Funding for little sis?

GlasweJen

My little sister is 17 and wants to get her highers. She left school in December last year after being bullied by her guidance teacher to the point where she attempted suicide. In the same year our aunt, great uncle and grandfather all died of cancer, another great uncle died of old age and since she's left our cousins' husband was killed on the road ,she's taken all of this badly and her mental state is affected somewhat but not to the extend of it being a disability.

Obviously she's been stressed and unable to return to education, prior to leaving she was doing a mix of highers and intermediate 2's. She has 8 standard grades and 5 of them are grade 3 or better. Due to the schools bizzare system she has no higher NABs.

She has found a college that is 2 buses and a train ride away but it's the only one that does highers and she's dead set on going. Problem is that our parents earn buttons due to being self employed and the cost of diesel rising so much, their joint income this year was £18,000.

I think she'll get EMA as she did when she was in school; it was paid at £20 per week but that was when money was better for mum and dad. She has a job but will likely have to give this up. Will she be able to get any other grants to go to college? She is most likely to need help with initial costs and travel, we are from a very deprived area in Glasgow if that is relevant.

Thank you.

Kazzajr

There are a lot of means tested grants she should be entitled to, she should be able to get help with travel costs (needs to live 2miles or more from college which I assume she does) and living costs in the form of a bursary. I think she will need to be studying for 21 hours or more in order to qualify.
http://www.careers-scotland.org.uk/Education/Funding/CollegeBursaries.asp

She would be best making an appointment with the student finance part of the college she wishes to attend and they should be able to tell her what she will be eligible for and how to apply etc.
Has she applied for the courses she is hoping to do?
What are NABs?

ETA: Would she be able to work weekends in the job she is in if not should be able to get a weekend job.

GlasweJen

she's going to look for a new job as her manager is very unflexible. NABs are assessments that contribute towards a higher so if she were to turn up and just do the exam she would still fail as most highers also need 3 or 4 NABs to pass.

La-Cara

Your sister should speak to the student support department of the college as they should have advisors on finance, careers and disabilities. They might be able to offer a mentor or counselling for her if she thinks it would be helpful.

I don't know much about finance for college, so all I can suggest is she supplements her income by doing surveys, cashback websites etc (although you do have to be 18 for some of them). It's not a get rich quick scheme but it only takes a few minutes a day so it wouldn't affect her college work.
Hope she gets it all sorted out soon

GlasweJen

thanks everyone, i'll give her the careers site address. she's hoping to start this year as she's already did some of the higher course work, it's only very recently she's felt up to going back hence the late application - i'm not sure how she'll cope with another year out.

ekkygirl

As she is only 17 can't she restart the 6th form at another school?

GlasweJen

she's not too keen on going back to any school after that teachers performance, we all think it would be better all round if she was working with people who weren't teachers per say.

mummytofour

Well if she goes back to education at 17 I THINK your mum and dad will get about £300 in tax credits and cb. I understand that the family dont have much spare cash but would your folks help out your sis as they will be getting extra money for her?

Edinburghlass_2

Also the child benefit will continue if she is in further education but they will need to let them know. From memory I think on the EMA form there is a space for claiming a travel bursary. She does need to get the EMA forms in to the college as quick as possible.

GlasweJen

well we've got some of it sorted. her work have agreed to her only working weekends and a couple evenings, the college have helped her apply for EMA and they are giving her refunds on her tickets at the end of each fortnight. they've also given her book tokens for her course books.