Education Feature: Courses at City and Islington College
Published: 19 September, 2011
IMMIGRANTS who enrolled on special courses at City and Islington College (C&I) were told they would have to pay after funding was axed earlier in February.
Hundreds lost hope of boosting English and vocational skills as they could not afford the costs.
But an unexpected government U-turn last month has meant funding is available and the courses can be offered for free again.
City – which has around 2,000 English as a Second Language (ESOL) learners – is calling on applicants to reapply.
The college is concerned that many students will not realise they are eligible after being knocked back earlier in the year.
A C&I spokesman said: “What we were told was that unless people were on specific benefits then they would have to pay. The changes would have disproportionately aff-ected mothers with small children and we did point this out to politicians.
“In terms of confusion among students, it has been high and in terms of the impact on individual’s lives it could have been huge if you heard you couldn’t get it.
“Probably about six weeks ago the government published the announcement on the website.”
City has 5,000 adult students and the centre that runs the ESOL and work training courses has 3,000 students.
The spokesman said the changes affected “a high percentage” of the students at City.
The college has scrapped all its original enrolment forms and has paid for emergency training of staff in its registry department.
The spokesman added: “We are of course really happy these changes have happened. There are places on vocational and academic courses for students aged 16-18 and adults of all ages at City.”
Contact details
City and Islington College
The Marlborough Building
383 Holloway Road
N7 0RN
Tel: 020 7700 9200