Got Refused the Student Grant

PTH2009

Hi all dont know if this is a personal issue or not but found out the bad news that i will not be getting the student grant and it is a bad feeling.

I work a min wage job roughly 15 hours per week and get paid montly but up until september this year i was getting x's and o's and that was somewhat some bit of money in my pocket on a weekly basis but i am somewhat concerred about what to do next now that i wont be getting a grant. My dad is on the dole and mom works a E150 a week job. Im doing a fetac level 5 course but i didnt get the grant because i done a fetac level 5 course prevosily.

Will it be worth appealling.

MitchKoobski

Doubt it would be worth appealing. You're attending the same type of course you've already completed, one of your parents is still working and you currently have a job as well.

LegacyUser

OP did you get the grant for the first course you did?
as far as i know you only get one shot with the grant, if you already recieved it for the first course there's no way they'll give you one again for another course.

If you didn't get the grant for the first course then you could appeal it, but bear in mind that they'll take your income into account as well as your parents (if you live with them, regardless of your age) which sucks

studentfinance.ie gives you a really good guide to see if you're within the cutoff income bands here:

http://www.studentfinance.ie/mp9392/check-reckonable-income-bands/index.html

LegacyUser

forgot to say they take money recieved from dole into account when calculating income, so they're basing it on 3 incomes your mothers, your dads dole, and your money from part time work and the money you got from the dole, so even though it doesn't seem like it you could very easily be over the cutoff point

spinandscribble

by that reasoning you could keep doing degrees/certs of the same level and get the grant for years and years. It might seem unfair but if you repeat the same level you don't get the grant.

solovely

Talk to your local county councillor, your local VEC, citizens advice, your local welfare officer, anyone you can, asking for advice and (legal) loopholes. Basically, pull out all the stops. If you knock on enough doors, things could change. I know people who deserved the grant but were denied it because they were doing another course at the same level or had failed a year and started a new course, etc. and got it with a lot of hard work.

It's your education and your future, so worth fighting for. At the end of the day, it's better be a burden on the state for the next year, and then get a good job, than be a burden on the dole or on low pay forever.

Good luck

mikemac

PTH2009 wrote: »

. Im doing a fetac level 5 course but i didnt get the grant because i done a fetac level 5 course prevosily.

Rules are there for a reason. But exceptions can be made

What I would do is go to the Citizens Information people, there is probably an office in your town. They are helpful and will have info here.

implausible

I doubt it's worth appealing. You only get the grant once for one level. I had a student recently refused a grant for her Level 5 as she had completed one level 5 module previously. It was a mission and a half to get it sorted and that was over one module, not the entire course.