Update (5 November 2020): we are still open and our courses and jobs help remain available. Please continue to check our website for updates. Read more about how we are following government guidance for your safety.
Our new prospectus and 2020–21 course listing
At Waltham Forest Adult Learning Service, we are committed to supporting residents as they learn new skills and gain accredited qualifications.
Get started with our prospectus and online course search
- Our full course listings are online: search our list of courses
- Download a pdf of our 2020-21 prospectus (3MB)
Ready to enrol? You might need to do an assessment first
For English, maths, ESOL and all our qualification courses you will need to book a free assessment with us.
Places available: now to December 2020 art, craft, fashion, gardening, family and wellbeing courses
We have all sorts of courses to help you and your family keep learning and improve your wellbeing. From dance and fitness for adults, to keeping up with your child’s maths and English lessons: get started by exploring our creative, family and wellbeing courses.
Our remaining autumn 2020 creative and gardening courses include oil painting; pet portraiture; ink and wash; garment-making; plant walks at Leyton Jubilee Park; and more!
Find your course and enrol today: download our course listings below.
Art, craft and fashion
Download our art, craft and fashion autumn 2020 course listing (150kb, pdf)
Horticulture and gardening
Download our horticulture and gardening autumn 2020 course listing (140kb, pdf)
Enrol on our art, craft, gardening, community and family learning courses
For most of our art, craft, gardening, community and family learning courses you do not need to do an assessment, so you can book your course online.
Find out more about our courses: contact us.
Free courses and our new 50 per cent discount
Most of our courses are free or up to 70 per cent off depending on your circumstances. As of October 2020, we are also offering a 50 per cent discount on standard fees for even more of our courses. This is one way we are continuing to support learners during the Covid-19 pandemic. Read more about our course fees.
Free jobs help
Trying to get a new job? We can help you. We have free tips and one-to-one advice sessions for Waltham Forest residents.
Rapid Employment Service
The Rapid Employment Service can also help you to get a new job: from improving your CV to completing applications.
Advice, contacts and presentations from our free Virtual Job Fair (19 November 2020)
Thank you to our presenters and everyone who joined us for our free Job Fair on 19 November 2020. For recruitment contacts, and a pdf of all the presentations, please go to our Virtual Job Fair page.
Online learning and our full list of new courses and training
Some of our courses are online, others are in-class or a mix of online and in-class learning. Explore our online course listing for an up-to-date list of all our new courses.
Creativity and wellbeing plus free community and family courses
Free online courses for you and your family: now to December 2020
Our autumn 2020 family learning courses include family dance workouts; keeping up with your child’s maths and English; first aid awareness; and more!
Stay active and release the stress of lockdown with one of our wellbeing courses for families and adults. Our free online courses include dance and fitness for wellbeing, mindfulness for stress, and music and movement for dementia.
Find your course and enrol today:
- Free family learning courses: download our family learning autumn 2020 course listing (180kb, pdf)
- Online wellbeing courses: download our wellbeing autumn 2020 course listing (170kb, pdf)
Links, tips and free resources
We have a collection of wellbeing and self-care tips and activities for children and adults. Our creativity, learning and wellbeing page is packed with resources to keep you and your family learning.
More community and family learning courses
From art to first aid to parenting skills, our online course listing has a wide range of free courses: browse our courses and book online today.
Health and wellbeing winners!
Our social prescribing programme won the national Festival of Learning 2020 Health and Wellbeing award! Our specially designed creative and gardening courses help improve residents’ mental health. Participants learn together and explore the beautiful outdoor spaces of Waltham Forest. Read more about our award-winning social prescribing programme
Become an apprentice
We are remotely supporting and recruiting apprentices: please check our list of current apprenticeship roles.
Employers: email apprenticeships.als@walthamforest.gov.uk to find out how you and your staff can benefit from our apprenticeship scheme.
Free English Conversation Clubs
We have virtual English conversation clubs almost every day (except Sunday). Our clubs are free. To join a club, please complete our online booking form.
Want to volunteer?
We train volunteers to lead our English Conversation Clubs. If you would like to volunteer with us, please email conversationclub.als@walthamforest.gov.uk
Share-ArtBox stage one now complete
The Share-ArtBox project is about bringing together local families and adults to get creative.
Thank you for signing up
Thank you to everyone who signed up for our Share-ArtBox project over the summer. We are now exploring a new phase of the project and will contact you to let you know more.
Other FAN projects
Share-ArtBox is a Waltham Forest Friends and Neighbours (FAN), Waltham Forest Adult Learning Service and Connecting Communities project.
Find out about this and other FAN projects: email the FAN team or text 07918 771 041
Online exhibition: ESOL Precious Objects 2020
A wedding dress, baby bracelet, mobile phone, a painting, a tea cup … What do they all have in common? Our online exhibition of ESOL learners’ precious objects!
We asked learners on our ESOL (English for speakers of other languages) courses to submit an image of something important to them and write a caption. You can explore all the submissions on our public Facebook page (no need to log in).
Keep London Learning
We are proud to join with other education providers and be a part of Keep London Learning.