To think a student shouldn't have more income than a qualified nurse??

[MuckyCarpet]

I'm a full time student nurse and after working out my income with bursary, child tax credits, housing benefit, council tax benefit etc included I have a gross income of around £20k a year.

Upon qualification I will be earning around £21k a year however I will receive no help with housing, council tax etc and my child tax credits will be dramatically reduced. Plus of course, tax and national insurance will come off this giving me a gross income of around £17k a year.

This means I'm financially better off now than I will be when I qualify!

AIBU to find this an utterly depressing thought?? 3 years studying and hard work when the end result will be a drop in income?

Disclaimer - I'm not saying I still want a load of benefits when I qualify btw, I'm just trying to point out how much worse off I'll be as a qualified.

I suppose the thing is it's not the "end" result - because each year you'll go up in salary, and have earning potential far beyond what you'd have had if you hadn't studied?

Agree it's depressing though, are you sure about your figures?

The benefits are there to encourage people to train. You won't be on a starting salary forever - and as starting salaries go, it's pretty good!

Have you factored in the pension to your equation?

Yes I've checked them over and over.

Bursary - £755
Child tax - £428 (two children)
Child Benefit - £132
Housing Benefit - £270
Council Tax B - £60

= £1645 a month / £19740 annually (clear)

I thought I had a lot of money spare lately, no wonder. I'm now panicking like mad that after I qualify, if I can't find a job and have to a) sign on or b) get a minimum wage job I'm really going to feel the drop.

Start saving now then!

No actually Picak, I never thought of that.

Don't get me wrong, I know it's worthwhile. I'll have a good career, good pension, opportunity for career progression - I just think it's mad that the money will drop upon qualification. I'm just going to save as much as I can now - best not to get used to the extra income I think!

Crossed post Cailin

I'm sure you'll be fine - it sounds like you're very sensible with money and hopefully you shouldn't have too much trouble getting a job. Good luck

I've got a mate who used to be an A&E nurse and he told me the same thing. That when he qualified, his pay went down. Bizarre but there you go! At least you know and can make your decisions based on that information.

YAB a bit U because you have it the wrong way round.

It's not that a student shouldn't have that much income.

It's that a qualified nurse shouldn't be paid so little.

Ninja I totally agree. I just worded it wrong.

I had no idea students were entitled to housing benefit. ?

£21,000 is a pretty good starting wage for a newly qualified nurse IMO. Many graduates start on far less, and may have enormous debts to contend with too. So basically I think you should be happy you've had such a large income while qualifying and that you'll be able to start on £21,000 when you qualify.

You are entitled to reduced housing benefit if you're a single parent.

My friend recently completed her nursing training and she was absolutely raking it in whilst training as she has 4 children. Whilst she was training they were having 2 foreign holidays per year!

In addition to what you've listed, your children will also qualify for free school meals, and possibly free after school activities held at the school if there is funding for that from your local LEA.

If you didn't have children you wouldn't get the benefits on top of the bursary, would you? If that is the case the starting salary for a lot of newly qualified nurses would be significantly higher than when they were a student.

Ah ok Stranded, I stand corrected :)

When I trained I had no kids so just bursary of £600 so I think it's dependant on your circumstances. Well done for training, nursing is a great job despite all the negative press recently :)

Thanks for clarification re HB.

So as sodapops says students without kids will be far better off when they qualify, as £755/month is £9060/annum, or around minimum wage. The only benefit non-parent students get is council tax exemption. Not sure if bursary funded students are also entitled to student loans, but that's not exactly income.

Yanbu

Pension payments will be a lot too.

You are an exception to the rule tho. Many careers do not pay bursaries when training and many students have to over come huge fees before starting their careers on quite often measly graduate wages. So why do it? The same reason I guess that you are... Potential. It's not where you start your career that matters it's how you can progress it and by gaining qualifications you can progress further and hopefully get further than without possibly earning much much more in the long run.
I started with £30k of Student loan hanging over my head and on a starting salary of £10k a year but I did it because I love what I'm doing and 8 yrs later I'm on a more acceptable wage with prospects to go further unfortunately haven't made much of a dent in that loan repayment tho.

Most nursing students are young 18 year olds who don't get child tax credits.
If you were on benefits then you would getting money for sitting on your arse.

You need to see your training an investment. You won't be on 21K forever.