Help with child care?

Shamish

Hi All,

I'm currently recieving incapacity benefit and DLA my DLA ends this october and i am planning on going to do a nursing course on the 15th september as i now feel i am starting to get better and could possibly handle this course giving the correct help from uni. I am going to see about DSA.

My wife is also going on the course though doesn't receive any benefits she will move onto carers allowance and income support in the summer.

We have received help for childcare from a local charity for the last 2 years as well as the college to put our kids to nursery but we've been told they will be unable to give us help this year at uni due to a change in there criteria.

Because we're both doing nursing course which is funded by the NHS we will not be able to receive childcare from the uni. We receive £1000 roughly from SAAS to help with registered childcare but unfornately this would be not enough to send 2 kids to nursery full time and my eldest to after school club 5 days a week.

Does anybody know if we can get help from social security due to being on benefits and these benefits ending to go into further education?

Here's hoping as without this help i dont think we'll manage onto the course.

Thanks
Shamish

Oldernotwiser

Have you both been accepted at university yet?

jay11_2

Which country are you in, because I'm pretty sure that apart from parts of Ireland, you can claim up to 70% of childcare back when on an NHS course.

Otherwise do you have a uni hardship fund, or similar? Can student welfare advise? Can relatives/friends help, to lower the overall cost of childcare

Good luck sorting it out

xx jay

Shamish

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Have you both been accepted at university yet?

Yeah we have both been fully accepted

Shamish

jay11 wrote: »

Which country are you in, because I'm pretty sure that apart from parts of Ireland, you can claim up to 70% of childcare back when on an NHS course.

Otherwise do you have a uni hardship fund, or similar? Can student welfare advise? Can relatives/friends help, to lower the overall cost of childcare

Good luck sorting it out

xx jay

Hi Thanks for that unfornately we are in Scotland would be great if you could claim back 70% though this would still be £60 a week roughly for us this would be a great big help compared to the £200 it would cost.

The uni hardship fund is unavailable to people on an NHS course Spoke to them before about it though might go find out again and see what they say

Friends and relatives can help though the one main one that we'd need isn't being so helpful

bestpud

How old are your younger two children?

Could one of you defer until at least one of them is at school?

Or maybe one of you could study part-time, if that is possible on a nursing course?

There is always 'bank' work available for nursing students though so you could, hopefully, get some extra cash in, between the two of you once you'd started the course. You could fit it around the family and study too.

Shamish

bestpud wrote: »

How old are your younger two children?

Could one of you defer until at least one of them is at school?

Or maybe one of you could study part-time, if that is possible on a nursing course?

There is always 'bank' work available for nursing students though so you could, hopefully, get some extra cash in, between the two of you once you'd started the course. You could fit it around the family and study too.

Thanks for the message

Our younger kids are 2 at the moment we'd rather do it now while they were younger rather than hanging around for 3 years. Means we can spend quality time with them when there older

Unfornately part time is unavailable but there is flexible pathway which means you get the holidays off which one of us is thinking but we'd still have problems with childcare.

We're hoping to do banking though at the moment our banking list is full and we have to wait on them re-advertising But hopfully by the time we start in sept this will be open again for us to do.

bestpud

Shamish wrote: »

Thanks for the message

Our younger kids are 2 at the moment we'd rather do it now while they were younger rather than hanging around for 3 years. Means we can spend quality time with them when there older

Unfornately part time is unavailable but there is flexible pathway which means you get the holidays off which one of us is thinking but we'd still have problems with childcare.

We're hoping to do banking though at the moment our banking list is full and we have to wait on them re-advertising But hopfully by the time we start in sept this will be open again for us to do.

Ah, are they twins then?

The flexible pathway seems a good idea to me. Not having to get holiday care will save you a considerable amount.

Only one of you would need to wait three years - the other would be qualified by then, and earning (hopefully!)

September is quite a way ahead so you shoud be ok for bank work I'd have thought.

Tbh, it looks as though you will have to pay for childcare, or one of you defer a while. It must be very frustrating though, as I'm sure you are keen to get started.

Other way to look at is your children may be more in need of your time now? That's a matter of opinion though I guess.

Oldernotwiser

Shamish wrote: »

Means we can spend quality time with them when there older

Just a bit puzzled as how you'll have more time free to spend with your children when you're both working. Have I missed something?

Shamish

bestpud wrote: »

Ah, are they twins then?

The flexible pathway seems a good idea to me. Not having to get holiday care will save you a considerable amount.

Only one of you would need to wait three years - the other would be qualified by then, and earning (hopefully!)

September is quite a way ahead so you shoud be ok for bank work I'd have thought.

Tbh, it looks as though you will have to pay for childcare, or one of you defer a while. It must be very frustrating though, as I'm sure you are keen to get started.

Other way to look at is your children may be more in need of your time now? That's a matter of opinion though I guess.

Thanks for the advice.

Am going to make a meeting with student services and see what happens here's hoping they can help Have looked into it a fair bit and english students get help with 70% of the childcare so still trying to see if they do the same in scotland

I dont believe that the kids need all of our time at the moment they still get a lot of attention and any free time is spent with them and the same will happen when at uni we're just hoping we'll both be qualified in the 3 years and have a decent income provide them with a great lifestyle and spend a lot more time with them doing stuff they want to do when there that age

Shamish

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Just a bit puzzled as how you'll have more time free to spend with your children when you're both working. Have I missed something?

We'll hopfully be working Monday-Friday in a community based job cant guarentee it but here's hoping that way weekends we can spend a lot of time with the kids

We can still do that now but have to study a fair bit of this as well.