Btwea and Btea

aN.Droid

Hey there,

Currently I am on JSA and want to go to college, unfortunately I am unable to this year as I was not 23 on the first of January (was in February) so that means I will have to spend another 12 months on jsa before I can attend college.

What I would like to know is if it is possible to go on BTWEA by starting my own company and if that does not work out is it still possible to go on BTEA next year?

I don't think I could afford to lose out on the BTEA.

Thank for any help you can give.

wmpdd3

If you are out of education more than 2 years you may be able to apply

aN.Droid

wmpdd3 wrote: »

If you are out of education more than 2 years you may be able to apply

Is this true? I haven't heard of that before.

Balagan

The Back to Education qualifying age for Second or Third Level Option is over 21 or aged 18 to 20 and out of education for two years. For Post Grad Third Level option, it is over 24.

The age 23 on 1 January the OP is referring to applies to those who want to gain education entry as mature students.

BTWEA does not appear to be a qualifying payment for BTEA. These are the payments listed:

Qualifying for BTEA
You can qualify for the BTEA in different ways depending on your age and circumstances. You must always have been accepted onto a qualifying course. In general you must be over 21 or over 24 for post graduate courses (see also 'Age limits' below) and have been getting a qualifying social welfare payment.

Qualifying social welfare payments
Jobseeker's Allowance or Jobseeker's Benefit
Farm Assist
One-Parent Family Payment
Deserted Wife's Benefit or Allowance
Widow's, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner's (Contributory) Pension
Widow's, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner's (Non-Contributory) Pension
Prisoners Wife's Allowance
Carer's Allowance
Blind Pension
Disability Allowance
Invalidity Pension
Incapacity Supplement (based on a life Disablement Pension)
If you have been getting Illness Benefit for 2 years or more you can also qualify for the Allowance.http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/social_welfare_payments/back_to_education/back_to_education_allowance.html

aN.Droid

Balagan wrote: »

The Back to Education qualifying age for Second or Third Level Option is over 21 or aged 18 to 20 and out of education for two years. For Post Grad Third Level option, it is over 24.

The age 23 on 1 January the OP is referring to applies to those who want to gain education entry as mature students.

BTWEA does not appear to be a qualifying payment for BTEA. These are the payments listed:

Qualifying for BTEA
You can qualify for the BTEA in different ways depending on your age and circumstances. You must always have been accepted onto a qualifying course. In general you must be over 21 or over 24 for post graduate courses (see also 'Age limits' below) and have been getting a qualifying social welfare payment.

Qualifying social welfare payments
Jobseeker's Allowance or Jobseeker's Benefit
Farm Assist
One-Parent Family Payment
Deserted Wife's Benefit or Allowance
Widow's, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner's (Contributory) Pension
Widow's, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner's (Non-Contributory) Pension
Prisoners Wife's Allowance
Carer's Allowance
Blind Pension
Disability Allowance
Invalidity Pension
Incapacity Supplement (based on a life Disablement Pension)
If you have been getting Illness Benefit for 2 years or more you can also qualify for the Allowance.http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/social_welfare_payments/back_to_education/back_to_education_allowance.html

It does say if if I was getting one of those payments in the last 12 months I can still qualify for BTEA as long as I am back on the payment right before I start college.

Seems like they want me to jump through hoops here. It's just so bad that I could not go to college this year because I was born a month later. It seems they want me to stay on JSA as long as possible just to get an education.

Balagan

Limericks wrote: »

It does say if if I was getting one of those payments in the last 12 months I can still qualify for BTEA as long as I am back on the payment right before I start college.

Seems like they want me to jump through hoops here. It's just so bad that I could not go to college this year because I was born a month later. It seems they want me to stay on JSA as long as possible just to get an education.

As long as you have gone back onto a qualifying payment immediately before BTEA, you can divert to the many other options, including the BTWEA you mentioned.

Time spent on the Back to Education Allowance (BTEA), Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS), full-time FÁS/Failte Ireland training courses, FIT, Community Employment schemes, Part-time Job Incentive scheme, Community Services Programme, Rural Social Scheme, TÚS, the National Internship Scheme, Workplace Placement Scheme (WPP), Back to Work Enterprise Allowance, Short Term Enterprise Allowance, FÁS Job Initiative, Revenue Job Assist and JobBridge may count towards the qualifying period.

You may go directly from one of the above schemes to Back to Education Allowance provided you were getting one of the qualifying social welfare payments listed above immediately before or after you started the scheme. If there is a break of more than 4 weeks between leaving the Scheme and starting an approved course of study you must establish an entitlement to a qualifying social welfare payment to qualify for BTEA.

wmpdd3

I cant see where it says you can apply if you are out of education for 2 years, but there a guy studying on my friends course who's only 20 and has BTEA.
Try calling them and getting them to confirm, ie dont ask them, tell them to confirm!

Back to Education Schemes
Department of Social Protection
Social Welfare Services
Government Buildings
Shannon Lodge
Carrick-on-Shannon
Co. Leitrim.

Tel: 071 96 72698