Benefits and Uni

shediknight98

Hello,

I would like to ask a question about further education and also any assistance with benefits. I am married with 2 young children and have been unemployed now for 6 months having worked in IT for the last 7 years. My wife is on incapacity benefit (paralysed back) and we are getting our council tax paid and assistance with the mortgage interest too.

I am finding it extremley difficult to get a job that will allow me to make my £1400 a month interest only mortgage payment as employers even NHS now demand experience and a BSc Degree (i did a DIPHe in 2003) and am considering going to uni for 1 year course to top up the DIPHe on a full time basis starting in september.

I did consider Open uni but that will take a minimum 2 years to complete (plus the course does not start till feb 2012) and going uni on a full time basis from september 2011 will ensure I am ready for a job quicker.

The Jobcentre have not been very helpful when asking questions for any study related benefits and there is no budget for any courses either and entitledto website does not provide details for students with families.

Does anybody know if it would be possible for us to get benefits and still keep our home?

welshmoneylover

shediknight98 wrote: »

Hello,

I would like to ask a question about further education and also any assistance with benefits. I am married with 2 young children and have been unemployed now for 6 months having worked in IT for the last 7 years. My wife is on incapacity benefit (paralysed back) and we are getting our council tax paid and assistance with the mortgage interest too.

I am finding it extremley difficult to get a job that will allow me to make my £1400 a month interest only mortgage payment as employers even NHS now demand experience and a BSc Degree (i did a DIPHe in 2003) and am considering going to uni for 1 year course to top up the DIPHe on a full time basis starting in september.

I did consider Open uni but that will take a minimum 2 years to complete (plus the course does not start till feb 2012) and going uni on a full time basis from september 2011 will ensure I am ready for a job quicker.

The Jobcentre have not been very helpful when asking questions for any study related benefits and there is no budget for any courses either and entitledto website does not provide details for students with families.

Does anybody know if it would be possible for us to get benefits and still keep our home?

Am I reading this right, you pay £1400 a month in interest payments alone on your mortgage?

2009timeforchange

I don't think there are any benefits you would be entitled to but have you looked into student loans etc?

I'm not sure where about it the country you live but a mortgage at £1400 a month interest only is very high, have you thought about moving to a cheaper property?

divastrop

You may b entitled to child tax credits still alongside student finance as student finance is not counted as taxable income generally.

karenx

I think its time to move house and save the tax payer paying £1400 towards your mortgage every month while you want to go to uni for a year

shediknight98

I live in London and house is almost negative equity so cannot sell after fees no money left. Plus mortgage is on fixed rate at 6.39% till march 2012. Having worked for 10 years (7 years in IT) and this is the only time I have claimed benefits I think that it is fair that some of the interest is being paid whilst I try to get a job applied for over 100 jobs and only 3 interviews. Updating qualifications is only an option due to the competitive jobs Market.

mrsspendalot

Just a note re Open Uni - I did my degree through Open Uni when I was a SAHM. I completed the degree within 3 years, just as I would have done if I had been at a 'brick' university. It is perfectly possible - you just need to double up your modules to do it. Also, the financial support at Open Uni is amazing, particularly with children, so you might find you have very little, if anything, to pay towards your learning that way, and they have a good access to learning fund for extra support. It really is a good way of getting a degree without getting into debt - and it wouldn't affect your JSA either (you would still be considered available for work) as you can (and many people do) work and study with OU because it is flexible.

MrsManda

If you've only had two years of higher education finance then you'll be entitled to student loans/grants.
Depending on your household income you could get:

£2906 in maintanence grant
£3375 tuition fee loan
£4950 Maintanence loan

a bursary from university

£2642 Adult Dependent Grant
£255 a week Childcare grant (upto 85% of costs)
£1508 Parents Learning Allowance
Child tax credits,

Your wife would be able to claim income-based benefits on behalf of you both. The maintanence loan, ADG, and Maintanence Grant are counted as income but

• Tuition Fee Loan
• Childcare Grant
• Parents' Learning Allowance

are not.
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/On_a_low_income/DG_10034876

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/EducationAndLearning/UniversityAndHigherEducation/StudentFinance/Applyingforthefirsttime/DG_171523

The OU is a great way of studying when you have other commitments and as Mrsspendalot said, you don't necessarily need to take longer to do a degree with the OU than with a brick university.

The course you want to do may not start until Feb 2012 but unless you've already got one, there's no guarntee you'll get a place at a brick university starting September 2011 anyway so the OU is worth considering.

The way the OU finance package works is different to standard finance so you'll need to look at their finance pages to see what you'd be entitled to.
http://www3.open.ac.uk/study/explained/financial-support.shtml

GothicStirling

Just a query: how are you intending to pay tuition fees?

You would get a student loans for a BSc, but not sure about a 'top up.' Getting the max. student loans doesn't even cover my living costs, never mind a family of four.

GothicStirling

MrsManda wrote: »

If you've only had two years of higher education finance then you'll be entitled to student loans/grants.
Depending on your household income you could get:

£2906 in maintanence grant
£3375 tuition fee loan
£4950 Maintanence loan

• Tuition Fee Loan
• Childcare Grant
• Parents' Learning Allowance

It's not that straight forward.

Student finance England, will only finance a course which takes you to a level above what you currently hold. To get the third year of finance the OP would have to be studying for the BSc.

My sister had an HND and tried to get finance for a 'top up year' - she couldn't.

She decided to retrain and is now studying for a BA where she gets full funding for 4 years [Scottish University.]

MrsManda

GothicStirling wrote: »

Just a query: how are you intending to pay tuition fees?

You would get a student loans for a BSc, but not sure about a 'top up.' Getting the max. student loans doesn't even cover my living costs, never mind a family of four.

The OP is likely to be able to get tuition fees for 'topping up' his qualification to a full degree providing he meets the other criteria.

You’ll usually only be able to get student finance if you’re doing a first higher education qualification. In some cases, you can also get student finance if you’re ‘topping up’ a lower-level higher education qualification. For example, if you have a foundation degree, HNC or HND you may still qualify for student finance to study for an honours degree.This will often mean financial help for the length of your course - plus, if necessary, one extra year to cover any false starts or transfers.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/EducationAndLearning/UniversityAndHigherEducation/StudentFinance/Gettingstarted/DG_171574

The OP may be best posting on the Student board as there are people on there who work for Student Finance and will be able to give a more definitive answer to funding