Student loan/grants etc and their effect on benefits

alyth

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Travel grants to go to universities?

you will hate me for saying this, and given my financial situation it's not as if I need the travel grant, but in January I can claim for my previous five months' travel to uni! I'm not sure how much I can claim, certainly on my access course I was given something like £200 for travel expenses for the nine months.

I guess it must be a Scottish Government thing, truly ONW, you would be horrified if you knew how much students up here get compared to London - I get £1000 as a grant for being over 35 - all adds to the pension fund I guess, but as well as not paying fees, I get a full student loan, I don't pay council tax as I am on my own, and I'm sure there are other things that I could claim for but I've never looked in to.

I have friends down south that are desperate to return to study but can't due to financial restraints. I am almost better off with student loans and grants than I was being a PA. That's not why I am going to uni, but the amount of money that is thrown at you in Scotland - certainly if you are a mature student - beggars belief. I absolutely can understand why in England there is outrage as to what is happening in Scotland with regards to tuition fees and funding.

Indie_Kid

TfL = transport for London.

divastrop

I am currently on JSA so get full housing benefit and child tax credit. From what I can gather, I will still be entitled to full housing benefit when i start uni next month as the council only regard the maintenance loan and adult dependent grant as income. This can vary from council to council, and how much HB you can get also depends on how many children you have etc, but when I went in to inquire about it the lady at the council got the Shelter handbook out to check, so it is worth also having a look at the Shelter website for HB info.
Tax credits only take the adult dependent grant into consideration, so you should be entitled to full CTC also.

smithyjules

Thank you all for your input so far!I think it's daft to use the term British to unite us all and then to drive a wedge (not in my case tho) between the countries by giving some more support than others but hey I'm never going to understand government policies lol!But all the best to those of your who can get more support.

We've now applied for the loan and Parents Learning Allowance and childcare grant so we'll see then what we'll get and go into HB office and go from there.

Regardless of the outcome we'll struggle by as quoted by sadeelisha "struggle now for a better future or do nothing and struggle forever". And I want what is best for my Husband and his self-esteem and if this is it then so be it me and the children will be right behind him.

Best wishes to all those going into HE this year!