Anne-Denise,
Who told you this?? My understanding is that the issue is not whether the
course is under 16 hours a week but whether it is designated full-time.
This was far more of an issue in FE when I was a Director of Student
Services in Plymouth and then Assistant Director at Stoke-on-Trent
College. We organised several meetings with Benefits Agency and Department
for Employment staff and Ajudication Officers who had been thrown into
fits by the fact that a couple of HE students had tried this on (i.e. they
only had to attend less than 21 - then 16 when the rules changed - hours
of lectures and argued that they should be exempt from the 21/16 hour
rule). It was made very clear that full-time advanced HE students could
not claim exemption any more than students in non-advanced FE. Since the
Jobseekers Allowance has tightened this up it is even difficult for
genuine part-time students to argue that they are actively seeking work
and thus eligible for benefits, so I can't believe it is possible for
full-timers and would regard it as unethical to support a student who was
claiming fraudently.
If this is not being applied universally I would like to know a.s.a.p.
As for claiming the grant AND benefits - single parents lose their
IS benefit (although they may still be eligible for HB) if they are in
receipt of a mandatory or discretionary award not only to the value of the
award but also it is assumed that they have had their Student Loan whether
or not they have taken it out. In other words, you have to declare any
income when you claim benefits and this is taken into account in your
assessment. Much as I wish to support students with disabilities in
accessing HE, in the interests of equity and natural justice I cannot
support such discrepancies and am worried that your student may find
himself the subject of a benefits fraud investigation. Who exactly has he
"checked" with?
...and if things have changed this drastically in the last 2 years please
would colleagues confirm this a.s.a.p. so I can tell all our welfare
staff!
Leila
******************************************************************************
Leila Edwards Direct line: tel: 01225-826879
Dean of Students Internal ext: 6879
Fax: 01225-826709
Room 4W 3.4a External e-mail: [log in to unmask]
University of Bath Internal e-mail: adsle
BA2 7AY
Secretary/Diary: Kate Lewis tel: 01225-826826 ext: 4796
******************************************************************************
On Thu, 17 Jul 1997, Anne-Denise Worsnop wrote:
> Please forgive me if I am telling you something you all know already.
>
> We have a disabled student who will be starting in September and who
> was concerned that the money he receives, as he put it, "on the
> dole", was more than the student grant. I told him of a student I
> know when I was at college who carried on claiming "the dole" all
> through his degree, and was allowed to do this because his lectures
> totalled less than 16 hours a week and he was therefore still
> considered to be eligible to look for work.
>
> The distabled student checked and found that providing his lectures
> are under 16 hours a week - they are - he could stay on benefits,
> plus mobility allowance, and still be allowed the LEA grant and the
> disabled students allowance.
>
> This may be common knowledge, but I thought I would share it, just in
> case it isn't.
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