IS and student partner

asbestos2008

At the moment I clain IS as my husbands business went into liquidation. I currently recieve HB, CTB, CTC, IS and CA for my disabled son. My husband is considering doind a full time degree at uni.
Will he be eligble for fee and maintenance payments and how will this affect the benefits?

He has been looking for work but in his area of expertise there is no work, so he is looking to retrain

Thank you

immoral_angeluk

Your husband going into full time education would not have an affect on your income support as the only condition is that YOU are not in full time education and your partner does not work more than 24 hours a week. Therefore you would still be eligible for the couple amount of IS. Dependant on which course he is planning on doing and at what establishment (open uni etc) he may be able to get help with fees due to the household income being low. Check out
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/EducationAndLearning/AdultLearning/FinancialHelpForAdultLearners/index.htm
for more info.

alwaysonthego_2

immoral_angeluk wrote: »

Your husband going into full time education would not have an affect on your income support as the only condition is that YOU are not in full time education and your partner does not work more than 24 hours a week. Therefore you would still be eligible for the couple amount of IS. Dependant on which course he is planning on doing and at what establishment (open uni etc) he may be able to get help with fees due to the household income being low. Check out
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/EducationAndLearning/AdultLearning/FinancialHelpForAdultLearners/index.htm
for more info.

If he is going to uni full time then I do not think that they would be entitled to IS as the grants and loans will take them over the amount that the government says that a couple can live on. Grants, loans and bursarys are counted as income for IS and income based benefits. It does not affect TC apart from the adult dependency grant.

immoral_angeluk

alwaysonthego wrote: »

If he is going to uni full time then I do not think that they would be entitled to IS as the grants and loans will take them over the amount that the government says that a couple can live on. Grants, loans and bursarys are counted as income for IS and income based benefits. It does not affect TC apart from the adult dependency grant.

So long as it is the OP that is claiming and not in FTE then the OP will be entitled to IS in the normal way. Her husband's grants would not count as income unless he was ineligble for a student loan. If he recieved a student loan then that would be taken into account although part of it would be ignored for IS calculation purposes (last I knew it was £10 a week) . If he recieved help from financial aid, or had a loan simply for tuition fees then these are not counted as income for the IS asseement. Grants and bursaries are not taken into account including any amounts for tuition or examination fees, travel, books or equipment, NHS bursaries etc.
(Taken from Disability Alliance - Disability rights handbook).

alwaysonthego_2

Types of student support which are counted as income

Types of student support counted as income are:

• the majority of any Student Loan for Maintenance you are entitled to, even if you choose not to take it out
• Adult Dependants' Grant
• Access to Learning Fund payments meant to help with general living costs (though in some circumstances, all or part of the payment may be disregarded)
• Maintenance Grant (available to full-time students who started their course in September 2006 or later)
• Bursaries (available to full-time students who started their course in September 2006 or later) that are not for course-related costs, or childcare

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/On_a_low_income/DG_070816

dmg24

If he recieved a student loan then that would be taken into account although part of it would be ignored for IS calculation purposes (last I knew it was £10 a week) .

Therefore Always is correct, it will have an effect on the OP's IS entitlement.

immoral_angeluk

dmg24 wrote: »

Therefore Always is correct, it will have an effect on the OP's IS entitlement.

It would yes minus the disregard as I said. However the op hasn't said what the husband is planning to do yet. and if he is eligible for financial help then that wouldn't be counted as income.

immoral_angeluk

Not much help now granted but interesting none the less If it includes adult learners obviously..
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20090708/tuk-free-degree-plan-for-some-students-6323e80.html

dmg24

immoral_angeluk wrote: »

It would yes minus the disregard as I said. However the op hasn't said what the husband is planning to do yet. and if he is eligible for financial help then that wouldn't be counted as income.

You are confusing the issue here needlessly. Certain types of financial help most definitely are counted as income, as per the Direct linky given by always above.

OP, here is the link to the student finance calculator. It should breakdown what he would be entitled to, and you can then see which amounts would be deducted from your IS entitlement. I am assuming this would be his first degree?

(Sorry always, I capitalised your name earlier - I hate it when people do that to me! )

asbestos2008

Will try that thank you all for your advice

immoral_angeluk

dmg24 wrote: »

You are confusing the issue here needlessly. Certain types of financial help most definitely are counted as income, as per the Direct linky given by always above.

OP, here is the link to the student finance calculator. It should breakdown what he would be entitled to, and you can then see which amounts would be deducted from your IS entitlement. I am assuming this would be his first degree?

(Sorry always, I capitalised your name earlier - I hate it when people do that to me! )

Apologies. Just trying to help.