following groups of learners are eligible for full fee remission. These learners will be fully subsidised by the ESFA/GLA and will not have to pay any fees for some courses:
- those studying basic skills literacy and numeracy courses, and family learning programmes
- those in receipt of active or unemployment benefits will not have to pay any fees to study ESOL, vocational qualification courses, full level 2 qualification courses, or other level 3 courses
- learners who are not on active or unemployment benefits, who are aged 19 to 23 and are studying vocational qualification courses or their first full level 2 qualification course (excluding ESOL) will not have to pay any fees for those courses
Learners in employment, on an accredited course, and who are earning less than £25,642.50 annual gross salary/London Living Wage currently set at £13.15 per hour may be eligible to have their tuition fees, exam and registration costs waived for their part-time course; this is referred to as full-fee remission. This is subject to GLA terms and conditions regarding funding. You will need to provide evidence, including 3 monthly payslips. This is not available for Community Learning courses. Please ask at the time of enrolment.
Concessionary fees
People receiving the following benefits are eligible for a concessionary rate:
- Job Seekers Allowance (JSA)
- Employment and Support Allowance in the Work Related Activity Group (ESA WRAG)
- Universal Credit (UC) (subject to ESFA/GLA terms and conditions)
- or any other means-tested benefits (proof will need to be shown)
Retired learners - whose only source of income is the state pension, are eligible for a concessionary fee only if they are also receiving one of the benefits listed above. Please bring proof of benefit or entitlement with you when you enrol. We cannot accept Freedom travel passes as proof of eligibility.
Discretionary Learner Support Fund
The Discretionary Learner Support Fund assists learners in exceptional financial circumstances on courses with accreditation.
Further information is available by calling 020 7358 2100 or emailing adultlearning@southwark.gov.uk.
Page last updated: 13 November 2024
