JSA and College

mightyboosh

Hey,

Just a quick question really, i was made redundant about 3 weeks ago and have just started claiming JSA, im thinking about maybe going to college part time to a) keep me busy and b) give me some new skills to put on my CV, is there any kind of financial assistance that I may be able to apply for in terms of course fees etc.

Many thanks

System

Some collleges will give those on JSA courses for free, i know here they do (as i've looked into it myself!). Otherise it depends on your age/previous qualifications.

The Adult Learning Grant (ALG) could give you up to £30 a week if you are taking your first full Level 2 or Level 3 qualification. That's all i can think of at the minute

oldmotherreilly

Do bear in mind though that ALG does affect JSA(Income based) and has to be declared to the Jobcentre as income. They do ignore certain elements (I think things like an amount for books etc) but do make sure you declare it if you get it to save trouble in the future.

Oldernotwiser

You can't claim ALG if you're on out of work benefits but you might well get the course free if it's your first at level 2 or 3.

Skint_Catt

Also be careful of how many hours you go to college - they won't let me do more than 15 hours a week without it affecting JSA otherwise 'you're not available for work'. Fair enough in theory but I want to do a home study course which is 30 hours. I want to do it in 1 week (no more hours than working ) and as I'm unlikely to find anything in the next couple of weeks I can't see what the problem is!

sammyjammy

Skint_catt its not that about the likelihood of you getting a job in the next couple of weeks, you need to be available ot take a job offered at 24 hours notice, if you're not that means you're not entitled to JSA whether you are studying or not.

Skint_Catt

Yes I understand that - but as interviews etc take weeks/months and I have nothing in the pipeline then I don't see that it matters that I'm trying to do this course in 1 week. If I told them I was doing it over 2 that's fine (although no job's going to give me 15 hours off if they're desperate for me to start that quickly!) but not over 1.

oldmotherreilly

You can claim ALG and JSA-you just need to declare the amount to the Jobcentre and they will adjust your benefit accordingly.
Home study courses are generally not treated in the same way as if you were to attend college, as you can rearrange the hours to suit your jobseeking needs (interviews; attending JCP etc). Best thing to do would be to see if you can make an appointment to see a JCP advisor and ask them for an answer-if they say they would treat it as straightforward, then you don't have anything to worry about; if they say that they would need to refer it to a Decision Maker to decide, then you run the risk of not receiving benefit because you are deemed to be not available for work/a full time student.

CAG83

Can anyone help?

I was made redundant in July, I didnt claim JSA because the website states that if you have savings over 16k you probably wouldnt qualify. Since I am one of those people who saved every month I do have savings over 16k so didnt make a claim. After a month of spending money for train fares and petrol going for Job interviews I thought I would call up anyway and see what they said.

As a result of this, they said I am elgable for JSA! I am now trying to backdate my claim but have been unsuccessful so far for the reason that I didnt call up in the beginning. Has this happened to anyone else?

Thanks

sammyjammy

Unfortunately you will not be successful on having any benefit backdated (you may get the NI credits associated with the period) "I didn't know I could" is not good cause, you would have to have been misdirected by a member of staff or similar, the bit you were reading with the £16k must have been about Income based JSA, if it makes you feel any better you only get 182 days (I think) worth of Conts based JSA so if you're unemployed for a while you'll get the same amount of money just over a different period, obviously I hope you get a job soon!

Sam

Oldernotwiser

oldmotherreilly wrote: »

You can claim ALG and JSA-you just need to declare the amount to the Jobcentre and they will adjust your benefit accordingly.
QUOTE]

No you can't! From the LSC website,


• Learners must not be in receipt of the following benefits: Jobseekers Allowance (JSA); Incapacity Benefit (IB); Income Support (IS) or Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). From 27 October 2008 ESA replaced Incapacity Benefit and Income Support paid on incapacity grounds for new customers.

It's not a question of whether ALG affects your JSA, but of whether you're eligible to get the ALG in the first place!