need help with Back to education Allowance, pls

marrakechheat

hi all,

just secured a place for a course. so happy abt it . Now I understand that because im receiving JSA (adult dependent), I am eligible to apply for BTEA. So I went to SW Office, short queue, thank God, the staff who served me said he dont normally deal with this kind of thing so he just gave me the BTEA form, told me to fill it in and if I need more info, check welfare.ie website. He couldnt be any more obvious trying to get rid of me ASAP. I mean instead of doing that, couldnt he just get someone who can help me.

This is why I need help from yous. From what I can read on the form, all I need is to fill out the form and get a letter from my college to verify that I am a full time student. Is that all or should I provide anymore? Also, once I handed BTEA form to SW Office, how long would the waiting time be? I am required to pay the registration fee of 100 euro by 8 July. So if I hand the form on Monday, 13 June, will there be enough time for my BTEA to be approved? If I pay the 100 euro now, will BTEA reimburse that fee?

Thanks a million

staticdoor71

Hey, ive just finished a course on which i received BTEA.

AS far as I remember, you wont get the 100 euro back at all, and the college i attended only give you the letter when you start.

I was on jobseekers for the summer, then once I got the letter from the college, I sent it off to the BTEA section and my claim was transfered over.

Although you wont get your fees back, I did get 500 euro for book allowence, maybe around october?

Hope this helps

Jen

marrakechheat

staticdoor71 wrote: »

Hey, ive just finished a course on which i received BTEA.

AS far as I remember, you wont get the 100 euro back at all, and the college i attended only give you the letter when you start.

I was on jobseekers for the summer, then once I got the letter from the college, I sent it off to the BTEA section and my claim was transfered over.

Although you wont get your fees back, I did get 500 euro for book allowence, maybe around october?

Hope this helps

Jen

thx for the quick response Jen

theres no problem at all if I dont get the 100 euro back. Im grateful with 500 euro allowance (if Im appoved). What course did you attend Jen? How many ppl in the class?

about the letter from college, I phoned my college telling them I need to provide a letter along with my BTEA form, the admin said yes she could provide me with that once I paid the reg fee (cant state that I attend, but can state that I am registered, which is good enough for me).

How long did it take for your BTEA claim to be appoved btw? So how does it work then? Do they transfer the allowance weekly to your bank or? Is the allowance the same amount of JSA allowance?

Thanks a million

staticdoor71

is was a fetac level 6, 14 or 15 in the class, depending on people moods ha. As far as I remember there was no gap in getting my back to ed, you get paid into bank yeah. I was on dole for summer so I think i got a letter saying I was approved then it just started going into the bank.

the amount is the full dole.. 188ish.. (im very tired today cant think straight haha)

But I do know a few people who were waiting ages for it. I guess its just hit and miss, but my local office was ballinrobe and they were most helpful

marrakechheat

staticdoor71 wrote: »

is was a fetac level 6, 14 or 15 in the class, depending on people moods ha. As far as I remember there was no gap in getting my back to ed, you get paid into bank yeah. I was on dole for summer so I think i got a letter saying I was approved then it just started going into the bank.

the amount is the full dole.. 188ish.. (im very tired today cant think straight haha)

But I do know a few people who were waiting ages for it. I guess its just hit and miss, but my local office was ballinrobe and they were most helpful

oh im doing level 5. this is my first time enrolling. thanks very much for the info, gives me an idea.

i wish my local office was like urs. I dont know if they r understaffed or stress dealing with ppl on dole, but they are certainly not very helpful sometimes.

thanks again Jen

marrakechheat

oh Jen, i forgot to ask. The college also sent me a list of places where I can apply for a work placement during my study. During the interview, I was told that students are required to do a work placement every Monday for 28 weeks, starting from mid Oct to May, so Im just wondering when should I start applying for the work placement. Can I apply now and start in Oct as required? I assume those places would be famliar with my situation. How did you do it Jen? Thanks

carinabean

If your receiving a social welfare benefit/allowance then you are more than likely eligable for BTEA, fill out the form the SW office gave you and you will also need a letter from your new college confirming you have accepted a place and is due to start! It should only take a couple of days before you hear back as its simple to swap over the two different claims. you may start being paid into your bank acc if thats what you opted for on the BTEA form, and within a week or two your 500E (book allowance) should be credited to your acc! No signing on too
!

eastbono

carinabean wrote: »

If your receiving a social welfare benefit/allowance then you are more than likely eligable for BTEA, fill out the form the SW office gave you and you will also need a letter from your new college confirming you have accepted a place and is due to start! It should only take a couple of days before you hear back as its simple to swap over the two different claims. you may start being paid into your bank acc if thats what you opted for on the BTEA form, and within a week or two your 500E (book allowance) should be credited to your acc! No signing on too
!

In order to be eligible for BTEA you have to be doing a course at a level above you have already achieved. In most SW offices BTEA applications are done as a bulk load... e.g. not as they come in as it is much easier to do them all in bulk... more time efficient. AFAIK the book allowance is only paid once a letter from the college is produced stating that you are attending the course. Obviously it differs from office to office.

Agent_99

As the OP is a dependent adult on (i assume) husbands claim, the claim for BTEA might be off set against OH claim.

I'm currently a dependent adult on my OH claim for JSA and can claim for a maintenance grant from the County Council which was €3000 last year but with the grant changes this year will only be €1200, but still €700 more than I would get on the BTEA book grant.

Might be something to look into before changing over also means that there are no change during to summer holidays and having to sign off and on to JSA.

Best of Luck with your course marrakechheat

eastbono

Well its either or... you can either claim btea or the grant.... you cannot get both anymore.

marrakechheat

Agent_99 wrote: »

As the OP is a dependent adult on (i assume) husbands claim, the claim for BTEA might be off set against OH claim.

I'm currently a dependent adult on my OH claim for JSA and can claim for a maintenance grant from the County Council which was €3000 last year but with the grant changes this year will only be €1200, but still €700 more than I would get on the BTEA book grant.

Might be something to look into before changing over also means that there are no change during to summer holidays and having to sign off and on to JSA.

Best of Luck with your course marrakechheat

thank u for the well wish Agent_99 . and i think i can only apply for BTEA + book allowance, not the grant as well (hope some1 can prove me worng )

mrsbyrne

Im afraid its one or the other. obviously if your eligible for the BTEA then that is better financially.

ToniTuddle

marrakechheat wrote: »

thank u for the well wish Agent_99 . and i think i can only apply for BTEA + book allowance, not the grant as well (hope some1 can prove me worng )

Checking all this info out myself for next year.
As far as I know you can apply for the grant too but have to tick the box or whatever saying you will be getting back to education. You won't get the grant but you might get your college fees paid for by them.

Worth checking out the website and reading over all the mini links in this page --> http://www.welfare.ie/EN/Schemes/BackToEducation/Pages/btea.aspx

Annasopra

marrakechheat wrote: »

thank u for the well wish Agent_99 . and i think i can only apply for BTEA + book allowance, not the grant as well (hope some1 can prove me worng )

You can get the grant to pay the student contribution fee of 2000

marrakechheat

OK, ive been reading a lot about being able to apply for grant etc. my current knowledge is - due to new regulation - i can only apply for either BTEA or grant. The more I read, the more confused I am lol.

My course is a PLC course, so its practically free apart from the 100 euro reg fee. I am also exempted from a further 200 euro fee as I have a medical card. So, (hopefully) if my BTEA application is approved + 500 euro book allowance, and Im not entitled to other grant for whatever reason i.e because its a PLC course, Ill still be grateful. Mainly I need help with books + fuel expenses

I am just not sure abt my entitlement, I wouldnt want to try claiming anything im not entitled to.

Annasopra

marrakechheat wrote: »

OK, ive been reading a lot about being able to apply for grant etc. my current knowledge is - due to new regulation - i can only apply for either BTEA or grant. The more I read, the more confused I am lol.

My course is a PLC course, so its practically free apart from the 100 euro reg fee. I am also exempted from a further 200 euro fee as I have a medical card. So, (hopefully) if my BTEA application is approved + 500 euro book allowance, and Im not entitled to other grant for whatever reason i.e because its a PLC course, Ill still be grateful. Mainly I need help with books + fuel expenses

I am just not sure abt my entitlement, I wouldnt want to try claiming anything im not entitled to.

You can apply for BTEA - there's nor problem at all - You can get BTEA and also the grant to cover the registration fee only - If for example you go on further this is important because that registration fee is €2000

carinabean

If you are goin from JSA you can apply for the BTEA, but you are also supposed to apply to your local VEC aswel, the VEC (if you are approved) will pay your reg fee's, you will be receiving a "Fee Grant" not the "maintenance grant" and receiving your BTEA and Cost of Education Allowance (500E)

marrakechheat

mango salsa wrote: »

You can apply for BTEA - there's nor problem at all - You can get BTEA and also the grant to cover the registration fee only - If for example you go on further this is important because that registration fee is €2000

oh i didnt know that, so how do i go abt to get my reg fee covered? ive sent my BTEA application out already. should i go to my local VEC and get a form for that? thanks

marrakechheat

carinabean wrote: »

If you are goin from JSA you can apply for the BTEA, but you are also supposed to apply to your local VEC aswel, the VEC (if you are approved) will pay your reg fee's, you will be receiving a "Fee Grant" not the "maintenance grant" and receiving your BTEA and Cost of Education Allowance (500E)

thanks for this. ill look into it

antkeane

I am doing the same as you guys.
Had to move house on rent supplement too. Absolute nightmare and had to change dole office and reapply for rent supplement etc.
I am going on BTEA as i got accepted for a course but i read even though you wont get the grant anymore you still HAVE to apply for it.
www.studentfinance.ie
you can do it online. Better to do all this stuff now before the red tape gets in the way when you start.