would like to become a mature student help!
Hi
if trying to find out what support etc benefits id get if i gave up my job and studied an access to teaching course full time then went onto uni. My situation is:
(currently on maternity leave)
mum to 1, married, 26yrs old.
my husband earns 22000 a year if i study i will earn £0
i've never claimed benefits as we have a house with a mortgage pay on bills always been in work lucikly.
i have no idea where to start or who to get advice off. Ive read diff things re benefits and also maintenance grants. Can you get both?
Anyone in the same situation who wouldnt mind sharing what support they get as im in a bit of a pickle at the mo- my mat pay runs out in April but im worried if i go back work for a few months before going college out joint income will go over 25000 easily so would get nothing.
sorry for babbling just dont know where to start
if trying to find out what support etc benefits id get if i gave up my job and studied an access to teaching course full time then went onto uni. My situation is:
(currently on maternity leave)
mum to 1, married, 26yrs old.
my husband earns 22000 a year if i study i will earn £0
i've never claimed benefits as we have a house with a mortgage pay on bills always been in work lucikly.
i have no idea where to start or who to get advice off. Ive read diff things re benefits and also maintenance grants. Can you get both?
Anyone in the same situation who wouldnt mind sharing what support they get as im in a bit of a pickle at the mo- my mat pay runs out in April but im worried if i go back work for a few months before going college out joint income will go over 25000 easily so would get nothing.
sorry for babbling just dont know where to start
There are no benefits or grants specific to further education in England. However if you are on a low income you might be entitled to things like housing benefit and child tax credits. Our college had a small grant (I think it was a one off £200) available to students with low income on a first come first served basis (in other words there were more students entitled than there were who got it) and I think with a family income of over £20k you might be not be considered low income enough. The fees were also subsidised for those on certain benefits (eg council tax benefit).
So basically you need to find out what you are entitled to regardless of whether you want to do an access course or not, you won't get extra for studying. Go to entitledto.com to see what you might be entitled to, also look at your local council for details on housing and council tax benefit and do the calculator thing on the tax credit site.
Once you get to university then there are grants and loans to help with costs but until then you are pretty much on your own.
So basically you need to find out what you are entitled to regardless of whether you want to do an access course or not, you won't get extra for studying. Go to entitledto.com to see what you might be entitled to, also look at your local council for details on housing and council tax benefit and do the calculator thing on the tax credit site.
Once you get to university then there are grants and loans to help with costs but until then you are pretty much on your own.
I think that traditional routes would cause great hardship, and would be unsustainable.
It sounds to me like you are currently underqualified and your husband doesn't earn anywhere near enough.
I think you should investigate completing your college course part-time, and then your undergraduate degree part-time. This is going to take a lot longer, but full-time study sounds out of the question.
It sounds to me like you are currently underqualified and your husband doesn't earn anywhere near enough.
I think you should investigate completing your college course part-time, and then your undergraduate degree part-time. This is going to take a lot longer, but full-time study sounds out of the question.
The college you want to study at will be the best to get advice from, I think most Access students worry about finances so they will be able to guide you.
This might be useless but this what I know from my course:
-Some people on my Access course are on JSA which means they pay alot less for the course -but it seems like its a bit of a struggle to be on JSA whilst studying (someone on TSR will know more than I on this subject)
-If its your first Level 3 education then its free (say, if you havent got any A Levels)
-If youre not recieving JSA or benefits then you pay the full price.
-If you quit your job to study you cant get JSA for six months (I think -again someone here will know more than I)
-There used to be a small maintenance grant but its gone.
-In my school the only monetary support comes from claiming back transport- and materias/book expences 3 times a year, I think I get around £250 each time (such a godsend)
What I did when I started Access was to save up for the course fee, got my job to hire me part time (I work two days and go to college three days) and cut down on all my expenses.
There's really not a lot of help, but most can work part time along with their course.
This might be useless but this what I know from my course:
-Some people on my Access course are on JSA which means they pay alot less for the course -but it seems like its a bit of a struggle to be on JSA whilst studying (someone on TSR will know more than I on this subject)
-If its your first Level 3 education then its free (say, if you havent got any A Levels)
-If youre not recieving JSA or benefits then you pay the full price.
-If you quit your job to study you cant get JSA for six months (I think -again someone here will know more than I)
-There used to be a small maintenance grant but its gone.
-In my school the only monetary support comes from claiming back transport- and materias/book expences 3 times a year, I think I get around £250 each time (such a godsend)
What I did when I started Access was to save up for the course fee, got my job to hire me part time (I work two days and go to college three days) and cut down on all my expenses.
There's really not a lot of help, but most can work part time along with their course.
(edited 12 years ago)
From what I gather (but look into it on the student section on direct Govs website and use the calculator, or visit citizens advice/job centre plus for more info) but you would get grants of sorts, it depends how you study.
If your wanting to do an access course or HE diploma Im not fully sure.
If there was a full time foundation degree for your course with progression to the undergrad qualification then you would get student finance for the fees and the loan for that. Again doing it part time though I dont know how much you would get. (im on about 14k a year after tax doing a p/t foundation degree and get half the fee paid for and just over £300 paid into my account so it works out that it costs me about £300 to study for the year and have an alright lifestyle with about 75 a week left to live off)
Alternatively what about college during the daytime if you can get a nanny/care for your child? These will be free for the level of qualifications after the last ones you sat, and for some that you sat and didnt achieve good results that you were capable of, all this if you have no higher qualifications i imagine.
All I would say is look at degree courses your interested in, and the qualifications they would take as a requirement for the course. Have a look at these along with your qualifications and see how close/far you are from achieving a place, then look for college/access/foundation degree courses that you can do to get yourself to the position where you can study at undergrad level. When you have this info, go to citizens advice/job centre plus/direct gov and speak to them about benefits/loans/grants you would be entilted to when going down each of the routes and work out whats best for you and the family, and then what you would recieve when at undergrad level, as stated above you may have to go part time (but I doubt it as they, student finance, do provide for students with children, and your household income is just under the current national average so you should get some money towards everything).
Also dont worry about quitting your job too much, as if you do you can claim from what I understand (sorry philemon) as I have done it before and the 6 month rule only applies to the self-employed, or at least it did when I quit mine 3 years ago and went on JSA before finding other work. DO however check on this online as it may have changed.
The student finance section is here: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/EducationAndLearning/UniversityAndHigherEducation/StudentFinance/Typesoffinance/index.htm
The JSA/Benefit section is here: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/index.htm
Also check with the local council as you may be entilted to reduced council tax and area specific things.
Dont be deterred, it is a pain to get your head around finances sometimes, especially when the benefit and student finance sections of the government are or can be confusing and frustrating but if your determind to do it, then it shouldnt take too much effort to sort.
Hope this helps. Good luck.
If your wanting to do an access course or HE diploma Im not fully sure.
If there was a full time foundation degree for your course with progression to the undergrad qualification then you would get student finance for the fees and the loan for that. Again doing it part time though I dont know how much you would get. (im on about 14k a year after tax doing a p/t foundation degree and get half the fee paid for and just over £300 paid into my account so it works out that it costs me about £300 to study for the year and have an alright lifestyle with about 75 a week left to live off)
Alternatively what about college during the daytime if you can get a nanny/care for your child? These will be free for the level of qualifications after the last ones you sat, and for some that you sat and didnt achieve good results that you were capable of, all this if you have no higher qualifications i imagine.
All I would say is look at degree courses your interested in, and the qualifications they would take as a requirement for the course. Have a look at these along with your qualifications and see how close/far you are from achieving a place, then look for college/access/foundation degree courses that you can do to get yourself to the position where you can study at undergrad level. When you have this info, go to citizens advice/job centre plus/direct gov and speak to them about benefits/loans/grants you would be entilted to when going down each of the routes and work out whats best for you and the family, and then what you would recieve when at undergrad level, as stated above you may have to go part time (but I doubt it as they, student finance, do provide for students with children, and your household income is just under the current national average so you should get some money towards everything).
Also dont worry about quitting your job too much, as if you do you can claim from what I understand (sorry philemon) as I have done it before and the 6 month rule only applies to the self-employed, or at least it did when I quit mine 3 years ago and went on JSA before finding other work. DO however check on this online as it may have changed.
The student finance section is here: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/EducationAndLearning/UniversityAndHigherEducation/StudentFinance/Typesoffinance/index.htm
The JSA/Benefit section is here: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/index.htm
Also check with the local council as you may be entilted to reduced council tax and area specific things.
Dont be deterred, it is a pain to get your head around finances sometimes, especially when the benefit and student finance sections of the government are or can be confusing and frustrating but if your determind to do it, then it shouldnt take too much effort to sort.
Hope this helps. Good luck.
I am afraid that if you decided to do an Access course there would be no benefits, grants or other financial support available to you that would not already be available on a household income of £22,000 (I've been in pretty much an identical situation but with 3 children). With 1 child that may mean a little bit more tax credits than if you were earning yourself. Your household income would be too high to claim anything extra.
The only possibility would be your husband could get 25% sole occupancy discount on your council tax, but with Access courses being 15 hours or less a week local authorities on the whole don't deem you as a full time student for this purpose.
Once at uni, with a household income that low you would get the maximum available support, which would be just over £7k a year if studying outside London, plus a university bursary (which varies with the uni, but are generally worth £1k+).
It's just that year before Uni where you need to gain the qualifications for entry that's totally un-funded. If you can't afford that you could look into studying a unit or two from the Open University part time.
The only possibility would be your husband could get 25% sole occupancy discount on your council tax, but with Access courses being 15 hours or less a week local authorities on the whole don't deem you as a full time student for this purpose.
Once at uni, with a household income that low you would get the maximum available support, which would be just over £7k a year if studying outside London, plus a university bursary (which varies with the uni, but are generally worth £1k+).
It's just that year before Uni where you need to gain the qualifications for entry that's totally un-funded. If you can't afford that you could look into studying a unit or two from the Open University part time.
thanks for all your help and advice, think i'm going to give the benefits people a call tomorrow to see where i stand as the access course is mon-fri full time and i couldn't work on top of that i'd never see my child. be much easier if the course was part time as at least i'd be able to work. If i can get by the year with not many pennies hopefully once in uni it'd be easier by what people have said. Thanks x
Original post by snowflakes69
Hi
if trying to find out what support etc benefits id get if i gave up my job and studied an access to teaching course full time then went onto uni. My situation is:
(currently on maternity leave)
mum to 1, married, 26yrs old.
my husband earns 22000 a year if i study i will earn £0
i've never claimed benefits as we have a house with a mortgage pay on bills always been in work lucikly.
i have no idea where to start or who to get advice off. Ive read diff things re benefits and also maintenance grants. Can you get both?
Anyone in the same situation who wouldnt mind sharing what support they get as im in a bit of a pickle at the mo- my mat pay runs out in April but im worried if i go back work for a few months before going college out joint income will go over 25000 easily so would get nothing.
sorry for babbling just dont know where to start
if trying to find out what support etc benefits id get if i gave up my job and studied an access to teaching course full time then went onto uni. My situation is:
(currently on maternity leave)
mum to 1, married, 26yrs old.
my husband earns 22000 a year if i study i will earn £0
i've never claimed benefits as we have a house with a mortgage pay on bills always been in work lucikly.
i have no idea where to start or who to get advice off. Ive read diff things re benefits and also maintenance grants. Can you get both?
Anyone in the same situation who wouldnt mind sharing what support they get as im in a bit of a pickle at the mo- my mat pay runs out in April but im worried if i go back work for a few months before going college out joint income will go over 25000 easily so would get nothing.
sorry for babbling just dont know where to start
Well, If you do the access course you will have that for free and If you can't gain flexible hours with your current employment then there will always be somewhere else which will enable you to be flexible especially with a child. Once on the course the college will have an access to finance fund for people in hardship which will include yourself. You can claim some money from them to help out.
Once pass your access course and you're filling out the finance forms put the big 'zeros' in the boxes about how much you will earn whilst at university (including the box stating you will be living away from home as they count home as 'parental' even if you have been living in your own house and paying a morgage)
and you should get maximum loan/grant and living expenses.
Once you've completed your teaching degree (pref one which results in you being qualified straight away) you can then walk into a very secure job earning a very good starting salary with very good holidays and associated perks.
It may be a struggle financially to do the Access course however in the long run you can guarantee that you will be better off.
Hi, i'll point u in the right direction but it should be relatively easy to find the info u need...from 2013/2014 The Dept of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) will be introducing loans for adult learners over the age of 24, for level 3 and 4 study. this includes access programmes and higher level apprenticeships and will work same as the HE loans do...have a nose on BIS site to find out more...
there may be another option for u but u will again need to see if this is relevant for u regards your circs...it's called a National Scholarship Programme and came into effect 2012/13 - the aim of this funding is to provision those on household incomes of 25K or less...again this is applicable to level 3 study...
hope the above helps u with your funding query
there may be another option for u but u will again need to see if this is relevant for u regards your circs...it's called a National Scholarship Programme and came into effect 2012/13 - the aim of this funding is to provision those on household incomes of 25K or less...again this is applicable to level 3 study...
hope the above helps u with your funding query
thanks el scotto you've made things seems brighter at the end of the tunnel as it'll defo be worth it in the end
and thanks astoreth not heard of the bis or nsp ta
Original post by snowflakes69
and thanks astoreth not heard of the bis or nsp ta
no probs, snowflake. hope summat comes of it for u. i only know of it cos it pertained to research i had to do for an assignment i wrote.
Original post by snowflakes69
and thanks astoreth not heard of the bis or nsp ta
Yeah, you know BIS snowflakes. It's Vince Cable's department!
Sounds good though. Mature students will have more options. And we never know when we may need to retrain these days!Original post by Nitebot
Yeah, you know BIS snowflakes. It's Vince Cable's department! Sounds good though. Mature students will have more options. And we never know when we may need to retrain these days!
Sounds good though. Mature students will have more options. And we never know when we may need to retrain these days!i'd have appreciated them doin this for like, THIS year, cos is been a real struggle financially
especially when us lot are used to havin an income from working...
still, least they kinda gettin there where mature students are concerned, as u say.
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