Dunk

iTrader: (1)

You've slipped up by letting into the UK via the official channels. You should take him back to France, and sneak him onto a train with our other friends from Sangatte. On arrival at Waterloo he'll be greated like a war veteran, have £'s pushed in his pockets & he'll have a roof over his head and a custard cream in his mouth before he can say Euro.

[Edited by Dunk - 10/4/2002 12:01:52 PM]

stratboyslim

My son is at college in England, taking his a levels. I live in France, and there is no way at all that I can help him financially. He has been told that he is not entitled to any grants at all. He can not have housing benifit, or in fact any of the other grants availible. If he was an unmarried mother or an immigrant, then he would have more success. I do not have any axes to grind for the latter, truly; But why can't he get any grants. He is 19 and has no income as off yet. He is surviving on £30 a week from a part time job. He is 1 month upfront on his rent, but after that, well............... Any help or advice please.

marty_t3

I was in a similar boat as your son ... the only grant i managed to get was 52 quid a year for travelling expenses even though it cost 420 quid for the years travel passes. Had to rely on my 25 quid a week job and my Dad to bail me out.

That was a few years ago though and most of the grants/loans etc have changed since then. I think now the Government expect all students to take out loans to get them through College/Uni. I may have been pi55ed off having no money as a student but at least i didn't have 12 grand to pay back when i finished.

sorry i can't give you any really useful info...

XRS

His college will probably have funds available to help him out financially. He should ask them.

springbok

Good old Burger King helped me through college. I worked Sat and Sun daytime, and one evening a week. Not the best job in the world but got me through college. It didn't affect my college work at all, only my waist line

MarkO

Me too. Never worked there though.

NotoriousREV

When I was doing my A Levels, I managed to sign on for income support as I was doing less than 16 hours a week in college. Of course I had to say I was actively looking for work and would leave my course if a job came along.

ScoobyDoo555

I'm involved in Further Education.

Yes - the 16hr rule is probably your/his best route....along with New Deal.

Basically, his course should have a part-time course code (for times like this....)

The Part-Time course code is designed so that the paperwork will state a weekly amount of college hours UNDER 16 hours (full-time allocation)

He should also be doing KeySkills (mandatory) - if he's claiming benefits, the KeySkills get dropped, assisting in reducing his weekly hours.


The only downside, is that the Jobcentre CAN and WILL insist that any job interviews applicable to his skills have to be attended....

Another way is to go down the New Deal route - he attends college whilst claiming benefits, on the agreement that he goes to college to get qualified..... get him to check with the JobCentre.

His college should have mentioned these two options [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img] I'd complain......

Hope this helps

Dan