Only deemed independent at 23?

Chunky Monkey

Hmmm I suppose I could come under non-traditional applicant seeing as I'm repeating my leaving for the third time and that doesn't happen much any more. I'm just wondering about grants. I have been supporting myself since I was eighteen and when I go to college next year I'll need a maintenance grant to help me pay for accommodation etc. However, my understanding of it is, that because my mum's wages are above the cut-off and I'm 'only' twenty I won't be able to apply for one. For god's sake, I have bills, payslips and a different address to my parents to prove my independence! I'll still go to the council and have a shot. Have a feeling I won't be successful though

Chunky Monkey

Chunky Monkey wrote: »

Hmmm I suppose I could come under non-traditional applicant seeing as I'm repeating my leaving for the third time and that doesn't happen much any more. I'm just wondering about grants. I have been supporting myself since I was eighteen and when I go to college next year I'll need a maintenance grant to help me pay for accommodation etc. However, my understanding of it is, that because my mum's wages are above the cut-off and I'm 'only' twenty I won't be able to apply for one. For god's sake, I have bills, payslips and a different address to my parents to prove my independence! I'll still go to the council and have a shot. Have a feeling I won't be successful though

Hey Chunky Monkey!

The sad truth really is that you can only be assessed as being independent from your parents if you're over 23 on the year you enter college - officially. I have heard mere rumours of people who have been able to convince their Councils of their independence prior to them being 23, but I have no idea the method or how possible it really is, and any speculation wouldn't be good on this forum.

The one thing to keep an ear out about is the income levels next year - you will probably be assessed on your parents' income, so the levels may rise to make you eligible, even for the Registration Fee to be paid by the Council instead of you.

But you're right, you should contact your Council to find out the official line on this. If you're still feeling angry, feel free to contact your local councillors/TDs also.

As for funding next year, there are other means available. Have a look at my signature for some links, and remember the Student Assistance Fund is available in each and every college for students who are experiencing hardship to apply to. It isn't bottomless, but it might be handy when you're in college. As I said, just keep it in mind

Best of luck with it.

D.

Chunky Monkey

Thanks Myth, you should call yourself 'mythbreaker' Haha speculating here but I thought that going on the dole might help. Then again I work on average 48 hours a week so that ain't gonna work. I'll have a look at those links, thanks for your help

randylonghorn

Myth wrote: »

I have heard mere rumours of people who have been able to convince their Councils of their independence prior to them being 23, but I have no idea the method or how possible it really is, and any speculation wouldn't be good on this forum.

I have also heard of / know of such people, and as far as I have ever been able to figure, the common thread was that they made themselves a pain in the ass / thorn in the sides of the relevant people ... BUT an ever courteous, cheerful, pleasant, smiling pain in the ass! Giving people a reason to dislike you will just make them stand on "precedent" like a Crusader defending Jerusalem.

Write to your councillors, write to / phone the relevant officials ... make a pest of yourself, but an ever-cheerful, likeable pest. Start sentences with: "Of course, I quite understand that this isn't your fault, but ..." (in other words, try to enlist them as allies, and encourage them to admit, even between the two of you, that the system doesn't cover all possible scenarios, rather than blaming them / making them feel like the enemy). Stress again and again the basic core of your argument: that, regardless of your age, you are completely independent of your parents. Profess not to understand how "the system" doesn't get that simple fact. Be the iron fist in the ever-so-soft fluffy pink glove. Never give up, never lose your cool, never (even by implication) appear to blame anyone. Murmur about how of course you understand there has to be a system and rules and boundaries but that the nature of such things is they don't cover all eventualities and there will always be exceptions ... which really just prove the rule, after all! Sigh a lot, look depressed, gaze soulfully (tearfully if you can) into their eyes ... you get the general idea ...

ellenmelon

god, i wish it was 23 here. im going into my second year of my degree at the beginning of Feb and i only turn 23 next week so by the end of my degree ill only be 24 (nearly 25). it really sucks doesnt it? my family moved overseas when i was 18 and ive only lived with them for about 8 months since then and i now live on the other side of the world from them again, but yet they still take into account my parents wages. some of my friends are getting married at 23!
im not helping at all i know