Mature student loan help

anyaangel

Im hoping to go back to college to do a Access in art and design course (then hoping to go on do a degree next year). Im a single parent on income supportect leaving in kent and finding grants hard to find or just plain confuddling as some grants are say onlying for higher education. can any one help me as i need the money to pay for child care, travel etc

student_advisor

you will need to apply to the college you will be studying at, help should be available through their discretionary learner support funds

jackie22_2

i am a single parent and am studying full time in scotland my first year al college i was able to keep my income support and i got my fee's paid and a training allowance of £15 a week . last yr i had to claim a student loan of around £390 a month and in addition to that i got an extra £110 a month grant because i am a single parent and my first £100 a month childcare came from the student loan company as a grant the rest of the childcare bill was paid directly from the college i study at through their discretionary fund. I also claimed hardship through them and got additional £50 a month to help towards my rent and i got an exemption on my council tax . hope this helps their should be a student information advisor who can direct you in the right place to get it started

Indie_Kid

You can't get a loan for an access course.

Oldernotwiser

student_advisor wrote: »

you will need to apply to the college you will be studying at, help should be available through their discretionary learner support funds

I would say "may" rather than "should".My own college had minimal funds for this even three years ago and things haven't got any easier.

Taiko

Indeed, with funding cuts, money needs to go further.

Now, don't read into these comments too much, but one thing I've noticed is an increase in Disabled Students Allowance applications of late, pretty much always for final years. Majority are wanting support workers employed through the university at a stupid price per hour. Don't want to sound cynical, but I do sometimes get the impression, based on the weakness of some evidence, that it's being used to increase HEI funds.

Again, just my opinion. Probably wrong!

divastrop

you can continue to get income support as long as the course is under 16 hours a week as far as I'm aware, and you may be able to get help with childcare costs but as others have mentioned this is down to your college and whether they have funds available.

Oldernotwiser

divastrop wrote: »

you can continue to get income support as long as the course is under 16 hours a week as far as I'm aware, and you may be able to get help with childcare costs but as others have mentioned this is down to your college and whether they have funds available.

You can carry on claiming IS regardless of the number of course hours, as long as the LP has a child under the age of 7.