Universal Credit Application - Apprentice

calpi

Hi,

My employer has, I believe, unlawfully reduced my salary by about 30% after incorrectly advertising the position a year ago. This is something I'm trying to fight as a separate issue, but in the meantime I need to apply for universal credit.
I've filled in most of the relevant sections in the application, however, as an older (30+) apprentice, the education and training section feels impossible to answer completely.

I've been informed that technically an apprentice would need to fill this out, however it doesn't seem to be intended for apprentices in terms of questioning, but also not for someone of my age... I'm an adult with a dependent child and I'm being asked:

You are without parental support if any of the following apply to your situation:

• you have no parents, guardians or other supporting adults
• you cannot live with your parents because you are estranged from them
• you cannot live with your parents because of a serious risk to your physical or mental health
• you live away from your parents, and they do not financially support you because they have a physical or mental impairment
• you live away from your parents, and they do not financially support you because they are on remand in custody, or serving a prison sentence
• have parents who are banned from Great Britain, meaning you cannot live with or get financial support from them

Strictly speaking, none of these apply to me, however I certainly don't have parental support.

The section appears to be designed for someone who is purely studying and not someone in my position, and so my simple question would be, given that the pay from this apprenticeship is over NMW, and that I'm working 37.5 hours a weak, is there actually a requirement for me to declare that I'm technically an apprentice? Is this something that my application would be rejected for?
If so, then how do I designate whether it's full time/part time education? (I've been informed differently by two separate, and equally unhelpful UC helpline advisors.)
And what do I do about the aforementioned parental support question?

Spoonie_Turtle

I don't know the detailed answer to your question, but if your apprenticeship were to be deemed to be full-time education, it would not disallow your UC application as you have a dependant child.

calpi

I understand it wouldn't have an impact on the reward either way, which is specifically why I wonder if it's important for me to state it's education/training at all, given that it feels difficult to give any accurate answers to the questions asked. :-/