Funding for training in Scotland
This section of the Training Toolkit outlines the funding landscape for accredited training – and looks at funding opportunities which can support community radio stations to carry out both accredited and non-accredited courses and programmes. This page relates to Scotland; see equivalent info for England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
Funding opportunities for Radio training: introduction
This resource has been put together with the acknowledgement that we are currently working in difficult and challenging times, where cuts to funding are affecting the voluntary and community sector’s ability to deliver services to our communities. Furthermore, government funding for skills and learning is undergoing development, and changes are being made on an on-going basis.
One option in the current landscape is to collaborate with registered training providers – who may have a greater understanding of which courses currently attract government support – and to deliver training in partnership. This option would save on the cost of centre registration, which is often needed to be an independent delivery organisation for many of the recognised training courses.
There are charitable trusts and funding organisations to which community groups can apply for funding. It is important to keep up to date with the changes as new funding can become available and you will also need to check that you fit the criteria to apply. In the current funding landscape, competition is high, and a strong innovative bid and measurable project ideas are a must. Think about what you can offer, what outcomes you are meeting by using radio? Funding is often specific to groups – for example it could be linked to reducing the number of NEET young people, or helping ex-offenders get into employment.
Table 1: Types of training and funding
| Type of training | Type of funding |
| Accredited course | Paid by government to learning provider |
| Non-accredited course | Learner / organisation pays (?) |
| In-house training | n/a |
| Grant-funded project | social funder (e.g. Esmée Fairbairn, etc) |
| Service delivery | local authority (e.g. council), service provider (e.g. NHS), government |
Three models of funding training
There are three main models for accessing funding for training:
- Delivering accredited courses
- Grant funding / funding an outcome
- Government-funded contracts
These may overlap to an extent – they are not mutually exclusive – but below is more detail on each of these models.
Funding for delivering accredited courses
There are a number of methods of obtaining funding for delivering accredited qualifications in Scotland as a community radio organisation. One is to undertake employability work and seek to become an approved provider through Skills Development Scotland’s Employability Fund (see below). Another is to build into funding applications provision for covering the costs of putting people through accredited qualifications (which can often strengthen your application). In addition to the above, community radio stations can apply to become an ILA provider centre and encourage learners to apply for ILA funding to fund their qualification. Community radio stations would have to ensure that they are providing courses that are on the ILA course list.
In Scotland, community radio stations that deliver employability training (much of which can involve radio skills) can access funding for delivering accredited courses through the Employability Fund. This fund is divided into 4 stages of development and is managed by the national skills body Skills Development Scotland (SDS). Approved providers receive payments for achieving various outcomes with young people. The rates and outcomes are outlined below (tables 2-4; see also the EF Funding Model PDF). Further, organisations that deliver employability training (that incorporates radio) may be able to access public funds through partnership work with local authorities, e.g., by becoming embedded in the school timetable. Employability strands, once involved in such a partnership, can contract their own radio strand to deliver certain sessions and thus deliver accredited qualifications.
Table 2: Stage 2 Employability Fund funding
| Stage 2 – Funding | Rate | Evidence requirements |
| Recruitment payment | £750 | Training plan completed and start registered on CTS |
| Output payments | ||
| Employability/Personal Development/ core skills provision SCQF rated level 3 and minimum 18 credit points | £709 | Formal evidence of certification |
| Outcome Payments – Progression to: | ||
| Modern Apprenticeships | £1000 | Evidence of leaver being registered for an MA |
| Job | £600 | Signed declaration to confirm employment for a minimum period of 4 weeks |
| Sustained Job | £400 | Signed declaration to confirm sustained employment at 26 weeks |
| Next stage of pipeline (from Stage 2 to Stage 3) | £100 | Evidence of progression to stage 3 – evidence retained by provider for either progression to SDS funded stage 3 or other LEP stage 3 provision |
| More advanced forms of learning | £100 | Evidence of progression to or within FE at a higher level of SCQF if employability/personal development or core skill provision, or same or higher level for vocational provision |
Table 3: Stage 3 Employability Fund funding
| Stage 3 – Funding | Rate | Evidence requirements |
| Recruitment payment | £750 | Training plan completed and start registered on CTS |
| Output payments (only one claim per participant) | ||
| Employability and or Vocational certification at least SCQF rated level 4 and minimum 18 credit points | £709 | This rate will be paid on evidence of certification being held of at least 18 SCQF credit rated programmes at SCQF level 4 or above in employability and/or vocational areas |
| Employability certification of at least 34 SCQF credit rated provision at SCQF level 4 or above where employer opinion on competence is integral to attainment of the credit rated group award | £850 | This rate will be paid on evidence of employability certification of attaining a full group award of at least 34 SCQF credit points at SCQF level 4 or above where employer opinion on competence is integral to attainment of the Group Award |
| Outcome Payments – Progression to: | ||
| Modern Apprenticeships | £1000 | Evidence of leaver being registered for an MA |
| Job | £600 | Signed declaration to confirm employment for a minimum period of 4 weeks |
| Sustained Job | £400 | Signed declaration to confirm sustained employment at 26 weeks |
| Next stage of pipeline (from Stage 3 to Stage 4) | £100 | Evidence of progression to stage 4 – evidence retained by provider for either progression to SDS funded stage 4 or other Local Employability partners stage 4 |
| More advanced forms of learning | £100 | Evidence of progression to or within FE at a higher level of SCQF if employability/personal development or core skill provision, or same or higher level for vocational provision |
Table 4: Stage 4 Employability Fund funding
| Stage 4 – Funding | Rate | Evidence requirements |
| Recruitment payment | £750 | Training plan completed and start registered on CTS |
| Output payments | ||
| Qualifications from published list | ||
| Group A qualification | £200 | Formal evidence of certification |
| Group B qualification | £400 | Formal evidence of certification |
| Group C qualification | £709 | Formal evidence of certification |
| Outcome Payments – Progression to: | ||
| Modern Apprenticeships | £1000 | Evidence of leaver being registered for an MA |
| Job | £600 | Signed declaration to confirm employment for a minimum period of 4 weeks |
| Sustained Job | £400 | Signed declaration to confirm sustained employment at 26 weeks |
| More advanced forms of learning | £100 | Evidence of progression to or within FE at a higher level |
More detail on the above rates can be found in the Employability Fund guidelines, or through the SDS.
See also http://www.employabilityinscotland.com/
Funding provision in applications for delivery of qualifications
An organisation can also build into an application funds to cover the costs of delivering an accredited qualification. For example, an organisation might apply for Fairer Scotland (which has been devolved to local council) money to carry out a specific radio-based project and build into that bid a plan to deliver an NPA in Radio Broadcasting. In that sense the cost of delivery is covered by a funder.
ILA Funding
ILA registered centres could offer qualifications and use radio to deliver their outcomes – e.g., basic IT courses, communication courses, confidence and wellbeing courses, etc. (Many of the courses outlined in the qualifications section can be funded by ILA funding). The centre would then encourage the participant to apply for ILA funding to cover the cost of the course.
Funding an outcome / grant funding
An inherent part of your mission as a community radio station is to deliver social gain. You are a community-minded organisation making a difference in the world – you are an agent of social change.
Funders want to make a difference in the world – and, each according to their focus and mission, they want to fund particular social outcomes. So, in doing the sort of work that you do (or in designing the kinds of projects you want to do), you need to identify what is the social outcome that you are helping to achieve. This is your selling point as an organisation – this is your pitch to the funding body – whether it is in the form of a grant, or a service which is being commissioned or contracted. It is worth identifying what funders will be most likely to fund a particular type of project, and to approach these funders with specific proposals – rather than either a ‘scattergun’ approach (i.e. sending funding applications to every funder), or a ‘copy and paste’ approach (i.e. re-using the same proposal for multiple funders).
| Funder | About the funding |
| Creative Scotland | Funding is open to individual artists and creative people, groups such as arts organisations and cultural agencies, or a mixture of both. There are different types of funding available: Regular Funding which last for 3 years, Open Project Funding for individual projects and targeted development programs. There are also managed funds which fund organisations for longer periods of time. |
| Awards for All Scotland | Not for profit organisations and groups can apply. Funding is for specific projects or activities, which can include training and development activities for staff and volunteers. The grants available are between £300 and £10,000. You are able to apply any time but you must submit three months before project starts. Applications are usually decided within 30 days. |
| Fairer Scotland Fund | This funding is devolved to local councils and can fund activities which seek to address the social and economic disparities that exist between our most deprived communities, entire local authority areas and the rest of Scotland. |
| Inspiring Scotland | Provides long-term funding and development support to Scotland’s charities with an emphasis on play, early years and training and employment. |
| Esmee Fairbairn | Esmée Fairbairn funds focuses on education and cultural sectors. Voluntary and Community Sector organisations can apply. Projects should focus on education and enable people who are disadvantaged to participate more fully in society. |
| Paul Hamlyn Foundation | Is open to charitable and not-for-profit organisations. Funds innovative projects looking at change in areas such as tackling school exclusion and truancy, pilot activity, knowledge exchange and development/transfer of best practice. Applications can be made at any time. |
| Henry Smith Charity | Open to community organisations that deliver projects which provide support to young people at risk, particularly those living in areas of deprivation. There are two funds the Main Grants which will fund projects over £10,000 and a Small Grants fund which will support projects less than £10,000 Trustees meet quarterly in March, June, September and December. |
| Youth in Action | For Organisations working with young people (15 – 25 years).Funding is for programmes which promote informal and non-formal learning and exchanges of young people between the UK and other countries; also specific support for youth workers to develop skills through the Support Measures Programme (job shadowing, study visits, training courses, networking) |
| The Robertson Trust | Provides funding for charities in Scotland with a focus on care, healthcare, education and training, community arts, community sport, alcohol misuse and criminal justice. |
| Children in Need | Provide grants to projects in the UK which focus on children and young people who are disadvantaged. |
| Tudor Trust | Fund a wide range of projects which seek to effect lasting change in their communities. They focus on smaller groups led by people of vision. |
| Unltd | Funding for Social Entrepreneurs creating change in their communities. |
There are also opportunities for funding via the European social fund as well as other EU programmes such as Grundtvig, and Interreg.
There is also funding to undertake training, through the BBC and Creative Skillset Funding for Radio and Audio Training programme, which consists of bursaries for individuals working on a freelance basis in the UK radio and audio industry to spend on short courses or other short term training and development solutions as part of their continuing professional development (CPD). Funding can be applied for up to 80% of the combined fees, travel and accommodation costs of your training to a maximum of £800 inclusive of VAT. See: http://creativeskillset.org/assets/0000/7190/Funding_for_Radio_and_Audio_Training_-_Guidelines_2014-15.pdf
Government-funded training contracts
Community Learning teams in Scotland tend to have their own tutors and resources to deliver their work and do not tend to contract others.
In Scotland, government funds for delivering accredited work can be obtained through similar methods to those outlined in the Employability Method section above. Another is through partnership work with local public organisations where they pay for a CR station to deliver a qualification. (An example of this is CamGlen – they worked with local college to design and deliver a course at their premises which was accredited by the local college. However, the college itself did not pay for the course, the money came from the government Wider Role Fund to deliver the work.)
Government funds to deliver accredited work could potentially also be found through Public Contracts Scotland (see below).
Government-funded tenders for learning
Training providers looking to tender for education training which is government funded can register, and find all offers, at Public Contracts Scotland. There are also area-specific sections (e.g. Aberdeen Council) of the website where providers can check tenders available from their local authorities.
Contracts Finder
All national government-funded tenders, contracts and funding agreements over £10,000 (including funding which is connected to education and vocational training) are available to view via Contracts Finder www.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk/ This service allows people to search for government-funded opportunities in one place Organisations can sign up to receive email alerts.
In addition to national funds, there are other funds available to organisations located in particular regions or localities, which should be looked into as they will provide access to local funding streams.
It is advisable to make contact with the funder to talk through your ideas and check your eligibility against the criteria, confirming maximum amounts of funding available, groups they prioritise and priority areas for funding in advance of putting together your application. A lot of the funders also list previous applications which have been successful which can give you an idea if your project is something which they may support.
There are lots of websites which provide free information about what current funding is available. Some links include:
- Grantnet is a free grants database available to small community organisations once they have registered on the website. http://www.grantnet.com/
- Grants4 portal is an online information service that provides information on funding opportunities that are available in your local area (please note that not all local authorities have taken up the service. www.grants4.info
- Grantfinder – specialist in online solutions for private, public and voluntary sector organisations
- The Scottish Council of Voluntary Organisations have a funding section on their website which is useful.
- Voluntary Action Scotland have a notice board which is updated regular with info about funding.
