Tax credits and full time students

KittyFisher_2

I hope someone can point me in the right direction with this - I've tried the Turn2Us website, but the benefits calculator doesn't cover our situation.

My husband wants to give up his job and become a full-time student in the autumn, and currently has two university offers on the table.

This will drop our income from £3000 per month to about £1075, including minimum child benefit (I currently work 4 days a week in a job that means I don't have to pay for child care) and he's airily saying we will be able to cover any shortfall with tax credits.

Is there anywhere that I can find a benefits calculator that will cover this situation? Or do I need to speak to an advisor like CAB or even HMRC?

I think I want to be able to prove to him that we can't afford for him to do this right now, and it would be better if he waited a couple of years and we cleared our debt/sold the boat he never uses/ etc first. He doesn't seem to be seeing the four years of scrimping, only the possibilty of a doubled salary afterwards!

Thanks in advance for any help.

Dunroamin

Unless your husband already has a degree, don't forget that he'll receive the full funding package of loans, grants and bursaries etc which will add considerably to your income, as well as any part time earnings he has. You can claim WTC as long as you work for a minimum of 24 hours between you with one person working at least 16 hours.

It may be more doable than you think if you can sort the debts out first.

KittyFisher_2

Thanks - I hadn't thought about him getting any more loan/grants than enough to pay the course fees.

I work 28 hours a week, so it looks like I could claim £4800 in tax credits.

I'll have to get him to find out what he is entitled to, above fees now.

I would love to get the debt paid off first, but 8 months won't do it, sadly. More like three to four years to be totally clear.

Dunroamin

KittyFisher wrote: »

Thanks - I hadn't thought about him getting any more loan/grants than enough to pay the course fees.

I work 28 hours a week, so it looks like I could claim £4800 in tax credits.

I'll have to get him to find out what he is entitled to, above fees now.

I would love to get the debt paid off first, but 8 months won't do it, sadly. More like three to four years to be totally clear.

This would be a good place for him to start:

https://www.gov.uk/browse/education/student-finance