Search services and support for migrants

At Carlisle Adult Learning our wide range of exciting courses allows you to either gain a qualification or to learn a new skill (or both!). With a mixture of online teaching through Zoom and face-to-face teaching in local venues, we have something to suit everyone. The courses we offer include Maths, English, Digital, Employability, Languages, ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages), Hill Skills, Arts and Crafts and Health and Wellbeing. Our ESOL courses range from pre-entry to entry 3. The Carlisle team are based at Carlisle Library and we relish the opportunity to speak to new and existing learners about their own individual needs to get you started quickly on your learning journey. Please go on our website to search for ESOL courses for you!

Carlisle College works to holistically support all learners, across curriculum areas. Our ESOL department supports over 250 learners, many of whom have been forcibly displaced and are seeking sanctuary in Cumbria. And we offer ESOL classes at pre-entry to level 2 with accredited Edexcel Functional Skills – Pearson Qualifications. Classes are usually available in the day or in the evening. We provide English language learning, employability classes, Maths classes tailored to ESOL learners, and work with learners on their progression pathways, for after ESOL learning. We work with OISC-regulated local legal charities, and mental health charities to provide free, specialised support for our students with refugee and asylum-seeking status, on site at Carlisle College. We have a dedicated Refugee and Asylum Seeker Engagement Coach, for these learners’ pastoral, safeguarding, and community engagement needs. We support many unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in our college, across curriculum areas, and work closely with the local authority to make sure they are being supported to succeed in every aspect of their lives. This includes personalised education plans for all of our UASCs, as well as specialised safeguarding and mental health support on site, again with a designated Refugee and Asylum Seeker Engagement Coach, that stays with them throughout their time at Carlisle College. If you are interested, please email us to enquire. We have an open evening on December 12th, 2024: 4:45-6:30pm, if you want to see the college and get more info face to face.    

Penrith and Eden Refugee Network (PERN) are a charity who promote social inclusion of refugees and asylum seekers and help them to integrate into society, as well as fostering understanding and good relations between the general public and people of different races and ethnicities, including those with asylum, refugee or immigrant status. We run services in Penrith and Carlisle. Our services in Penrith includes an English Club, trips and plus creative activities such as Family Painting with BlueJam Arts. Our free classes for learning English for asylum seekers and new refugees, especially those who can’t access council provision are volunteer-led and take place twice a week on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. As well as learning, the English classes provide a place of welcome, friendship, solidarity and practical support. No need to book – just turn up. Class information:

• Every Tuesday and Wednesday
• @ St John’s Church, Close St, Carlisle, CA1 2HA
• Class 10.00am to 12.15pm (doors 9:45am)
• Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced classes available

We offer a range of courses from total beginners to Level 2. Our learners are given opportunities to follow pathways to improving English for everyday life in the U.K. or accredited courses leading to further education or improving employment prospects. Some of our learners move on to Functional Skills from our ESOL pathways. We aim to offer courses based around our learner and community needs.

Carlisle Refugee Action Group offers general support. They also host conversation cafes and drop ins on Thursday and Friday mornings at Greystone Community Centre