Access Course - With credit card debt

Tasmond

I spoke to someone at college a while ago as I am wanting to start an access course next year to help me get to Uni as a mature student, will be 30 next year.

She informed me that the benefits I would be allowed to claim wouold be similar to actually working.

In all honesty I think after 12 years out of education I could do with giving it my full focus.

Problem is that I have around 6k debt on one card that I will never pay off by the time I start, min payments are high but I can then spend a fair bit of it again.

At uni I can ballance a job I think and use my student loan, but how do I get through the access course with 6k debt on one card, a 1800 pound over draft and a few hundred on another credit card?

Has anyone traversed an access course on benefits with CC debts?

Also slightly varying from my post but what happens if I lose my job and have to pay my CC payments?

It is looking more and more likely, which is why I want to go to uni to improve my prospects but if i lost my job soon and couldn't get another for a few months, what do I do about my CC debts?

BigAunty

Tasmond wrote: »

I spoke to someone at college a while ago as I am wanting to start an access course next year to help me get to Uni as a mature student, will be 30 next year.

She informed me that the benefits I would be allowed to claim wouold be similar to actually working.

'The benefits I would be allowed to claim'? ! Similar to full time employment income? Nobody would bother to work if benefit income for students was approaching the £200 per week that a person can get from full time work on the National Minimum Wage.

Your friend is having a giraffe as I got the impression from your other post that you are a healthy single person without care of children, unless I've misread this.

Very few students in full time education receive benefits, which is restricted to those with dependents and disabilities who can secure things like income support, child tax credits, sickness/disability benefits and housing benefit, depending on various factors.

So yes, a lone parent who is a tenant with a couple of kids is likely to be fairly well off compared to other fellow students who don't get their accommodation paid for by housing benefit - perhaps around £230 per week, plus most or all of their rent and council tax paid, plus qualifying for additional student finance, loans and so on.

If you don't have children or receive sickness/disability benefits, then the most likely benefit you will receive is a reduction on your council tax.

You may be entitled to student finance, grants or loans, and the Direct Gov or college website may give you an idea of your entitlement.

Are you in the part of the UK which charges tuition fees to students for Uni courses? If so, you can add more debt to your current debt but do pop over to the Debt Free wanabee board for expert advice on how to deal with it.

To avoid tuition fees if you are eligible for the charges, there are some Uni courses in Europe that are held in English which don't charge tuition fees or charge really low ones (Netherlands, for example, which also pays some housing benefit to students of a certain age). The UK student loans don't seem that generous, barely covering accommodation expenses alone.

Or you can work in Scotland for a few years if you are English to qualify as Scottish by residence while you pay off your debts and boost your savings, then can start a degree there without any tuition fees. Think you may have to live there for 3 years first but do check.

missbiggles1

Having been involved with Access courses for some years, I have to say that the main reason for people failing or dropping out is financial problems.

Also, as explained above, you've been sadly misinformed about the benefits situation so I suggest you wait a year while you work and pay off your debts before returning to education, or study part time with the OU while you work.

Tasmond

Just talking about the one year access course.

You don't get a loan. You can claim benefits while you do an access course at college.

missbiggles1

Tasmond wrote: »

Just talking about the one year access course.

You don't get a loan. You can claim benefits while you do an access course at college.

Only if you're disabled or a lone parent, not if you're a jobseeker.

Tasmond

On uni I'll have a pt job and a loan.

It's just the access course.

Tasmond

I was told this by someone who worked at the college.

She said you can work and do an access course but you can claim benefits while you do the course.

missbiggles1

Tasmond wrote: »

I was told this by someone who worked at the college.

She said you can work and do an access course but you can claim benefits while you do the course.

The cleaner?

Tasmond

If your course is less than 16 hours a week in a class room you can claim JSA.

Now what about my cc debt?

agrinnall

Tasmond wrote: »

If your course is less than 16 hours a week in a class room you can claim JSA.

Now what about my cc debt?

If you're receiving JSA then you'll be expected to spend 35 hours a week job hunting and eventually to take a job if there are any available - how will you be able to study when doing either of those things?

Tasmond

Done some digging and it seems there's a quandry over this subject.

So a lot of people basically use the system to claim JSA while doing access and the woman at my local college obviously was advising what a lot of kids probably do.

But I am quite skilled and intelligent and would have to leave a job to do it so basically I will not be going on JSA.

I will have to work. But the problem is that my careers person at college said that I would find it impossible to work and do the course.

I guess I can find somewhere really cheap to live and do 25 hours a week work alongside the course.

It's a bit of a joke how little support there is for someone to do an access course. You're options are cheat the system, kill yourself working and doing the course and probably do a crap job at both and just somehow scrape by.

I don't get why you don't get some tax relief and some support? Why is it so hard to do an access course and pay your way at once?