English Language
Funding is available to support BN(O) visa holders to access English for Speakers of Other Language (ESOL) classes. Up to £850 per learner per year is available for local councils to support BN(O) visa holders in their area, who have been resident in the UK for less than 3 Years. You can look at our exemptions page for more information.
In order to access these funded classes, you must contact your council. If you do not know which council area you live in, you can look at Find your local council on GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
There are also lots of local voluntary, community, faith and charity organisations that offer English language classes, Many also offer local conversation clubs and other informal language support. You can search for this using our directory and map.
Adult Skills Fund
Department for Education has announced that residency eligibility rules for accessing Adult Skills Fund funded courses have changed from 1st August 2025.
Individuals will be eligible for funding if they are ordinarily resident in the UK on the first day of learning and the learning is taking place in England.
Individuals will not be able to access ASF funding if:
- they are here without authority or lawful status
- they are resident in the UK on a student visa, unless they are eligible through meeting any other of the categories
- they are in the UK on holiday
- they are in the UK on a sponsorship visa
- their residence permit imposes a study prohibition or restriction
DfE has published updated funding rules to reflect this: Adult skills fund: funding and performance management rules 2025 to 2026 – GOV.UK
Impact on BN(O) Visa Holders
Currently BN(O) visa holders have to prove at least 3-years residence in the UK to access ASF funded courses. With this rule change a BN(O) visa holder will be able to access ASF funded courses from day one of learning if they can prove ordinary residence.
The new rule changes currently only apply to areas where ASF is non-devolved. In Mayoral Combined Authority areas where ASF is devolved they will have the choice of adopting the new eligibility rules from 1st August 2025, or they can choose to delay the changes by 12 months. As Adult Skills Fund is devolved in some areas, if you live in Greater Manchester or Liverpool City Region please contact the relevant ASF team to understand how to access funding in this area.