Financial help towards studying for unemployed Mum

Marcon

sconenotscon said:

Thanks for your help everyone. I am eligible for a student loan even if I’m distance learning which is great. Ive done a search on the gov website and I may be eligible for help towards childcare too in the form of a childcare grant/fund but it’s unclear whether this will affect my current benefits (UC). Does anyone have any experience of this? 

Another thing is I’d much prefer to study full time so my degree will take 3 years rather than 6. I will be pushing 40 when I graduate if I studied part time! But again, I’m really not sure if this will affect my benefits or not because this would mean I wouldn’t have the time for a job for the next 3 years. I don’t claim Jobseeker’s Allowance because I am not looking for work due to the age of my children and UC don’t expect me to be in paid work until my youngest is 2 AFAIK. My situation at the moment is pretty dire as I was made redundant the same month I gave birth 🤦🏻‍♀️ so I am quite reliant on these benefits at the moment until my other half is back in work too. I would study part time if this meant my benefits were unaffected, and then of course I’d have time for part time work too, but then I won’t graduate for 6 years... 

I’d be so grateful if someone could shed some light on this to help me weigh up my options 

Thanks! 

The OU deal with this sort of query the whole time. Have you discussed with them? Or if you do decide to go the campus route, perhaps talk to the relevant person there dealing with mature students?

cannugec5

Are you in Scotland? If so, if you have a very low income, you can apply for the course fees ( for OU) to be paid in their entirety. This is not a loan, it is a grant that does not need to be paid back.