Securing a college place whilst retaining benefits

I've been encouraging my 23 (nearly 24) yr old to sign up for a college course . I believe it will help their mental wellbeing as they're quite reclusive but when around family their mood really lifts. 

We found a college course that  really interests them but its 18hrs a week which means they would lose their ESA benefit !

They can't afford not to have that income as they live independently and have bills to meet.

Has anyone else experienced a similar situation where they were able to overcome this problem?