Personal Learning Accounts (PLA)

1. To be eligible for the programme, individuals must:

• reside legally in Wales
• be aged 19 years old or over

2. In addition, individuals must be:

• employed (including Prisoners on day release, Agency and Zero-hours contracts) or
• self-employed or
• full-time carers (incl. non-paid)

AND their annual basic salary does not go over £32,371 (Digital, Net-Zero and Tata courses will have no salary cap for 2024/25)

3. Individuals are deemed ineligible if, at point of application, they are:

• under the age of 19 (caveat above) or
• attending school, further or higher-education full-time or
• in Welsh Government funded Work Based Learning or
• an ineligible overseas national or
• in receipt of an Assembly Learning Grant or Education Maintenance Allowance or
• unemployed (you do not have a contract of employment)

Individuals can either apply directly to the colleges or through Working Wales on 0800 028
4844 or visit workingwales.gov.wales

The college will do their best to meet the needs of everyone when planning the dates and times to run the courses. The colleges are flexible and will aim to deliver the learning around people’s family and work commitments. Your availability will be discussed during your preadmission assessment.

Yes, you can. Though, if you’re currently studying on a full-time basis for a degree or any other formal qualification, you would not be eligible.

Working Wales provides a simple approach to employability support by providing individuals with a single point of contact through which they can access the personalised advice, guidance, support and training they need to secure and maintain long-term employment. The free advice service offers face-to-face help to anyone over the age of 16 who is not in fulltime education and wants to secure a job. Their employability support through the Careers Wales Steps to Employment Programme includes job specific training, job searches, CV writing, confidence building, interview preparation and securing work placements. The expert advisors can also signpost people to programmes where they can access childcare support and
transport assistance. It is now the main channel for people looking for training and employment.

Welsh Government is funding 100% of the course costs.

The course will be 100% funded by the Welsh Government. However, you will need ensure you have sufficient time to be able to commit to attending and completing the course.

No, the Welsh Government is fully funding the Personal Learning Account courses. We understand that personal circumstances change for individuals and there may be situations where participants are unable to continue with their course. Where an individual withdraws from a course, and subsequently applies for another PLA course, they would remain eligible provided they still met the eligibility criteria for the programme. However, if an individual drops out more than once the Welsh Government would advise that they should not be entitled to future funding through the Personal Learning Account Programme.

You will need access to the internet and a laptop/PC in order to complete one of our e-learning or virtual courses. Some courses also require a microphone and webcam. Please check that you have access to the necessary equipment before submitting your application.

1. Submit Your Application Start by completing your application through the Coleg Gwent website. Our PLA Team will receive it and take it from there.
2. Receive Your Offer Email Once we’ve carried out an initial check of your eligibility, we’ll send you an offer email. This will include details of the evidence we need from you to move forward.
3. Submit Your Evidence Provide the required evidence within 14 days. Our team will review it against Welsh Government (Medr) criteria, and we’ll assess funding availability for your chosen course.
4. Tailor Your Training Plan After confirming your eligibility, we’ll guide you to the right school within the college or one of our trusted training partners. Together, we’ll create a training plan to align with your career goals.
5. Start Learning Once your course availability is confirmed and your enrolment is complete, it’s time to begin your learning journey with a fully-funded PLA course!

If you’ve applied for a course via the Personal Learner Account (PLA) scheme, an initial eligibility assessment will be undertaken by the team based on the information you have provided in your application.

You will receive regular email updates from us throughout the process, please look out for these and follow any instructions provided. These emails may go into your spam or junk mail.

Please be aware that the assessment and funding process can take up to 21 days at busy periods. This can be significantly quicker if all eligibility documents we have requested (e.g. payslips and ID) are uploaded at the application stage. To ensure we can process all applications as quickly as possible, we would kindly ask that learners do not chase for updates until that period has expired.

If you have any queries after you have made your application, contact the team by email PLA@coleggwent.ac.uk.