NHS Student Proving Independent Status

2_cups_of_coffee

Is there anyone out there who can shed some light on a seemingly ridiculous system!
My daughter has a place at uni this Sept studying radiography; she is 21 and has been working for the last 3 years. As she has supported herself she is applying for an NHS bursary as an independent student but the online form you have to complete makes you complete 36 months of work or claiming benefit.
As she wanted to travel she worked for the vast majority of time, 7 days a week and long hours and saved her money so that she could take time off - she has been told this cannot be accepted. She is desperately upset about this and I really can't understand the logic.
I know lots of people who work seasonally for example and could not prove 36 months solid work.
Surely if she has earned enough to support herself it is irrelevant how many months it was?
Any advice or help much appreciated - we are all exasperated! :mad:

cte1111

From a quick google, it looks like 36 months worth of proved income / benefits are needed full stop. It does say that they don't have to be consecutive, e.g. if your daughter has worked for 4 years with 12 months travel interspersed that would be OK.

2_cups_of_coffee

Thanks for your response. - the NHS Independent student definition which we found on the website says:

You have supported yourself from your own earnings1 for a total of at least 36 months before the start of the first academic year2 of your course.

It makes no mention at any point in this paper that you have to have worked the whole 36 months - online it is impossible to progress to the next page if you cannot get all your periods of employment to add up to 36 over the 3 years. i.e. no holidays allowed!

megc_2

Can she claim independent status by any of the other means if that is the case- such as living on her own?

How long were her periods of not working? Did she give up work to travel or just use the normal periods of annual leave, which would mean she was still employed while she was away?

I would seek advice from the uni at which she has accepted a place- they will have student assistance staff who will be able to help her with completing the application.

2_cups_of_coffee

HI Meg c
Thanks for replying. She have probably worked a total of 30 months out of the 36. It doesn't seem to matter whether she lived at home with parents or not - she has only visited for a few weeks during this time. She worked in seasonal type work - long hours and 7 days a week very often earning good money to finance her trips but never got holiday pay and didn't normally go back to work for the same company.

I will definitely take your advice and ask her Uni

I wonder if anyone else has applied for this status and struggled?
It seems so unfair as she has totally supported herself but you know how online applications can be!

Oldernotwiser

megc wrote: »

Can she claim independent status by any of the other means if that is the case- such as living on her own?

Living on your own isn't a criterion for claiming independent status.

Wine_of_the_World

From my understanding - as long as she used her own money to support herself whilst travelling then this time CAN count towards the 36 monnths. However its more tricky to do, hence the bursary people prefer you to sikmply provide 36 months of pay slips.

She'll need to use her tax return (P60 or P45) to prove her income for the 3 years. Then she will need evidence that she used her income to support her for the 6 months of travel - so bank statments to show the money being withdawn, or if she used a credit card - evidence that she clearred the bill. I think because of the amount of paperwork needed some poeple at the NHS will say you cant do it this way - but I was also told you can - but they still need evidence.