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?

I got £550pm when I trained, with no kids. I was working 2 jobs to earn enough to pay my rent and bills, and that was on top of my placement hours, 80-odd hour weeks were not a rarity! You'll be surprised how much more you get once qualified, once you take into account unsocial hours and incremental rises. Your salary increases by almost £1k in the first year, even without cost of living rise.

Actually reallytired when I trained (qualified 2 years so not long), the under-25s were in the vast minority, most of us were 26-35 and about half had kids. In my cohort about 20% were 18 year olds!

I find it surprising. Is housing benefit automatic, or do you have to apply stating your whole income?
It should be the same for tax credits.
Are you sure you are declaring your entire income?

That tells me students are getting too much not qualified nurses get too little.
Although of course they aren't paid enough for what they do, but in 5 years you could double your income which won't happen if you stay on benefits.
I hope.

Heswall how could income double in 5 years? Genuine question, wondering if I'm missing something?

Instead of looking at how you will be 'worse' off once you qualify - Why don't you think how lucky you are to be able to study for your qualification because of the benefits you receive ?
You will be in a job that ( I presume) you really want to do and will love..on a salary that many single mothers would love to be getting.

Saying that - I think Nurses should get more than they do !

This doesnt apply to all students just those who are parents. I dont have any kids and i get £548 a month and i have to work part-time to pay the rent and bills. Although seeing those figures, kinda wish i popped out a couple of kids before i started my training

OP-My Dh is a nurse, qualified a year. We were in the same boat as he was almost getting as much in benefits. He did agency work practically from day he got his pin number, took a full time job in a care home that didn't work out (VERY long story), and is registered as a nurse for 4 different agencies.he could work 7 days a week if he wanted.He is waiting for an NHS job to come up(he does agency shifts for NHS), but at moment, he gets like £16 an hour for a week night and £24-£30 an hour at weekends, depending on what agency he works for.He is an RMN.

He is actually getting more experience as he is working with different patients with different conditions, and he has no clue where he will be from night to night (although he has a run of shifts in same hospital).

Banking or agency work is a great way of getting some experience, and if you are good, you will get asked for. A few charge nurses/sisters have asked for him by name, plus you get to hear if there are any full time jobs coming up.

I have been qualified four years and im nowhere near to doubling my starting salary Heswall, i'd love to know how!

I am a single parent student nurse and I was refused housing benefit so different councils must have different rules? DD also does not qualify for free school meals either. I was also assessed as being too well off to qualify for the university childcare fund for nurses!
Luckily I was able to find a very well paid part time job. This was after I applied for the above funds. Think yourself very lucky OP!

There are plenty of students who would love to go straight into a job earning £21,000. Many of them don't get bursaries and are heavily in debt.

It doesn't involve staying in the NHS guys, but using the nursing degree to benefit NHS patients still.