Any student lone parents? Advive needed please

[granarybeck]

Hi. anyone currently studying as a single parent and receiving any benefits? Am hoping to study to be a social worker in september at uni on a post graduate course. i will get a smallish bursary, but not sure what else i will be able to claim as it all seems really unclear if you are studying full time. i got the place before becoming a single parent a few months ago and really need to find out whether it is still a realistic option. all advice appreciated

that was advice i needed! can't even type, what hope have i got of going to college!

i just finished college. the only costs i had to pay was my exam entry fees. im not sure what else you're entitled to. i think you can get books free but dont quote me on that.

How come you only get a small bursary, do you want to get a loan? The extra money you get for having a child you don't have to pay back. I know i claimed Family Credit, but you have to work 16 hours to get that. Sorry not much help. If you ring your Lone Parent advisor at the job centre, they will arrange an hours meet up with you and go through everything you can get, good luck.

this may be of help

You can get Child Tax Credit from the Inland Revenue. I think there is also a charity which helps with childcare costs for students but I am not sure what it is.

hi granarybeck, i have been a student at access level this year but course was less than 16 hrs p/wk so just got normal benefits.

i did look into a social work degree and had some info about the fees being compleletly free and quite a generous grant because of trying to encourage people into social work. if your not already aware of this i will try and find the leaflet???

if it doesn't turn out to be realistic you could consider studying with the O.U, this is what i'm going to do in feb.

At HE harder to claim costs but there is bursary(fees paid as well I think), student loans you can also access University hardship fund, housing /council tax benefit, grant for loan parents from LEA .

thanks everyone for the advice. i do seem to now be getting somewhere. that link was really useful thanks tammybear.

hi
i recently studies a uni to become a social worker, as a lone parent, although my course wasnt post grad. i know that you should get the bursary, i think it is about £6000 per year, but know that smaller awards can be made. have you had student loans before? what about grants? as there are a couple of extra grants for single parents. i also found my uni extremely helpful, and recieved £1000 per term for childcare via the uni access fund. there is also the hardship allowance. i know that you can now claim tax credits as a student, if you know the amount of bursary you will be getting, try logging on to www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk where you can input all your details and they will tell you how much you may receive.
hope this helps, and enjoy the course, it is very challenging but rewarding!

Thanks pumpkinja. i think i will get a bursry of about £3000 and after speaking to inland revenue should get child tax credits, but this year these have replaced other things such as the dependants grantand single parents grant. I'm not sure whther i can have a student loan as a postgrad student. in a way i hope i can't as i already owe them enough! The access fund sounds worth applying to as my childcare will be quite a lot even with them at school. Are you now working as a social worker?