JSA Trouble. (Sandwich Course Student - Scotland)

Popeye88

Hi,

I'm just wondering if anyone can offer any advice as to what to do next.

I'm a 21 year old student, have my own council flat, and am currently registered on a sandwich course. My last phase of college was from the end of November, until the end of March.

Because of previous circumstances, the only funding I received was a loan of £4600, a lot of which I owed out to friends & family. No bursary or college fees were paid.

The way my course is, everyone is sponsored throughout the course, but because of my outstanding debts to the college, I am finding this very difficult. The plan was to work through the summer, if I could find anything, and hopefully save up enough to go back in August, so I applied for JSA, and today, more than a month on I've been knocked back, due to being a 'full time student', even though I'm not attending again until late August.

Now, this time last year I was in exactly the same place. Just finished college, and wasn't due to go back for a while, so I applied for JSA & got it. There was no hoo-ha, and certainly not the attitude that I have had to deal with this time. You'd think it was the employees who you were asking for the money, the patronising, condescending so & so's that they are!

No-one can offer an explanation as to the reason, other than I'm registered on a course & that's that. I have a rent agreement to keep to, which is getting a bit worn out now - the council aren't too happy & if I get taken to court again, it'll be for eviction.

From what I've read online, the only way I can get JSA is to 'abandon' my course. Surely to God that can't be right? In order to save my home & get any money to feed/heat myself, I have to drop out from higher education?

Its a joke if so.

I would greatly appreciate it if anyone knows where I can go from here, asides form the appeal process. Would I be entitled to income support, for example, or do I really need to chuck away the chance at a trade?

Amistoso_2

I think the point of your student loan is for you to live off not pay off your debts with, if you break that down too £4600/52 that makes £88.46 a week, much more than JSA. Apply for LHA and council tax relief and see if you can get help with that, but as it stands I think what you have been told is correct.

can you not get a part time job in the evenings/weekends?

Popeye88

Amistoso wrote: »

I think the point of your student loan is for you to live off not pay off your debts with, if you break that down too £4600/52 that makes £88.46 a week, much more than JSA. Apply for LHA and council tax relief and see if you can get help with that, but as it stands I think what you have been told is correct

I can see where you're coming from, but why would they have given me it last year, under the exact same set of circumstances? That's the bit that's confusing me.

Edit: I'm trying like a bear to find work! I can even work full time, now that college is finished, but there's nothing doing in the local area.

Jowo_2

Popeye88 wrote: »

Because of previous circumstances, the only funding I received was a loan of £4600, a lot of which I owed out to friends & family. No bursary or college fees were paid.

I've skimmed through your long post looking for evidence that you've applied for a student loan or career development loan or hardship fund from your University, for example. Have you?

Also, what are the dates of your course (as opposed to when your term time ended). There is sometimes a difference between when attendance at the Uni for lectures ends and when the course actually ends (some courses require the students to produce work across the summer).

Popeye88

Jowo wrote: »

I've skimmed through your long post looking for evidence that you've applied for a student loan or career development loan or hardship fund from your University, for example. Have you?

Also, what are the dates of your course (as opposed to when your term time ended). There is sometimes a difference between when attendance at the Uni for lectures ends and when the course actually ends (some courses require the students to produce work across the summer).

No, Jowo, I haven't spoken to the college with regards this yet, they're part of the problem I have with fees outstanding, etc. The jist of it is that my Dad died in 2006, so I had to drop out - during this time the course I was on was rewritten, so I had to repeat a year. Normally SAAS would pay for this due to compassionate grounds, but they're saying that they had already paid for me to go into 2nd year, when academically I couldn't as I hadn't passed the first year. The colllege are saying that this is bull andthey received nowt.

To be honest, I'd forgotten about the college hardship fund - if the DWP are saying that I'm still a full time student, then I imagine they'd be the best place to start! After all, that's what they're there for, right!?

My course is condensed, so rather than doing it over a full academic year, like other courses, we're only there for 4 months. My official end date for this phase was at the end of March/beginning of April. I'm not due back until the end of August.

Normally, I would be away working at sea just now & completing my SVQ, but I can't find a sponsoring company - the lowest paid in my class are on around £600 a month, whether at sea or at college, which they get on top of any Government payments.

A job would be the ideal scenario, but that won't happen until either SAAS or the college take a hit & admit they're wrong. I'm in limbo 'til then.

Indie_Kid

Amistoso wrote: »

I think the point of your student loan is for you to live off not pay off your debts with, if you break that down too £4600/52 that makes £88.46 a week, much more than JSA. Apply for LHA and council tax relief and see if you can get help with that, but as it stands I think what you have been told is correct.

can you not get a part time job in the evenings/weekends?

Full-time students don't pay council tax. Only certain groups (disabled and lone parents) are entitled to LHA.

Jowo_2

Still struggling to understand the full circumstances, sorry - why is it that you haven't got a company to sponsor you? I got the impression that it's something to do with the dispute between SAAS and the college but wonder why this is. Does the college find you an employer or do the students find their own, for example? Do most students start their course with a sponsor in place?

Also, why is it that you owe money to the college? Is this because they expected the funding from SAAS for the repeat year?

Amistoso_2

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

I don't know what's going on between you two but sh1305 is right, full time students cannot claim LHA/HB and don't have to pay council tax.

she seems to spend most of her time following me around threads and being a pain in the bum, sorry just had about enough of her she's getting right on my thrupnies

also wasn't established in the OP that he was infact a full time student either

oldmotherreilly

you may have been able to claim it last year because the New Claims Advisor failed to take the correct action. In order to have decided that you were not entitled to JSA, your claim would have had to be referred to a Decision Maker and it is they, not the staff who work in Jobcentreplus, who would work through the legislation to see if you were entiitled to JSA. You should have filled in a form giving details of the course and also supplied a Learning Agreement or something similar for the Decision Maker to use in his decision.
If you need the decision explained in more depth to you, you need to speak first of all to your local JCP and then for a more detailed decision, you can arrange to speak to a Decision Maker directly-they will not see you in person, but will arrange a time over the phone.
So, other than the appeals process and as others have said, applying for help with your rent and council tax, I cannot think of any other government funds that would be available to you. Also, even if you were to give up your course, I think that you will find that, as the grant is awarded for the whole academic year, you may still not be eligible for JSA as this would be taken into account. I would check this out before you do anything drastic.

afc80

as a student doing one course that leads on to another you should continue to get student exemption. As has been said earlier you wont get hb/lha unless you are classed as a vulnerable student

If the dwp are classing you as a student you are not available for work and are therefore not entitled to jsa(ib)