Redundancy & BTEA

Skcornnelg

Hey all,

I am about to be made redundant from my job of over 6 years. My last day will be 30th Dec.
I am just starting to look at my options for the future and one that really appeals to me is returning to college but I am confused about how the BTEA works.
I am told that you have to be unemployed for 6 months, I read 9 months and I heard 1 year to qualify! Not sure which it is.
Also I read this on citizensinformation.ie

If you have been awarded statutory redundancy and are entitled to a qualifying social welfare payment immediately before you start the course ( note that it is not necessary to actually be receiving the payment) you can get immediate access to the BTEA without any waiting period. You must take part in the BTEA scheme within one year of getting statutory redundancy.

I am getting statutory but any course I could possible do wouldn't start until September so I am not sure where that would leave me.
The last sentence says I could take up the scheme within a year but what would I do in the 9 months between the time i lose my job and start the course?

Sorry if this doesn't make any sense!

Jambo221

Think this should be in State Benefits as this is a BTEA issue.

What you do between leaving your job and then is really up to you, you should sign on anyway while you are looking for a job. In theory, you could work right up to the start of your course and then leave and be entitled to BTEA.

Skcornnelg

Jambo221 wrote: »

Think this should be in State Benefits as this is a BTEA issue.

Apologies, I was scanning through this section for other mature student info, didn't really check other sections yet. Mods, feel free to move

Jambo221 wrote: »

In theory, you could work right up to the start of your course and then leave and be entitled to BTEA.

Hmmm, because I received redundancy? Sounds too good to be true! I will look into this.
Cheers

Jambo221

Skcornnelg wrote: »

Apologies, I was scanning through this section for other mature student info, didn't really check other sections yet. Mods, feel free to move


Hmmm, because I received redundancy? Sounds too good to be true! I will look into this.
Cheers

No need for apologies, just thought maybe it'd get a better response over in SB.

Yes, you are entitled to BTEA within one year of receiving redundancy, regardless of the length of time receiving JS payments, as long as you can prove eligibility for a JS payment. Although, it doesn't sound like you could just go from a job into a course, definitely look into it.

paperclip2

Skcornnelg wrote: »

I am getting statutory but any course I could possible do wouldn't start until September so I am not sure where that would leave me.
The last sentence says I could take up the scheme within a year but what would I do in the 9 months between the time i lose my job and start the course?

Sorry if this doesn't make any sense!

Hi OP,
From your information it looks like yes you would be entitled to start a course on BTEA as soon as you are approved for a Jobseeker Benefit as you cant start a DSP claim without prior approval for JA or JB.

As regards the nine months wait I would suggest you try to take a course that might be related to the area of study that you wish to take in college. Most colleges do prefer to see adults coming with a recent history of study so if its been a while since you were in education you could use this time to your advantage evendoing something as straightforward as brushing up on IT skills or doing some FETAC level 5 modules can really help your college application.

Many local VEC centres run courses on a part time basis through a scheme called BTEI and there are also private course providers that might have courses starting in January.

You could contact your local AEGI service for details of courses that may be available in the new year. Contact details for all 40 services are here: http://http://www.aegai.ie/

Hope this helps.

Skcornnelg

Thanks for all the help guys. Gave me alot options to check out.