College

[Chaos]

Not really. I dont rly expect them to pay for it as im 18. if i was like 16 then yeh id be annoyed + my mum cant rly afford it.

[Samishlol]

Why don't you try and get a job over the summer holidays?

[Chaos]

I have one but i dont rly wanna pay 1200£ for a course, when i might be able to get it for free or get some help from gov or something paying for it.

[Samishlol]

Oh it's £1200? Woah.

[Barmi]

Those people who arse around and treat college as a doss... yeah, they don't realise that it really is expensive. They don't realise they are lucky not having to pay for it.

@OP: Good luck securing funding!

Edit: Even then, £1200 sounds quite low. For university, fees are nearly that every term – and that doesn't include accommodation or living fees. Education is worth it; whether it's a £1200 college education, a priceless school education or an expensive university one.

[Cyndia]

If your parents can't really afford it, do they have need-based financial aid? I don't really know how things work over in the UK since I'm American, but here if your total family income is below a certain amount they give a TON of financial aid for college and uni.. especially for uni, since most uni's here are anywhere from 5,000$ USD to 50,000$ USD a semester. We also have the option of taking out low interest student loans, and then there are also a TON of other scholarships that are merit based that we have to apply to. My current school is pretty expensive at 30,000USD a year and my parents are contributing 15,000 of that since I'm unbelievably lucky and they're relatively well off, and the rest I've had to take out some loans for, and then I also am on a few scholarships that I applied for that are paying for the rest of the tuition and for my room & board..

[Barmi]

If your parents can't really afford it, do they have need-based financial aid? I don't really know how things work over in the UK since I'm American, but here if your total family income is below a certain amount they give a TON of financial aid for college and uni.. especially for uni, since most uni's here are anywhere from 5,000$ USD to 50,000$ USD a semester. We also have the option of taking out low interest student loans, and then there are also a TON of other scholarships that are merit based that we have to apply to. My current school is pretty expensive at 30,000USD a year and my parents are contributing 15,000 of that since I'm unbelievably lucky and they're relatively well off, and the rest I've had to take out some loans for, and then I also am on a few scholarships that I applied for that are paying for the rest of the tuition and for my room & board..

In the UK we value our education system. Free education until age 18/19 (well, it's not that straightforward, but for the sake of argument accept it), and after that point heavily subsidised (i.e. university tuition fees are approx. £3,000 per year). We have various means of financial aid, but thankfully nothing as ridiculously complicated as that. I know I'm going to come out of university with around or above £20,000 of debt, but I'm comfortable with it because I know it will be no hassle to pay off.

But... the OP is not talking about university. Our school/college/university concept is different to yours; systems are different, costs are different and financial aid is vastly different.

And it would be unwise for anyone here to be making comments on his parents and/or their refusal to give financial support. Whether or not you agree with their view towards education, it does not take the OP any nearer his answer, and it is not our place to criticise those unable to immediately defend themselves.

[Zak]

adult learning grant?

[Trinity]

I don't know a huge amount about it, but I know someone who's 23 and does a few different courses at the library. He's doing English and Maths and stuff, but he doesn't have to pay for it because he does volunteering occasionally.
Try asking about it at your local library.

[Myth]

Well get a scholarship into the College.