Education for unemployed not in receipt of social welfare

Hi just wondering if anyone is aware of any opportunities to upskill that are available for people who are unemployed but not in receipt of a social welfare payment. I have loooked at a few but usually the criteria is to getting jobseekers benefit or allowance or another social welfare payment. There are many people out there who are not entitled to social welfare because their partner is working and they either do not have stamps or the stamps have run out.
People working in the public service pre 1995 are also not entitled to sign on if they take up a redundency scheme and this may also apply to form semistate companies.

This is a big issue, for me and for many others. It does seem largely discriminatory on those who have been out of work for some time, particularly people who have spent time at home raising a family.

There was some discussion on this thread;
http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=145761