How do mature students cope if they are ill?

CarolWorthington

Ok so here I am worrying about my son in the middle of the night.  Basically, he applied to university as a mature student, before the pandemic.  He meticulously made sure he met the entry requirements and was over the moon about being accepted.  The pandemic struck, house mate moved out, there was a problem with his funding, mental health problems set in.  However, he completed his first year.  For the second year due to catching the virus and a cracked ankle he took leave of absence in the second year.    Currently, he is too ill to work, too ill to go to go back uni, he seems so overwhelmed with it all he is shutting himself off.  I think it is just far too much to deal with and as he has left home, feels that he should be and has been pretending that everything is alright.  I feel like he is running off a cliff.   What is he supposed to do financially?  Frightening I don’t think he is entitled to any financial help on the benefit system at all, please tell me I have got this wrong.

Spoonie_Turtle

Has he officially suspended his studies due to illness?  If so, he might not be treated as a full-time student (until/unless he returns to his course) and thus able to claim Universal Credit unless he has savings and/or property of over £16,000. 
Any student finance he is receiving would still be taken into account.
Universal Credit can include a rent element if he had a legal liability for rent.
There can also be an element for being too unwell to work, although assessments for that are taking a long time in most places.

https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/universal-credit/
https://www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk/new-to-universal-credit/is-it-for-me/

He could also look into PIP which is not means-tested, it is based on how a person's health condition affects their daily activities (including whether they need prompting, taking a long time, not being able to do it to an acceptable standard, etc.)

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/pip/help-with-your-claim/how-to-claim/
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/pip/help-with-your-claim/how-decisions-are-made/

olgadapolga

My daughter had to suspend her studies in her second year due to mental health problems and was able to claim Universal Credit and PIP. She took the time out of uni to fully recover, went back last September and is doing really well now.

My daughter had very poor advice regarding help (financial and health wise) and it wasn't until we (her parents) started "interfering" (by finding out what help she could get, helping with the claim forms, getting in touch with therapists and generally supporting her) that it started to fall into place for her. She was overwhelmed by things and was confused by poor and conflicting advice, not helped by her mental health which consumed her ability to cope. 

Unfortunately, the NHS is not great in the mental health area and we had to go to a private therapist to get my daughter the help she needed. It wasn't cheap but it was cheaper than we thought it would be and worth every penny. The help offered by the NHS was disorganised, unknowledgeable and inappropriate. I have not really had to criticise the NHS in five decades of living but their (the mental health aspect) treatment of my daughter was nothing but disgraceful. 

I sincerely hope that your son gets the help he needs. It's so hard, trying to help from afar - my daughter lived in London but eventually we persuaded her to come home so that she'd have some permanent support.

CarolWorthington

Thank you so much for your replies.