single parent want te return to university

sgtivypie

Hi all,
I'm newly single and newly unemployed. I've never claimed any benefits as I've always worked so I haven't a clue about them. I would like to return to university to retrain in September.
Does anyone know what if any benefits I can claim as a full time student, single mum, with a mortgage?
I'll be claiming student finance aswell i.e. tuition fee loan (£9000 p/y), maintenance loan (£3823 p/y), special circumstances grant (£3354 p/y), childcare grant (85% of costs), parents learning allowance (£1000 p/y).
Thanks in advance

sgtivypie

Oh, and my child is almost 4 years old

pmlindyloo

Benefits for students are extremely complicated and I do not profess to be an expert.

As a lone parent you would be entitled to apply for benefits such as Council Tax Benefit and Child Tax Credits and maybe Income Support (the latter would entitle you to housing costs - Support for Mortgage Interest)

The difficulty is that some of your loans/grants will be taken into consideration and some won't depending on what you are applying for.

If no one else comes along to give you more exact information then I would suggest that you apply (or at least ring up and enquire) for Income Support, Child Tax Credits and Council Tax benefit.

pmlindyloo

Sorry, forget the Council tax Benefit - you won't have to pay any because you will be a student. You will need to get an exemption certificate from your university.

By the way, the university will have a welfare department who should help with possible benefits.