We've put all the questions that didn't fit anywhere else here!

if you feel that you need further assistance, please contact our friendly learner support team. You can call them on 0300 303 3464, Mon – Friday 9 am to 4.30 pm.

You can also reach us via Live chat, Monday to Friday 9 am – 4 pm.  To access this, please click on the ‘Chat with our team’ button on your screen at any time. (If agents are unavailable, this won't show).

Finally, if your query is not urgent, please fill out the form below and we will ensure that someone makes contact with you as soon as they can.

We understand that navigating different systems isn't always easy. 

Our help and support pages include videos to help you get around the WEA Learner Hub, upload evidence, access Canvas and more.

Whether you're returning to education, balancing study with work or family, or exploring new opportunities, this page is designed with you in mind. There are many ways we can support you so please click on the appropriate box below for further guidance.

However, if you feel that you need further assistance, please contact our friendly learner support team. You can call them on 0300 303 3464, Monday - Friday, 9am to 4:30pm.

You can also reach us via Live chat, Monday to Friday 9 am – 4 pm.  To access this, please click on the ‘Chat with our team’ button on your screen at any time. (If agents are unavailable, this won't show).

Finally, if your query is not urgent, please fill out the form below and we will ensure that someone makes contact with you as soon as they can.

Please be reassured that we will do everything we can to support you and that no question is too small — we're here to help you succeed. 

Our Learning Progression Advisor team is here to support you while on your course, including to help you explore your options, set goals and plan your future. As a Matrix accredited service, we can provide you with information and advice covering a range of different areas: 

• improving your soft skills, including building confidence and communication skills
• developing your study skills
• working out your interests, skills and aspirations,
• researching or discovering a new career, or a future career,
• improving your employability and professional development
• applying for jobs or apprenticeships, or university,
• progression to other courses here at the WEA or elsewhere, 

We also offer 1-2-1 appointments, where you can talk through any questions that you have with one of our team.

Book a 1:1 session today and get personalised guidance tailored to your journey.

We also work closely with outside organisations, and can support with making referrals to organisations such as the National Careers Service who can provide expert career guidance. You can find out more information about this below.

Unlock your potential with on-course workshops  

We also run a varied and exciting programme of learner workshops called ‘Skills for Success’, which are free to attend for all WEA learners. Whether you're tackling assignments, need a boost of confidence for interviews, or want to know more about the career pathway you are studying for, our workshops offer: 

• Practical guidance to support employment opportunities
• Expert support for progression courses for career pathways
• Interactive sessions to promote wellbeing and confidence
• Opportunities to connect with tutors, external agencies and guest speakers 

Head to the events page and filter for ‘On-course support’ to browse the workshops on offer, and book your place today!  

As well as helping you to gain valuable skills and learn from your peers, these workshops will also help you to broaden your networks and connect with brilliant local and national organisations.
 

Careers and Next Steps: Find the information you’re looking for 

Do you have questions about your next steps? Are you finding it hard to know where to begin? Maybe you are struggling to understand the job market for your chosen career? 

It isn’t always easy to know where to go for information, advice or guidance, which is why we have created a new website area dedicated for current WEA learners, which you can access directly through your WEA account via the Learner Hub.  

Here, you can find a whole range of resources which you can make use of to get up-to-date and relevant careers and employability advice, and relevant job market information tailored for WEA learners.  
 

Careers guidance

When it comes to Careers Guidance, we signpost learners towards the National Careers Service for expert guidance. 

You can explore your career options on their website, or also speak to a careers adviser or coach on the phone: 0800 100 900 

The National Careers Service supports individuals with:  

• planning and choosing a career,
• finding the right courses and learning support for your circumstances,
• finding employment,
• career development,
• understanding employability skills and the labour market,
• developing  your CV,
• developing job searching skills, and
• advice and signposting to other professional organisations that can help you.  

Explore your career ideas 

There are also a number of services online that can help you in finding more about what you like or dislike about a job. The assessments linked below will help you to explore your skills, interests and motivations. They can also help you to come up with new career ideas, or inspire you to start looking for ways to progress and move forward in your current role or career pathway. 

• National Careers Service skills health test
• Prospects career planner 

Other useful resources: 

Here are some other sites below that you may find useful: 

Careers Box 
The national careers film library, shows hundreds of real people doing real jobs. 

Prospects 
Help to guide learners and graduates with information, advice and opportunities. 

Apprenticeships  
Information on apprenticeships and current apprenticeship vacancies. 
 

Looking for work, applying for jobs and interviews, or volunteering 

Looking for work or an apprenticeship takes time. Navigating the job market is tricky. Within this section are websites that advertise job opportunities and also some useful resources to help you look for job opportunities in areas of work you are interested in. Volunteering can also be a really good route into employment, as it helps you to understand the job better, to gain new skills and meet people who you can learn from. 

• Finding a job
• How to prepare for an interview
• Preparing for a job interview 

Visit our job board website here.

Job boards by region/Mayoral region can be found here (coming soon).

Other places to look include newspapers, Facebook, Linkedin, or local recruitment agencies. There are also many sector-specific sites, including eTeach and Education Jobs for education-based jobs, and Care UK, or Care and Support Jobs for the care sector. 

CV writing resources 

Searching for and applying for that dream job, apprenticeship or work experience placement, will in most cases require you to have an up-to-date CV, complete an online application form and then to attend an interview. This can be a long and stressful process (especially if you have not had to have one before).  

Here at the WEA, we offer CV writing courses, where you can learn more about how to do this well, and get the support you need to make progress on creating your own CV. Check out the courses on offer here. 

You can also attend our learner workshops on employability, where we cover CV-writing tips, interview tips and more. Check out our event page to book on. 
 

Employment opportunities for individuals with a learning difficulty and/or disability 

• Remploy - Scotland only
• Pluss
• Mencap- Employment services
• Scope- Employment 

Other websites to use to search for courses 

• Findcourses
• UCAS – for degree course 

Volunteering 

• WEA volunteering opportunities wea.org.uk/become-volunteer
• Wider volunteering opportunities e.g. Volunteer opportunities, rights and expenses: Find volunteer opportunities - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) 

Whether you're returning to education, balancing study with work or family, or exploring new opportunities, there are many ways we can support you. Our financial support FAQs are below.

If you would like to apply for financial support through our Discretionary Learner Support (DLS) fund, click here.

If you would like more information on an Additional Learner Support (ALS) assessment, click here.

If you feel that you need further assistance, please contact our friendly learner support team. You can call them on 0300 303 3464, Mon – Friday 9 am to 4.30 pm.

You can also reach us via Live chat, Monday to Friday 9 am – 4 pm.  To access this, please click on the ‘Chat with our team’ button on your screen at any time. (If agents are unavailable, this won't show).

Finally, if your query is not urgent, please fill out the form below and we will ensure that someone makes contact with you as soon as they can.

Safeguarding and Prevent

Safeguarding refers to the measures taken to protect the health, well-being, and human rights of individuals, ensuring they live free from abuse, harm, and neglect.

The Prevent duty is part of the UK government's counter-terrorism strategy, requiring organisations like the WEA to actively prevent students from being drawn into extremism or radicalisation.

Learn more about our approaches to Safeguarding and Prevent below.

Pastoral support at the WEA

We understand that personal challenges can impact a learner’s ability to engage with their education and overall well-being. To support learners through these challenges, we offer access to a Pastoral Advisor.

The Pastoral Advisor provides confidential information, advice, and guidance, and where appropriate, can signpost learners to external services for support with issues such as:

• Bereavement
• Financial hardship
• Homelessness
• Mental health concerns
• Sexual health
• Other personal concerns

Based on discussions, the Pastoral Advisor will help identify appropriate referrals and support pathways to ensure learners receive the help they need.

Learners who feel they would benefit from pastoral support are encouraged to speak with their tutor, who can make a referral to the Pastoral Advisor on their behalf.
 

Events

As part of our pastoral care for learners, we host an array of engaging events designed to inspire, connect, and support your personal and professional growth. Whether you're looking to gain insights from a seminar, explore new career paths at a job fair, or simply enjoy a social coffee morning, our events bring people together in meaningful ways. We think there’s something for everyone.

WEA (Workers Educational Association) and GMCA (Greater Manchester Combined Authority) are pleased to launch a small open funding. This will enable local VCSE organisations and Housing Associations to bid for funding to carry out projects in localities, to mobilise disadvantaged or excluded unemployed and inactive people to enable their progress towards further education and inclusive employment. Please refer to the list below of GM borough's project funding caps for which you wish to apply for.

This is strand one, which aims to increase participation in Adult Skills. 

Currently, in Greater Manchester, just 8.7% of working-age adults with a prior attainment of Level 1 or below are accessing skills via the Adult Education Budget. We are looking for new and innovative ways of engaging with our residents, and supporting them in further skills provision – although targeting English, Maths and IT skills this could be any Skills provision, except ESOL, that suits the resident’s needs.

Please complete the short form - if you are eligible, you will be emailed the application form, guidance document and our FAQ document, so please be sure to use a valid email address. If you are not eligible this time, you can complete the short form here and we will keep your email on file for future funding rounds.

All eligibility criteria must be met to apply for a GMCA grant: if you are unable to meet the criteria, you will not be able to apply and any application you do make will be rejected.

Strand 1 - Maximum Project Application Funding Caps

Bolton - £40k cap
Oldham - £50k cap
Rochdale - £10k cap
Salford - £50k cap
Tameside - Remaining funding is £31,256.26. No cap
Trafford - £40k cap
Bury - no funding available
Stockport - no funding available
Wigan – no funding available

If you have any questions or need further information, please contact us at [email protected]. 

The application deadline is 5pm on Friday 13th June 2025.

Our doors are always open. Like other organisations and charities, we have a large and vibrant volunteer base. We have a proud tradition as a voluntary organisation.

Our volunteers are vital to us and give their time to make a difference in their communities.

Volunteers are at the heart of our work, and are vital to supporting the growth of adult education across England and Scotland. From organising courses through our branches and Scottish local associations to supporting our learners in the classroom and helping to find and share good new stories from across the WEA.

We currently have around 750 volunteers who take on a variety of roles for us. Our volunteer roles match your skills, interests and personal development goals.

Complete the register your interest form below and we will be in touch with our current volunteer opportunities!

If you have any questions about any of the volunteering roles, or volunteering with us in general, please drop the team a line at [email protected].

The Board of Trustees is WEA’s governing body. It has ultimate responsibility for the strategic direction of WEA. Trustees are also the Directors and Members of the Company. 

The Board must have at least four and not more than fifteen Trustees. You can find their information on this biographies page.

The Board of Trustees meets at least four times a year to ensure that WEA’s activities carry into effect the charity’s object. Their work includes providing strategic oversight, scrutinising WEA’s financial performance and the performance of its management, agreeing budgets, monitoring the quality of educational provision and the safeguarding of beneficiaries and stakeholders, and reviewing current policies, initiatives, activities and plans.    

Committees of the Board of Trustees apply detailed, specialist scrutiny to matters within their respective remits, and support the Board in carrying out specific duties or oversight more thoroughly and effectively than the Board could otherwise do by acting together as a full board. 

You can the Committee Structure here.

You can see the committee terms of reference below:

• Audit & Risk
• Education
• Finance & Capital Resources
• Governance & Nominations
• People
• Remuneration
• Scotland Board

All committees of the Board of Trustees are non-executive. We are currently recruiting co-opted members and welcome expressions of interest, for further information click here.

The WEA Council’s principal function is to promote the democratic involvement of all Association Members. In practice, it is an important stakeholder group and a forum for discussion of shared interests across the English regions and Scotland, making representations on their behalf to the Board of Trustees from time to time. From June 2024, WEA representatives on the Council include learners, volunteers, staff and external organisations linked to our work.  

The Council's terms of reference can be viewed here.

The Council meets regularly either in its own right or with the Board of Trustees. In addition to its oversight of the democratic involvement of all Association Members and a number of other functions, it also:

• Supports and oversees learner voice, making appropriate recommendations to the Board based on findings.
• Advocates with the Leadership Team and the Board of Trustees protection for access to all aspects of lifelong learning (e.g., skills, ESOL, community learning, “leisure” learning, etc.) whether publicly funded or otherwise.  
• Makes recommendations to the Board of Trustees on matters arising from impact research, and/or feedback or communications with the Association Membership.

WEA’s affairs in Scotland are overseen by the Scotland Board, which is a direct committee of the Board of Trustees.  

You can visit the WEA Scotland governance page here, where you can also view the terms of reference.

For all enquiries and requests for information, including contacting the Chair of Trustees, please contact us through the webform below, and one of the team will be back in touch.

Thank you for signing up for our event with Microsoft.

Just a reminder that spaces are limited, and we'll be in touch with you by email if you are successful in securing a place.