Extra training.... do I need to have a criminal record????

juliep76

Hiya

I'm just really confused about the state of this country...

Basically I've been self employed for almost 2 years as a graphic designer and although have been quite busy I would also like to gain some extra skills so I can be more flexible if the work starts to dry up.
I need to take a course which is going to set me back around £500 + vat and thought that maybe there was some sort of funding for self employed people to get help for extra training. Apparently not!!

Although I'm sure that if I were to have a criminal record... maybe killed someone and served my 2 years in prison..... I would be given thousands of pounds to re-train, re-house and generally set me up for a life of luxury.

Anyone else think this whole country is f***ed up??

Rant over.

maytaurus

I sympathise
to cut a long story short ....
my son is waiting for a course ,that will give him the last bit of qualification he needs to work for himself and complete the job, without needing to pay someone else to sign off his work.
He has said to me ,that he feels he'd have been better off if he'd been a criminal and been able to get his course without the hassle he's had and FREE.
The whole system seems to be Completley unfair ...

briona

juliep76 wrote: »

Basically I've been self employed for almost 2 years as a graphic designer and although have been quite busy I would also like to gain some extra skills so I can be more flexible if the work starts to dry up.
I need to take a course which is going to set me back around £500 + vat and thought that maybe there was some sort of funding for self employed people to get help for extra training. Apparently not!!

I'm a graphic designer as well and I've recently gone freelance.

Actually I was speaking to the tax office yesterday, about expenses among other things! I rather got the impression that training, software etc (anything you are purchasing for company use) class as business expenses and can be 'paid for' by your company? Which is probably why there's no funding available to the self-employed!

FraggleFan

I don't know where you stay, but I know that in Scotland you can apply for an ILA (Individual Learning Account). If your salary is less then £18,000 per year, you get £200. If it's over £18,000, you get £100. You just have to make sure the course is covered by the ILA, but many are, and the website is useful for this. Also, the helpline advisors are brilliant and answer any and every question.

I don't know if they have anythong similar in the rest of the country though.

DitaBombita

Being in prison or having a criminal record would make no difference, its the fact that you are employed and have an income, hence the Government or whoever view that you should pay for yourself. Such courses are normally only free if you are on benefits.. as in helpling to get people into work. Working within the Criminal Justice System myself I can assure you that having a criminal record does not assist when applying for work.

Sazzyukrafc

I agree this country is a mess...

Not quite the same, but when I was at uni my flatmate got more loan than me and various different grants...just because her parent's didn't work. But because my parents had a high income, I was given a tiny loan! To me, that wasn't fair. Just because my parents have worked hard to get good jobs unlike hers have, it had to be punished by having hardly any money!

I also remember being at school and the pupils who never turned up and were naughty got taken on days out to Alton Towers!!! lol!

Cashew

I really doubt that having a criminal record or going to prison are going to help you get funding for your course to be honest.

What is the course on?

buxtonrabbitgreen

I think you are wrong to rant. Surely being deprived of ones freedom is one of the worst things that can happen to you. Also a relation of mine has a spent criminal record which they are forced on most applications to declare, the risk of not doing so can lead to prosecution. Therefore they are finding it very difficult to find any sort of paid work. Thin k yourself lucky.

tofwig

if you have been deprived of your freedom then you deserve everything you get in life.

i am sick to death of goody goodys worrying about criminals.

its about time we took a hard stance like the americans do and lock the sods up for years doing hard graft without parole.

they get locked up. free food, bed and free heating. they can sue for their human rights thats been abused and they come out laughing and then commit another crime.

bang the sods up and give them !!!!!! all

WhySoHard_2

juliep76 wrote: »

Although I'm sure that if I were to have a criminal record... maybe killed someone and served my 2 years in prison..... I would be given thousands of pounds to re-train, re-house and generally set me up for a life of luxury.

I very much doubt it. Unless you call getting housed by the council in some grotty halfway house, hostel or b&b a 'life of luxury'

if you have an urge to kill someone though, I suppose you could try your hand at being a sort of freelance assassin. It's not something I'd condone though

WhySoHard_2

buxtonrabbitgreen wrote: »

I think you are wrong to rant. Surely being deprived of ones freedom is one of the worst things that can happen to you. Also a relation of mine has a spent criminal record which they are forced on most applications to declare, the risk of not doing so can lead to prosecution. Therefore they are finding it very difficult to find any sort of paid work. Thin k yourself lucky.

Every job application form I've ever seen asks whether you have any Unspent convictions. So I don't follow what is going on with your relative with the spent record.