Advice on College Funding in UK

[scotlady]

I'm hoping someone can maybe help or advise me here. Mainly for ppl in UK.

My eldest son who has just turned 18 attends the local College, he was there last year doing the first part of the course, although that was only a years course. Anyway I got to keep his Child Benefit as he was in further education. :beaten:

He started another course - Diploma one now, 2 yr course. I informed the Child Benefit ppl who sent me a letter today saying he no longer qualifes for CB :confused:

But aged 19 & under do if they are at college so does anyone know why they say he doesnt?

According to the letter the course is classed as higher education so they advise him to seek out funding via a Grant from the Education Authority. But the LEA dont do funding until they are 19 :beaten:

So between 18 & 19 he doesnt get anything for attending college? And I dont get anything to fund him at college?

Any help would be greatly appreciated:)

[mortas]

get on2 EMA he should get that and get on 2 the tax credit aswell jax
and u should still get tyhe family allowance till hes 19 if hes in further ed

[cazwil]

You can claim Child benefit until he is 19 so check again with them. I also believe that if he is going to a local uni that you can still caliam his CB if he is still at home until he is 19.

Definately do as Mort says BUT, Kate and many other kids are having probs with EMA, we've been told though she can get it there is a wait time of upto 6 months before they get their first payments and bonus's:mad:

Keep plugging away hun, and you can always get in touch with the college social officer, for additional advice or to work on your behave, plus dont forget CAB (Citizans advice)

[cazwil]

Sorry just remembered ALG = Adult Learnign Grant may be a way to go also,

Good Luck hun:)

[scotlady]

He hardly got his EMA last yr as it is and nothing as yet either.

I honestly dont know wot they are playing at, It says on the letter that coz he's on a Higher Education course he doesnt qualify, qualifying courses are up to equivalent of A-Level, the course he is doing is higher than that. Once u go above that then ur classed as an adult, but the LEA doesnt class u as that till ur 19 :beaten: Its gotta be the Course he is doing but they cant leave him with nothing surely. And they go on about trying to get kids to better themselves yet they screw them in every possible way...

I looked on CB website and seen this too -

You can still get Child Benefit after your child turns 16 if they're in relevant education or training. We'll usually keep on paying it until they reach 20 as long as they were enrolled or accepted onto the course before their 19th birthday. If your child leaves relevant education or training before they're 20, Child Benefit payments usually stop.

What counts as 'relevant' education for Child Benefit?

Your child will need to be in full-time, non-advanced education. They would need to have enrolled or been accepted onto the course before their 19th birthday.

By 'full-time' we mean an average of more than 12 hours a week in term time is spent on:

tuition
practical work
supervised study
taking exams
It doesn't include breaks for meals and homework.

'Non-advanced' education includes the following:

GCSEs
A levels
NVQ/SVQ level 1, 2 or 3
BTEC National Diploma, National Certificate and 1st Diploma
SCE higher grade or similar
This isn't a complete list. If you're not sure whether your child is in relevant education you can contact the Child Benefit Office for further advice.



Courses that don't count for Child Benefit

We can't pay Child Benefit if your child is doing an 'advanced' education course. Examples of advanced education courses include:

a degree
Diploma of Higher Education (DHE)
NVQ level 4 or above
BTEC Higher National Certificate (HNC) or Higher National Diploma (HND)
teacher training

This isn't a complete list. If you're not sure whether your child is doing an advanced education course you can contact the Child Benefit Office for further advice.

[jonojazz]

tell him to sell dope to his m8s, defo +ev.