To give up work and go to uni on UC

[Scaredypup]

Not really an aibu so apologies. But has anybody claimed universal credit whilst studying full time. The rules seem so complicated but it seems like it is possible.

I already receive UC and work minimal hours due to having a child with SEN and needing to fit work around him. I’m wondering if instead of wasting these years I could do something useful with them.

I'd be a bit wary that you might struggle with the commitment of time required, if you are struggling to fit much work around your caring needs. While some courses have work you can be doing while kids are in bed etc, you might find other aspects arent flexible enough for you

According the the decision making guide you can’t get the UC carer element if in full time education. My bold.

“Conditions of entitlement to CA

F6013 The conditions for entitlement to CA are that

1. the claimant is engaged in caring for a severely disabled person for any day (see DMG 60033 - 60042). A severely disabled person is a person to whom one of the benefits listed in DMG 60033 is payable and
2. the claimant is regularly and substantially engaged in caring for that person for at least 35 hours a week (see DMG 60035 - 60042) and
3. the claimant is not gainfully employed (see DMG 60051 - 60052) - but see the Note below for the UC carer element and
4. the claimant is aged 16 or over (see DMG 60058) and
5. the claimant is not in FTE (see DMG 60068 - 60081) and
6. the claimant satisfies prescribed conditions of residence or presence in GB (see DMG Chapter 07 Part 2) and
7. no one else is already entitled to CA for that severely disabled person.

Note: The condition in 3. does not need to be satisfied for a claimant to qualify for the UC carer element. A UC claimant will qualify for the carer element if the conditions in 1. and 2. and 4. to 7. are satisfied. UC DMs therefore do not need to consider the amount of the claimant’s earnings when considering entitlement to the carer element (but see F6014).”

YABU, UC should be for those who need help with their living costs, not for people who want to get a degree whilst being supported by the tax payer.

Raising a child is not "wasted years" its what parents do!

Ridiculous comment, not an ounce of thought given to it. How do you plan to recruit nurses, social workers and teachers?

open university counts as part time even if you do 'full time' credits. You could do it over a longer period of time too, so year 1 over 2 years if you wanted to start gently. It may fit better around your life as it's mostly all online.

I would be cautious about teaching. Massive burnout /drop out. Very stressful career. If you're dead set do lots of work experience first. You are much better off with a degree then a pgce so you can fall back on the degree if you don't enjoy teaching.

@Labdo unfortunately there’s no wrap around care at school.

@LargeLegoHaul inthink I’d have a hard time proving we can’t walk (because we can) I also don’t think he’d cope well on the mini bus. I know there are taxis too but really he doesn’t need it.

@MummytoCSJH thank you. That’s similar
to what I’d read but it’s such a minefield. Reassuring to hear from people that have done it.

@InChocolateWeTrust id definitely need to speak to someone at the uni to see how much time is independent study and how much of it is in uni. It will get easier for me though once ds is in secondary school. As it’s probably too late for me to apply now anyway I could potentially start next September when he’s going into year 6 so I’d only have to manage the first year around school runs.

@ellieboolou thankw for your input. I never said raising my child was wasted years. I mean these 2 years I can’t work because he now goes to a specialist school with no wrap around care, I could do something useful with them rather than wasting them. With I go to uni or not I’d still be claiming ‘tax payers’ money as I’m unable to work full time.

As DS attends a SS has an EHCP you would be able to meet the threshold for transport. If you ask and are refused SENTAS can help.

Is a nanny or child minder an option? Student finance will cover any childcare as long as they’re ofsted registered. :)

I'm a student but I'm on tax credits. I'm loads better off as Uni is only 2 days a week so I work part time also. If its tax credits the maintenance loan isn't classed as income but on UC it is. My advice is, go for it! I'm better off financially than I was working 6 days a week, have more free time and I'm getting a degree into the bargain! I wish I'd done it years ago rather than at the age of 44 but better late than never!

But it's not tax credits, it's UC as op says in her post and you can tell her to go for it if you like but the reality is that your situation ( with you being on tax credits rather than UC ) is very different as you get a much better deal than she will as most of her student loan will reduce her Uc pound for pound wheras yours doesn't. It is a grossly unfair system that one person gets to keep most of their student loan on top of their benefits and another doesn't just because of which benefit they are on.

I think I’m going to do lots of research into courses, go to some open days, speak to tutors ect. I might also ask to shadow a teacher at work and speak to them about their job.
This is with a view to potentially go to uni in 2023 when ds is going into year 6. Partly because it’s too late for me to start this year and there’s too much too organise and prepare for. Hopefully then I can middle through the first year with some support from family and friends. After that ds will be in secondary and I’ll have more flexibility.

If I don’t do something, one day ds will be grown up, I won’t be entitled to benefits and I’ll be stuck in minimum wage jobs forever.

I'm at Uni as a mature student and Carer for my now 20 yr old DS.

I'm significantly worse off at Uni than I was when claiming UC as a full time Carer.

UC count your Student Finance (around 12k per year + childcare allowance + parents allowance) as unearned income and deduct it pound for pound (no tapering percentage) so from Sept to May you will not receive any UC or Housing Benefit. You can keep an ongoing claim open IF a) you are a Carer and are not obliged to seek work or b) you are still able to meet all the UC commitments (which will be searching for/working 40 hrs per week) - I promise you will not be able to work 40hr, got to Uni, study and take care of children!!! You will receive UC & HB in June/July/Aug but only if you meet your claimant commitments.

When I first looked at courses, the actual f2f teaching time is only 3 hours per week per module - 12 hours a week in total. "Easy" I thought, "I can fit that in". But no, each module a minimum of 9 hours self directed study and aprox 4 hours of reading a week. Thats a total of 64 hours a week - plus travel (and my uni doesn't do full days on campus, my 4 modules are split over 3 days). So thats another 6 hours a week for me. Total = 70 hours a week. To be fair, a lot of the time its less as I don't always take 9 hours to do the self directed study but when assignments are due in I barely sleep.

That said, going to Uni has been the best decision I've ever made. I love it and I wish I'd done it earlier.

@Sam0207 I think that might be because your son is an adult.
From what others have said, and from my own research I’m almost positive I’d still get UC. I’ll need to double check all of this though.

He was still in full time education when I started my degree

I get UC as a single parent and a student.
my deduction each month is about £800 so I’m
left with about £335 paid to me, but it makes all the difference! I am on a long degree course so my deductions last for 10 months and then the other 2 months I get full payment.
I also get a childcare grant which pays 8% of my childcare which was the game changer for me!

it is hard though. All courses are different but I’ve chosen midwifery, so we have 4 full days in Uni and do 18 weeks a year of full time
placement (12.5 hour day and night shifts) I’m also almost 40 and my son starts school in September.

it’s a busy life but one I would not change!

The access course was also really tough going to but you can do anything if you want it enough.

Good luck!

85%!!

@ElspethBoomingHowsen My full Universal credit is about £1800pm so even with that level of deduction I would still have about £1000.
i wonder why your UC amount is so much lower than mine?

Well done for choosing midwifery, amazing!

@ElspethBoomingHowsen Ah I’ve just realised it’s because my claim covers 2 children, which is just about to change as my eldest is leaving education.
I also probably have slightly higher rent than some.

Hi OP. You def haven't left it too late for Sept, when I started I applied in July. Lots of courses still have spaces and you can check this via universities direct or clearing on UCAS (which may not be open yet so check when clearing opens). Even if you don't meet criteria you may still be offered a place so it's worth chatting to the admissions team via email.

I have just finished a degree with 2 DCs of school age. The pandemic has changed study and most of my lectures were available to be accessed from home live or as recordings. I have attended roughly half of my classes in person and the ones that didn't fit round the DC I watched in the evenings and caught up that way.

Childcare grant for 2 DCs is £262 a week which covered a child under with SEN experience and she has been great, collecting my 2 and dropping at school when needed. A childminder is a really good option if you have a Dc at specialist. Mine are 11 and 9 and will still be going to her while I do my MA next year.

I found that unis are very understanding about parents and accommodate them. I've taken a child in with me when school was shut, and they are allowed in the library abs study spaces as long as well behaved. Lecturers have been more than happy to just catch me up via tutorials if I've had weeks off lectures due to child illness or during covid school closures. All learning materials could be accessed online so at one point I just used those for one module and worked on the assignments without worrying about lectures and just checked in with tutor regularly (this was when eldest was off school for a while). Student services and union are also very supportive of students with caring responsibilities.

I would highly recommend applying and giving it a go. Good luck

yeah, I only get around £1135 per month. One child and my rent element is £550. It’s definitely worth properly calculating. My course is much longer than average so my student maintenance loan is over £15k too. A really good UC advisor will be able to calculate and explain it all for you.

and good luck! It’s a hard thing to do but will be so worth it