NHS Childcare allowance - would I get anything (SALT degree)

[cathysten]

Hi,
This is all a bit hypothetical as yet, but I'm planning on applying to do a SALT degree starting in 2012 (have spoken to the department today, they said I would definitely get an offer, am quite excited now). But I'm trying to work out what the logistics of childcare would be - boys would be 7 and 5 when I start, DH is out from 7:30 til 6 every day so I would need a childminder really. But (and I know we are lucky) DH earns just under £40k. Am I right in suspecting that we would not qualify for help with childcare costs? Under the current rules I think I would get some bursary but that would all go on my travel costs I think.
Would love to hear from anyone else to SALT training with kids.....
thanks,
Cathy

I'm a SALT in training with kids but have different income so dunno how much I can help. Have you used the NHS bursary calculator? It was fairly accurate for me.

link

Thanks littleducks, I've tried the bursary calculator but it kept crashing half way through (probably baffled by the complexity of its own system......).
Which uni are you at?

City

The form to apply for the bursary is a killer, btw.....very long and boring and requires you to send in original copies of the oddest things.....passport and driving licence, kids birth certs, life insurance documents lots of payslips and I have just found out I have to fill it all in again for next year

Are you doing a BSc or a post grad course?

You can get a partial student loan (the non income asessed bit about £3000 p/yr atm) if it is a BSc even if you have a previous unrelated degree with a loan. Half the student loans company staff dont appear to know this though.

Thanks, that's useful to know - it's the BSc at Leeds Met. I still have student loans outstanding from my original degree under the old loans scheme (1994-1998).

You are still allowed to claim a non income assesed student loan (providing you are happy to take on the debt).

You should also apply for money from the uni, through the Access For Learning (AFL) fund. If/how much you receive will dependant on the uni situation and your own finances. You normally have to have applied for and accepted both your bursary and loan before you can be considered though.

Is there a breakfast/afterschool club at your kids school, might work out cheaper than a CM, unless you can get a CM to do termtime only (uni terms shorter than school) or is super flexible. I use a nursery, afterschool club and have used CM, i ended up paying the Cm alot when she wasn't actualy doing the school run as I had to pay for the space and uni timetable was variable.

And the rules for income are really weird, they dont look at your gross income but the figure left after you have paid rent, life insurance, pension contribution and other thing they consider to be 'important.' So if you have high outgoings you may be in a better position than you think.

Well, I just spoke to a very helpful man on the bursary helpline, who said that I probably would't get any dependants allowance or childcare allowance unless we had a much bigger mortgage than we do (hmmmm, sounds like an excuse to buy a lovely big house lol). Which is kind of what I expected.
I shall have a look into the loans, and maybe start thinking about some kind of live out nanny arrangement - my sister has a student who does some school pick ups for her and I suspect that might be more flexible and in some ways suit my kids better (DS1 has social communication difficulties and can be very antisocial by the end of a day at school......)

How many hours a week actual contact time do you have at uni littleducks? The department at Leeds said they recommend people think of it as a 9-5 job but I'm hoping it might be a 9-5 job with flexibility to do some of the work in the evenings/weekends.....

littleducks - (sorry OP to hijack thread), i will be applying for the Post grad diploma at City, and i too am worried about the money side of things!
Am a lone parent with 2 dc under 12, and as the course is full time i wouldnt be working at all, or able to receive Working tax credit.
I also will be having to fork out on train fares into london every day (live in Sussex) so unsure if i can afford to do the whole thing??

bitofthisandthat

The post grad course, really is full time, no time for any other work imo.

You will get a bursary and can apply to the Access to Learning Fund (I just double checked and it is open to post grad students)

Maybe stick your details in the nhs calculator link above.

You would be, I think, entitled to a student railcard which might bring the price down of rail fares...I know some people do that to travel from Brighton etc.

If you do decide to come, let me know and I tellyou the books to borrow and things to learn before you start you need to be ahead to have a chance with kids!