Dropped out 2007 , hopeful Sept 2014 student - BTEA & Fee Grant Questions!

rhythm90

(NOTE: Sorry I messed up the title, it should read "Dropped out 2009 , .... etc..." )

Hi all,

Ok so I'll try to keep this as concise as I can so it's easy to understand.

I first went to college in 2007 doing a Level 8 in Multimedia. I received no grants or BTEA. I dropped out mid way through my second year as I discovered it was not the main career avenue I wished to pursue.

Since then I've worked intermittently and done a variety of Fás courses just to keep busy. This year I took a Momentum course in Internet Marketing and am currently on an internship in a web design company. The IT sector is where I have tried to keep up with as it interests me and I like the idea of having some kind of fallback.

However -

My heart has been set on a DIT Music degree course for two years now , also a level 8 (four year degree)

Am I correct in assuming a few things?

• In order to receive BTEA for the college year beginning Sept 2014, I cannot work beyond christmas, as there is a 9 month "qualifying period" for new BTEA applicants?
• Even though I have previously attended college.... since 2009 - 2014 would be 5 years out of education... would I be eligible to apply to my local VEC to pay my fee's to start Sept 2014, as I would qualify as a "second chance student"?

I have lived independently for four years and have not got the means myself to pay for college fee's.

-

I've come to a point where I feel I need to follow my heart and work hard to gain a degree in an industry I'm passionate about. I've been waiting for the 5 years to come around now slowly so I'm hope I'm correct in all I assume.

Can anyone give some insight or further information?

Many thanks

another question

rhythm90 wrote: »

Hi all,

Ok so I'll try to keep this as concise as I can so it's easy to understand.

I first went to college in 2007 doing a Level 8 in Multimedia. I received no grants or BTEA. I dropped out mid way through my second year as I discovered it was not the main career avenue I wished to pursue.

Since then I've worked intermittently and done a variety of Fás courses just to keep busy. This year I took a Momentum course in Internet Marketing and am currently on an internship in a web design company. The IT sector is where I have tried to keep up with as it interests me and I like the idea of having some kind of fallback.

However -

My heart has been set on a DIT Music degree course for two years now , also a level 8 (four year degree)

Am I correct in assuming a few things?

• In order to receive BTEA for the college year beginning Sept 2014, I cannot work beyond christmas, as there is a 9 month "qualifying period" for new BTEA applicants?
• Even though I have previously attended college.... since 2009 - 2014 would be 5 years out of education... would I be eligible to apply to my local VEC to pay my fee's to start Sept 2014, as I would qualify as a "second chance student"?

I have lived independently for four years and have not got the means myself to pay for college fee's.

-

I've come to a point where I feel I need to follow my heart and work hard to gain a degree in an industry I'm passionate about. I've been waiting for the 5 years to come around now slowly so I'm hope I'm correct in all I assume.

Can anyone give some insight or further information?

Many thanks

As far as I'm aware, the 9 month qualifying period that you are talking about relates to being in receipt of some welfare assistance for a minimum period of 9 months. In relation to those in receipt of casual payments, who work a maximum of 3 days per week, they receive a reduced rate of JA to support their part-time hours. So if you are in receipt of a a SW payment, which you must be to be partaking in an internship then you only need to been receiving this for 9 months to qualify for BTEA. So there is no need to stop working after Christmas, if the work you're referring to is your internship.

rhythm90

Thanks for the speedy reply

I should have specified that I am in receipt of JSA payment & have been for about 14 months. My internship will end in the next 6 weeks, so therefor I may be in a position to take on work. However if doing so means I will not qualify for BTEA come next September then I will have to seriously consider my options...

another question

rhythm90 wrote: »

Thanks for the speedy reply

I should have specified that I am in receipt of JSA payment & have been for about 14 months. My internship will end in the next 6 weeks, so therefor I may be in a position to take on work. However if doing so means I will not qualify for BTEA come next September then I will have to seriously consider my options...

Emmm, I'm not sure about that. I know that you HAVE to be in receipt of a SW payment immediately before applying for BTEA so you couldn't be working then but the 14 months that you have been in receipt of JA should stand to you within a 24 month period I think. I'll double check that. You could always work between now and Christmas and try and get on another internship in the lead up to Sept. 2014.

I fully intend to return to education next September too but I have already decided that I will not be changing my circumstances even if full-time work becomes available (I'm part-time at present) because I'm too afraid that it will jeopardize my chances of receiving BTEA which I will absolutely need to get, otherwise there isn't a hope I'll survive financially.

another question

Satisfying the Qualifying Period (Citizens Information):



You do not have to have been getting your qualifying payment continuously. Periods spent on other relevant social welfare payments (or getting credits or in short-term employment) that are not broken by more than 12 months (52 weeks) can be used to determine whether you satisfy the qualifying period criteria. You must always be getting a qualifying payment immediately before starting your course.

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.

rhythm90

So if I understand this correctly, I could take on full time work for a few months if it became available, as long as it doesn't last over 12 months, as my previous time (up to the present time - 14 months on JSA) will qualify me for BTEA come Sept 2014? Providing that I'm back on JSA for at least a month before I were to start a course in Sept?

I'd obviously rather be working into the new year, rather than having to pack it in and go back to signing on until next Sept just in order to get BTEA for college.

Oh one more question, regarding annual college fee's. From a little research I've been doing it seems that BTEA doesn't pay for your fee's. rather you apply to the local VEC... Is this correct? Can anybody shed some more light on this?

Thanks again, much appreciated.

paperclip2

Hi OP,
The rules for BTEA were changed recently. You need to have a DSP payment immediately prior to starting on a course, the 4 week window where you could move from VTOS, a Fas allowance, etc has gone. The Citizens info website hasn't been updated to take all of the changes into account so for safety's sake I'd use the BTEA Operational Guidelines section on the DSP website: http://http://www.welfare.ie/en/Pages/Back-to-Education-Allowance-Scheme.aspx

Free Fees: The VEC's no longer exist, they've been replaced by the ETB's and they have nothing to do with the free fees anyway.
As a general rule you don't apply for free fees. If you are eligible for them you are awarded them automatically. Its the colleges who make the determination of eligibility and then they invoice the Dept of Ed for them on your behalf.

The 2nd chance, 5 year rule only applies to honours degrees in the universities and the level 8 degrees in the IOT's. (Level 6/7 IOT courses currently come under the MLT funding rules and not free fees.)

You need a letter from your old college stating the date you officially left your original course and its a good idea to speak to the college you are applying to to check your eligibility for the free fees initiative in advance.

W86indow

The 2nd chance, 5 year rule only applies to honours degrees in the universities and the level 8 degrees in the IOT's. (Level 6/7 IOT courses currently come under the MLT funding rules and not free fees.)

^^^^^
the above is untrue
I started a level 6 course in 2010 and the 5 year rule applied to me
so i only had to pay normal fees

paperclip2

W86indow wrote: »

^^^^^
the above is untrue
I started a level 6 course in 2010 and the 5 year rule applied to me
so i only had to pay normal fees

That was the decision made by your college. According to the DES Student Support Unit the colleges are the ones who decide who has to pay fees and the amounts involved. The level 6/7 courses in IOT's are not paid for through the Free Fee initiative even for first timers, rather through the MLT/ HLTB (Middle Level Technician / Higher Level Technical & Business Funding). That was the info from the DES on Friday last. There is currently no provision under the MLT rules for a 2nd chance scenario. Rather its up to the colleges to make the decision and the DES simply pay whats asked of them. They are hoping to combine the 2 schemes in the next couple of years to have one overall Free Fees scheme.

rhythm90

Thanks for all the great input guys, really appreciated.

I'm going to pop into citizens information tomorrow to have a chat and might use this thread for reference.

just to clarify, the course which I'm hoping to get into in sept 2014 is a Level 8 BA Honours - so will this fall under the free fee's scheme?

paperclip2

rhythm90 wrote: »

Thanks for all the great input guys, really appreciated.

I'm going to pop into citizens information tomorrow to have a chat and might use this thread for reference.

just to clarify, the course which I'm hoping to get into in sept 2014 is a Level 8 BA Honours - so will this fall under the free fee's scheme?

Yes it does. The Free Fees Initiative, (according to the DES in Tullamore) covers all degrees in the NUI colleges/ uni's, TCD and level 8 degrees in the Institutes of Technology. Its only the level 6 Higher certs and level 7 Ordinary degrees that presently fall outside of it. For more info you can contact the relevant DES section; Higher Education Research & Finance (Student Support): (057) 932 5406.