Advice needed please

justpgraham

Hi

Wonder if anyone could give me any advice please.
Am currently working part time 16 hours and have a partner who works full time, we have 4 children, 10, 4, 3, 2.
We currently receive wtc and ctc.
I am wanting to leave my job and persue something i've always wanted to do which is get into the beauty and hair industry. I am now 36 and my 2nd eldest starts school this year so am thinking now is my time!
I have completed a home learning diploma in beauty therapy course in the evenings to make sure its something I want to do and i passed with distinction today :j
I have called my local college and the days that the part time course runs on are the days that I work, so I would need to give up my job in order to persue my dream! Part of me worries about this as I do enjoy my job and its 5 mins up the road, but to be honest I dont make any money from it as it all goes towards nursery fees etc, but then I know if I dont do this soon i never will.

There is no way that we could afford the £1500 college fees, childcare fees, course equipment fees etc with me working let alone with me giving up my job to do this. So what I am wondering is am I entitled to any help with all of these. When I called the college they said if i was claiming JSA then they would help me with childcare costs/equipment costs and would have no course fees....can I claim for JSA though if i leave my job? If not what can I claim for?

Thanks for any advice

pmlindyloo

if you leave your job voluntarily then you would most likely be sanctioned and not be eligible for contribution based JSA (not sure if you would qualify anyway if you haven't paid sufficient NI contributions.)

That leaves income based JSA which is means tested so you would not be eligible because the household income is taken into account and your OH works full time.

Having said all that - congratulations on your success at passing your diploma. ( and a distinction - well done!)

So what are your options?

1. Wait until the younger two are at school to persue your dream.
2. Ask at work if there is any way you can change your days to fit in with your college course.
3. Find another job to fit in with your college course.
4. Ask if the college fees could be paid in installments

I am not very knowledgeable about college courses so don't know if there is any other financial support.

You can try putting your details into the benefit calculator www.turn2us.org.uk as if you have given up work to see what difference giving up your job may make to your benefits.

pmlindyloo

Have just been reading up about courses and see that some allow you concessions if you receive Working Tax Credit and the household income is less than about £15000 a year.

Is your OH's income higher than this?

BigAunty

Congratulations.

See the Directgov website for info on student finance which may indicate if you are eligible for a student loan. There is also a student money forum on this site.

Your college should have a student finance advisor who may be able to tell you about entitlements, bursaries, loans, child care schemes, etc.

Why do you have to pay fees - is this because you've already done a course at this level before?

Hmm71

Why wouldn't she have to pay fees Big Aunty? I'll admit to being a bit out of touch with further education now but my local college charges for all its courses unless you're under 19 or on certain benefits.

justpgraham

Thanks so much for your reply.

Have looked at turntous website and we would be entitled to £128 per week TC, that is if I dont work, didnt bring up anything with regards to JSA or IS
My partner earns £6,000 per annum PAYE and £24,000 in dividends and I earn just over £6,000 per annum.

Apparently anyone that doesnt have a level 2 the Government used to fund this whatever age, but this year they have changed this and i'm defo too old now!

Could ask work but when they renewed my contract at the beginning of the year they really helped me out and gave me morning shifts (easier with the children) rather than evening shifts which i had 2 of, as I wasnt getting home until gone 7pm. So don't really like to ask again as would feel a bit cheeky!

If i left my job voluntarily how long are you sanctioned for?

I know where your coming from saying maybe wait until all the children are at school but then its another 2 years training after they start school - if I do a year hair and a year beauty, so thats another 5 or so years til I'm actually all sorted, which is a long time, plus i'll be 40 odd! :eek:

Its such a hard decision, if I knew i would get help with fees etc, there would be no question about it I would ditch the job and struggle those two years whilst training in the view of starting up a mobile business working around my kids.

BigAunty

Hmm71 wrote: »

Why wouldn't she have to pay fees Big Aunty? I'll admit to being a bit out of touch with further education now but my local college charges for all its courses unless you're under 19 or on certain benefits.

I don't know about England/Wales so that's why I'm ignorant of fees.

In Scotland, not only are there no fees at any age (as long as you haven't studied at that level before), the colleges offer bursaries to students, including extra for those who are mature and have children.

For example, I just checked my local college website for full time FE courses and a person over 25 would receive £89.07 per week where household income is below £20,643, plus travel fares up to £28 per week and then some course materials paid for or provided.

This is what is says about childcare - some of our local colleges have nurseries on site.

"Students who are lone parents and students who have a partner who works but who receive Working Tax Credits may receive help towards the full cost of their childcare.

Other students may recieve a maximum of £65 towards the cost of childcare.

Students who are lone parents will be given priority and will be eligible for an award from the Lone Parent Childcare Grant. This is £1,215 towards the cost of childcare"

nannytone_2

as your husband only earns PAYE £6k, with and additional £26 k in duvudens, it allows you a higher rate of tax credits.
'

allowing for tax and NI, he would clear at least 24k( im not good with tax and NI so i just took 20% off the whole amount!)

with tac credits of £9,400 per annum and child benefit of
£3068 per annum, leaves you with a post tax income of ££36,734 per annum or just over £400 a week.
a before tax income in excess of 45k.
seems if you want a 'dream' then possibly you can afford it yourself?

justpgraham

Wish we could afford it, are those workings out taking my wage out of consideration if i was to quit work?
We just about make ends meet at the moment, our household bills alone with mortgage are £1600 a month and thats without childcare costs, food shopping, petrol, school dinners, anything the children or we need etc

nannytone_2

thats without your income.
how much is your mortgage? it must be huge if your outgoings are that high!

justpgraham

We have a 3 story 6 bed house
Mortgage is £500 per month
Gas and Electric £275 per month!!! We've had this checked time and time again as this is a joke, but they dont see any probs apart from we have just found out we have hardly any cavity wall insulation (house is only 7 years old) and are having that done next month!
Council tax just short of £200 a month
Car insurance £40
Sky, telephone, internet £130
Water £65
Boiler cover £40
Home and contents insurance £50 odd
Mobile phones £60
TV license £12 i think
CC monthly payments over 2 cards (100 each) £200
Overpayment TC payback £20

Sure there is something i've missed here, but thats what we pay out, then have all the other things on top x