Tender for Calderdale Adult Learning Fund

The Council receives Adult Education Budget (AEB) funding from the Secretary of State for Education acting through the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA). This budget includes provision for Adults Skills, Community Learning and Discretionary Learner Support. Community Learning is identified as being for learners furthest from learning or employment, who find it difficult to play an active role in wider society or to enter the workforce. It is recognised that established community organisations are often better able than mainstream learning providers to engage with or are already engaged with the hard to reach and vulnerable groups who are furthest from learning and employment. Therefore, a proportion of the AEB funding received by the Council is allocated to local community organisations in order to enhance the Council’s existing Calderdale Adult Learning curriculum offer and enable the Council to increase its engagement of vulnerable and hard to reach groups of learners who might not be ready to access, or may have particular barriers in accessing, mainstream learning and employment. This proportion is known as the Calderdale Adult Learning Fund (CAL Fund). Hard to reach and vulnerable groups of learners include those living in Calderdale’s most deprived neighbourhoods and people who may have more difficulties in being engaged with mainstream learning.