Student Grant removed for anyone on BTEA

Block G Raptor

Removal of eligibility for student support grants from Recipients of Back to Education Allowance and certain VTOS allowances;

from Budget2010.gov.ie

Bathstuds, complete and total bathstuds

KonFusion

Block G Raptor wrote: »

Removal of eligibility for student support grants from Recipients of Back to Education Allowance and certain VTOS allowances;

from Budget2010.gov.ie

Bathstuds, complete and total bathstuds

Absolutely

At least fee's haven't gone up, otherwise that'd be a bit of a double kick in the nads

Gonzo

does that mean i wont get my grant this year that ive applied for since last August or does this not come into effect till next year?

Block G Raptor

Gonzo wrote: »

does that mean i wont get my grant this year that ive applied for since last August or does this not come into effect till next year?

Immediate effect. if your on BTEA you wont be getting anymore maintenance grant cheques.

Just reading up a bit more on this. Turns out if you are on BTEa You do lose grant but the fee's are now 100% covered by Social Welfare Actually works out better for me as I just missed out on the threshold for the grant this year

Gonzo

I received my maintenance grant 2 days after the budget and continue to receive my BTEA.

I was told that those who are on BTEA and who have already started 1st year in college this year will continue to be available for maintenace grants along with BTEA for the duration of their college years, however those who want to go on BETA who do not start 1 year college till the 2010/2011 term will not receive a maintenance grant. This year's first years are the last lot who can apply for BETA & receive a maintenance grant if eligible for the duration fo their college years.

Block G Raptor

Gonzo wrote: »

I received my maintenance grant 2 days after the budget and continue to receive my BTEA.

I was told that those who are on BTEA and who have already started 1st year in college this year will continue to be available for maintenace grants along with BTEA for the duration of their college years, however those who want to go on BETA who do not start 1 year college till the 2010/2011 term will not receive a maintenance grant. This year's first years are the last lot who can apply for BETA & receive a maintenance grant if eligible for the duration fo their college years.

Does this mean that our fees will not be payed ?

Gonzo

fee's will continued to be paid i think

Tzkaka

Gonzo wrote: »

fee's will continued to be paid i think

Hi guys,

Looks like i may lose my job in the next few weeks... If i am laid off i want to go back to college and do a degree course, does anyone know how long i have to be unemployed to qualify for the BTEA?

I have heard loads of opinions but no definitive answers... Maybe you guys will know for sure. Anytime i ask the social they change the subject and dont give me a straight answer..

Any help would be appreciated!

Xios

Tzkaka wrote: »

Hi guys,

Looks like i may lose my job in the next few weeks... If i am laid off i want to go back to college and do a degree course, does anyone know how long i have to be unemployed to qualify for the BTEA?

I have heard loads of opinions but no definitive answers... Maybe you guys will know for sure. Anytime i ask the social they change the subject and dont give me a straight answer..

Any help would be appreciated!

I'm on it at the moment, i was on jobseekers for 11 months, i was told you needed to be on it for 9 months before you can get the btea, but my girlfriend was on jobseekers for less than 8 months and still got it. If you wanna get the btea, go on jobseekers asap, like the day your finished work and hopefully you'll get it in september for the start of the new academic year. Check out www.studentfinance.ie there should be good info on there.
From a reasonable perspective, they should give you the btea, cause if ya don't, ya can't start your degree, and you'll be on the dole for a whole year, doing nothing, which is just retarded.

Tzkaka

Xios wrote: »

I'm on it at the moment, i was on jobseekers for 11 months, i was told you needed to be on it for 9 months before you can get the btea, but my girlfriend was on jobseekers for less than 8 months and still got it. If you wanna get the btea, go on jobseekers asap, like the day your finished work and hopefully you'll get it in september for the start of the new academic year. Check out www.studentfinance.ie there should be good info on there.
From a reasonable perspective, they should give you the btea, cause if ya don't, ya can't start your degree, and you'll be on the dole for a whole year, doing nothing, which is just retarded.

Cheers for the info, sittin at home on the dole is not for me. Want to start my degree ASAP! Thing is that even if they don't lay me off i want to go back to college anyway, if i quit will i get jobseekers???

Will check that site now cheers

Tzkaka

Tzkaka wrote: »

Cheers for the info, sittin at home on the dole is not for me. Want to start my degree ASAP! Thing is that even if they don't lay me off i want to go back to college anyway, if i quit will i get jobseekers???

Will check that site now cheers

To add to this, is the length of your unemployment in order to qualify for BTEA based on the course start date from when you leave work or based on when you have to apply for a course.

E.g, if application is in June and i leave now i will only be unemployed for 5 months... September will be 8-9 months...

Xios

Tzkaka wrote: »

To add to this, is the length of your unemployment in order to qualify for BTEA based on the course start date from when you leave work or based on when you have to apply for a course.

E.g, if application is in June and i leave now i will only be unemployed for 5 months... September will be 8-9 months...

i'm not sure bout that, your best bet would be to ring social welfare with that specific question.

Block G Raptor

Tzkaka wrote: »

To add to this, is the length of your unemployment in order to qualify for BTEA based on the course start date from when you leave work or based on when you have to apply for a course.

E.g, if application is in June and i leave now i will only be unemployed for 5 months... September will be 8-9 months...

It's to the day the course starts.
I got my local councillor to fight my case last year as I was 4 days short of the 9 months and was originally refused the BTEA until said councillor got onto the Social Welfare and tore strips off the deciding officer for what she called forcing people to stay on the Dole unnecessarily

Tzkaka

Block G Raptor wrote: »

It's to the day the course starts.
I got my local councillor to fight my case last year as I was 4 days short of the 9 months and was originally refused the BTEA until said councillor got onto the Social Welfare and tore strips off the deciding officer for what she called forcing people to stay on the Dole unnecessarily

Now that is interesting... I called to citizens advice and they told me that they were relaxed on the rules and would not turn down a BTEA application if i was only unemployed for 6 months!!!

He stated that as long as i registered with FAS and got accepted to the degree course i apply for then i would be fine and get BTEA no problem. I know some posters on other forums have received it after 7-8 months...

Did you register with FAS etc? Maybe things have changed for 2010 due to the level of unemploymant and the drive to retrain....

Block G Raptor

Just had an interesting thought. As I'm sure you all know we have to sign off the BTEA in the summer and back on in Sept. however I was planning to work for the summer on a three month contract, will this affect me signing back on to BTEA in Sept. as you are supposed to be unemployed for 9 mths to qualify ? anyone know what the craic is with this