Armed Forces: What you need to know about ELCAS

Andrew O'Donnell

3 years ago

Who are ELCAS?

ELCAS are the Enhanced Learning Credits Administration Services. The scheme is owned by the Ministry of Defence and the purpose of the scheme is to help individuals when they leave the armed forces enter a new career. The scheme helps fund educational courses such as our NEBOSH health and safety courses during service in the military and after, to arm military personnel with the knowledge to get a job in a different industry and to encourage lifelong learning.

What is ELCAS funding and ELC?

The funding provided by ELCAS is in the form of Enhanced Learning Credits (ELC). These can be used on a wide variety of courses and are a great opportunity to expand your knowledge in an area of interest, and prepare yourself for an exciting new career after the military.

Who can apply?

If you have served in the armed forces for at least 6 years, you can apply for ELCAS funding.

You can also apply if you are ex-military – see the ex service guidance on the ELCAS website.

How much funding do you get?

There are 2 tiers of funding: the lower tier and higher tier. If you have served between 6-8 years in the military, you will be entitled to the lower tier and you will be provided £1,000 per year for educational courses.

If you have served at least 8 years, you will be entitled to the higher tier which is funding of £2,000. Only service undertaken since the 1^st of April 2000 is counted as eligible for the ELC scheme.

Courses require 80% to be paid by the funding and 20% by yourself. So, for example with the NEBOSH General Certificate which we offer, the classroom course cost is £1,440 (inc VAT). Your ELC will cover £1,152 of the cost and you pay £288. You can make 3 ELC claims altogether. You can apply for one claim each financial year (1 April – 31 March).

The funding does not cover accommodation, travel costs or food. This will have to be paid for by you.

What courses are eligible?

The ELCAS funding covers courses that are level 3 and over on the National Qualification Framework. They cover a variety of courses from health and safety, social work, construction, business, construction, management, watersports and sport. Make sure you pick an ELCAS approved funder. As an ELCAS Approved Funder, the ELC’s can be used on the following courses of ours including classroom and online:

We offer course bundles of 1, 2, 3, and 4 for classroom and 1, 2, and 3 for online. Our ELC page breaks down the costs.

How does ELCAS funding work?

You must first make sure you are registered for the ELCAS scheme and have worked a sufficient amount of service in the armed forces to claim the funding. Please visit the ELCAS website for further details.
If you want to study with Southwest Health and Safety, feel free to contact us when you have decided what course(s) you would like to do, or if you want advice choosing a course, or, need further information about course(s).
A claim then needs to be made for ELC funding via the ELCAS website. The claim form will request you state the learning provider and course title. You will be required to find a learning provider on the ELCAS website to find a course that is included in the scheme.
The claim will require approval from your authorised representative if you are in service or if you are out of service, your Single Service Representative. They will be required to fill out parts of the claim form. For further details in claiming out of service, ex-service personnel should read the ELCAS Ex-service Personnel page.
ELCAS will then notify you of whether the claim has been accepted via a claim authorisation note.
You can then contact your learning provider to begin. If you decide to go with us, please forward the claim authorisation note to us and we can enrol you and you pay the remainder of the 20% cost not covered by ELCAS funding. You will be required to complete our online booking form for the training course you have received ELCAS funding for.
Once the course is complete, you will be required to complete a Course Evaluation Form via the ELCAS website.

What benefits can ELCAS funding bring me?

Learn a new skill
Enter a new exciting career
Build confidence
Enhance your CV
Stand out when applying for a new role
Education at a discounted price (with you only paying the 20%)

Visit the official ELCAS website.

If you are considering a career in health and safety but don’t know what jobs would be open to you, please see our What jobs can you get with a NEBOSH qualification? blog post.

A career in health and safety is very rewarding and NEBOSH qualifications are very highly regarded in the health and safety industry. According to NEBOSH’s Jobs Barometer research, 90% of safety, health, and environmental jobs desire at least one NEBOSH qualification.

Southwest Health and Safety offer high quality health and safety training, have above national average pass rates on all courses, and are competitively priced. We also offer interest free payment plans.

Testimonials

“Just completed my NEBOSH Gen Cert with Andy and I can confirm that their courses are the best money can buy. The way that Andy approached the course was second to none changing his teaching styles to accommodate all students. The mixture of PowerPoint, group exercises and group discussions made it a pleasure to be on. He has changed the whole out look of health and safety for us all making it fun and interesting. I can’t recommend them enough.” – Craig Winter

“Having done all my NEBOSH courses with South West Health and Safety Training, I can highly recommend them for all NEBOSH courses. Great venue, great instruction and extra tuition if needed to get you to the point of the exam. Competitive prices also.” – Martin Reed

If you have any more questions, please email us on info@southwesthealthandsafety.com or call +44 (0)1264 874466.