To join a SWAP access course, you’ll need to meet time out of education and residency eligibility requirements. If you’re unsure about anything, get in touch, and we’ll help confirm your eligibility. You don’t normally need any formal qualifications to apply for a SWAP Programme. We know that adult learners bring valuable skills and knowledge from their work and life experience. Eligibility Requirements (1) Time out of education SWAP is for adult returners to education, so we need to see that you have spent time out of full-time education. You need to have been out of full-time education for three years. Pre-Access Courses If you have taken a Level 5 (or below) course in the last 3 years, you may still be eligible:If you met the time out of education eligibility requirement before beginning this lower-level course, we would consider the course your first step back into education and it would not affect your eligibility for a SWAP course. The same is true for students taking an ESOL course (including up to Level 6). If you have any questions about recent study and eligibility for SWAP, don't hesitate to get in touch with the SWAP office. Special Cases Below are some possible exceptions that might apply to you. In all cases, we encourage you to contact the SWAP East team for guidance before applying to the college for your SWAP access programme. If you are care-experienced, a refugee or an asylum seeker, we may consider you eligible even if you haven’t been out of education for three years. We ask that you contact SWAP to discuss your situation in more detail.Young people aged 16-18 who have experienced severe disruption to their secondary schooling and have, as a result, gained no qualifications above a SCQF Level 4 may be considered on a case-by-case basis. In these exceptional cases, the student, or someone with the authority to speak on behalf of the student, should contact SWAP to find out whether eligibility can be granted. The time out of education requirement for SWAP West is 5 years for individuals with SCQF Level 6+ qualifications (e.g. Highers and HNC). If you have a Level 6+ qualification from 3-4 years ago and hope to apply to a SWAP West Partner university from a SWAP East access programme, please get in touch with the SWAP East office to discuss your case. Previous University Degrees Important: If you have completed a three- or four-year university degree, at any time and in any country, you are not eligible for the SWAP Programme. (2) Your residency status in Scotland You need to have a UK residency status that allows you to study and access public funds.You must be resident in Scotland at the time of your SWAP programme starting, including online programmes. If you are currently living in the rest of the UK and not Scotland, you should get in touch with our SWAP teams to talk through your situation before applying to college.Your college must class you as a 'home fee status' student.International students are not eligible. Residency & Funding Residency in Scotland is part of SWAP's eligibility requirements, but it's also one of the requirements to be eligible for SAAS payments during university. If you have been living in the UK for less than 3 years, and in Scotland for less than 1 year, we recommend you contact SAAS as part of your research to see whether they will consider you eligible for 'home fee status' (Scottish domiciled students normally pay no tuition fees at university) and for their loans and bursaries.Go to the SAAS website Get in touch If you have any questions about your eligibility for the SWAP programme, send our office an email and we can talk you through it. Contact SWAP East This article was published on 2025-06-06
