What this tool does

This tool sets out what help exists with the costs of getting back into work: travel to interviews, clothing and tools for a new job, training, childcare, and equipment if you have a health condition or disability. It explains which fund each one comes from, who decides, and exactly what to ask for.

It gives guidance rather than money, and none of the support it describes is guaranteed: most of it is discretionary.

Who it is for

Use it if you are out of work and the cost of getting back in is part of what is stopping you. That covers people made redundant, people who have been off long term with illness or a disability, carers returning to work, parents going back after raising children, people leaving education or prison, and anyone claiming Universal Credit who has been told to look for work but cannot afford the bus fare to the interview.

It is also worth a look if you are already in work but want to retrain, because some training support does not depend on being unemployed.

How it works

You answer five questions: how long you have been out of work, why, what benefits you get, what you most need help paying for, and which nation you live in. The tool then matches that to the funds that fit and tells you how to approach each one. Quite often the answer is to ask a work coach for something by name, because several of these funds are discretionary and are never advertised.

Nothing you enter is saved, and you do not need to give your name or email to use it. Benefit rules and employment schemes change frequently, and the devolved nations run their own, so check anything that matters on GOV.UK or with your Jobcentre before relying on it.