Finished University - claiming JSA - Do I have a problem?

shortp

Hi there. I finished University in June.

I got a letter from my university saying that the official end date was 5th of June 2013. It also had award date "25th of July" - that's the day when I graduated

So I'm having to claim JSA because I'm having difficulty finding work. However they are only paying from the 25th of July.

Seeing as I finished university on the 5th, should I not get paid from this time (at least the 6th because that's the first day I went into sign on)?

Thanks for any replies in advance

- Cash strapped graduate

rozmister

shortp wrote: »

Hi there. I finished University in June.

I got a letter from my university saying that the official end date was 5th of June 2013. It also had award date "25th of July" - that's the day when I graduated

So I'm having to claim JSA because I'm having difficult finding work. However they are only paying from the 25th of July.

Seeing as I finished university on the 5th, should I not get paid from this time (at least the 6th because that's the first day I went into sign on)?

Thanks for any replies in advance

- Cash strapped graduate

I had this when I signed on last year (have now been happily employed for a year and am about to move to a job the next rung up the career ladder so it can work it ok in the end ).

I was told that your student finance (maintenance grants/loans) are expected to last you until your award date and so you are not entitled to JSA until after that point. The lady at the jobcentre said to me if you've run out of money before then that's your problem and not theirs basically!!

Good luck finding a grad job and getting your finances in order

Cycrow

until you graduate, you are still a student, even if your course is finished

jacques_chirac

rozmister wrote: »

I was told that your student finance (maintenance grants/loans) are expected to last you until your award date and so you are not entitled to JSA until after that point. The lady at the jobcentre said to me if you've run out of money before then that's your problem and not theirs basically!!

This is correct, but in your final year you receive a reduced amount of student finance to reflect the fact it is only expected to see you through to the end of term.

Cycrow wrote: »

until you graduate, you are still a student, even if your course is finished

Incorrect - you cease being a student at the end of term. You can verify this in the Decision Makers Guide if unsure.

shortp, on what date did you apply for JSA?

Cycrow

jacques_chirac wrote: »

This is correct, but in your final year you receive a reduced amount of student finance to reflect the fact it is only expected to see you through to the end of term.



Incorrect - you cease being a student at the end of term. You can verify this in the Decision Makers Guide if unsure.

shortp, on what date did you apply for JSA?

theres a difference between when you finish the course and when the term ends thou.

i class when i graduated as the end of term, but i finished my course before that. I didn't get my award until much later.

i Finished my course in may, graduated end of june and got my award in october. The award ceremony is not when you graduate, just when you receive it.

in my case, my course had no exams, so it had finished before the exams started

jacques_chirac

Cycrow wrote: »

theres a difference between when you finish the course and when the term ends thou.

i class when i graduated as the end of term, but i finished my course before that. I didn't get my award until much later.

i Finished my course in may, graduated end of june and got my award in october. The award ceremony is not when you graduate, just when you receive it.

in my case, my course had no exams, so it had finished before the exams started

For benefit purposes, you cease being a student on the last day of term as defined by the university. In the OP's case, they ceased being a student on 5th June 2013.

Cycrow

jacques_chirac wrote: »

For benefit purposes, you cease being a student on the last day of term as defined by the university. In the OP's case, they ceased being a student on 5th June 2013.

my point was, is the 5th June the end of the course, or the end of the term?

as i pointed out, i ceased being a student at the end of the term the same time as everyone else. But my course actually finished earlier. The date we were giving for finishing was the deadline for the last peice of coursework to be handed in

shortp

jacques_chirac wrote: »

This is correct, but in your final year you receive a reduced amount of student finance to reflect the fact it is only expected to see you through to the end of term.



Incorrect - you cease being a student at the end of term. You can verify this in the Decision Makers Guide if unsure.

shortp, on what date did you apply for JSA?

I applied the day after the letter says the course ended.

So Uni says the course "Ends: 5th of June" and I applied on the 6th.

rozmister

Cycrow wrote: »

my point was, is the 5th June the end of the course, or the end of the term?

as i pointed out, i ceased being a student at the end of the term the same time as everyone else. But my course actually finished earlier. The date we were giving for finishing was the deadline for the last peice of coursework to be handed in

This was the case at my uni. Everyone finished studying by the end of the first week of June and there was a big end of year ball but the actual end of term date was the 20 something of June. I did find a few people who were studying/doing uni work until then (people who did Product Design) but even though the majority of us stopped the first week of June for official purposes we weren't done until 20 something of June.

I've just checked my old uni's term dates online and this years end of term date was 28th June 2013 but I know the Student Ball was on the 8th June and so almost all classes & exams will have stopped by the 7th June.

I think it's quite normal to have a gap between stopping studying and the official end of term.

von

Your course ended on the official end date of the course I.e. 5th June as stated on your uni letter. I suggest you ask them to reconsider their decision to award JSA from 25th july on the grounds that the official end date of your course was 5th June 2013, supply the letter from the university to support your request. I assume you claimed JSA from 6th June? If so, you will have 3 waiting days and would be paid from 9th June.
Also quote the Law in your letter: Jobseekers Allowance Regulations 1996, Regulation 1 (3A)(b) or Decision Makers Guide para 30223. You need to request a reconsideration by letter within one month of the date you were notified of your JSA award.

Hope this helps.

missapril75

rozmister wrote: »

I think it's quite normal to have a gap between stopping studying and the official end of term.

Certainly it was in my 30 years in DSS/DWP.

Every year we were given all the relevant "official" dates for all the courses at all the Unis in the UK and everyone was paid according to that information, with virtually all students applying prior to the official end dates because their actual attendance wasn't needed.

I suspect that there may be some other funding issue involved. If the Unis started saying that their courses were ending, say, June 5 then government funding would be questioned if they were suddenly running shorter courses.;)