Student finance, uni and PIP

[EsmeraldaDances]

DS receives PIP (personal independence payment) as he needs significant amount of help. How is it treated by student finance? Is opening an account in DS name with PIP money coming in and paying expenses from it going to impact student finance application? What if some other money come into the account, like small payments by us and other family members to train DS to use money and budget… would that be counted as his income for student finance and what the impact will be?

How is this viewed by universities in terms of his suitability for the course/admission? Is there any risk that they could argue that he couldn’t come as he is unable to live independently? This would change completely our approach to uni… Obviously DS is unable to leave independently for the moment and does require a carer, there is no way of predicting how he will cope and will he be ready to live independently in a year. What if not? Is there any help with daily living activities available for students (aside from DSA, not related to studies and academic matters)?

On the presumption that he is a dependent student (ie under 25, unmarried, not supporting himself) any money that you give him won't count as income as his SF will be worked out on your income. PIP is never counted as income for SF and makes you eligible for the Special Support Grant. This is the same amount as the Maintenance Grant but, unlike the MG, it doesn't reduce the amount of Maintenance Loan you can get so the student gets more money overall. www.slc.co.uk/services/higher-education/grants-for-living-costs.aspx#Special
Importantly, the SSG doesn't count as income for benefits purposes. A disabled student (a student who receives DLA/PIP) is automatically entitled to ESA-they are automatically considered unfit for work-and can also get Housing Benefit. The amount of ESA/HB he gets during term time depends on what his SF income is (payments from you count as "voluntary" and so don't count as income and PIP is never counted) but SF income doesn't count as income during the summer and so he can claim full ESA/HB then.
As for care, he could use his extra income to pay for a carer/cleaner to help him or he could apply for an Adult Social Care assessment and try and get a personal budget/direct payments to support him. Does he get a PB now? If not, it might be worth a try.
All in all, financially the system is quite well set up/quite generous for disabled students. As for it preventing him from studying it should be fine. The only issue is if he really does struggle on his own as the university do have something of a duty of care, but with support from you/Adult Social Care/his health team he should be fine. Good luck