Frustrated and disheartened

clirion

Okie, i actually sent a really long message to Myth cuz he seems to be the guy in the know here, but i only have like 5 posts so they dont send msgs.

Me and my sister are hoping to go to Nuig and GMIT respectively, however, money is going to be a huge issue.

However, theres a rather unique situation, which is annoying cuz unless you tick the boxes they dont really care.
I've been to citizens' advice but they were of no help. Im just waiting a bit before going to the actual Vec/local authority because my mam wants to go to an accountant first and stuff.

So, my mam is basically a single mother who suports a fairly large family, but, my father still lives with us,(just think old cathloic morals on my mams part). They are basically seperated, but its just not on paper or anything. He doesnt support any of us, keeps his money to himself and is very private etc.

Unfortunatly, both of their incomes just brings over the limit for a full grant. I could get a testimonal from a doctor/ teachers other reptubale ppl,but they dont care about that, which i can understand. Since there is no way of proving that he doesnt support us financially.

My sister however is a bit more complicated, she is 21, and left school when she was 15, she went back did her leaving cert and then an access course. Now shes been living away from the house for four years, and this can be proved. She has a child.
Now ppl are telling me that she has to apply thru my parents income, and i was just off the phone with the student support who said that she is a dependant of my mother,(even tho shes been living away for 4 years) and her child ISNT a depentant of my mother(which you'd assume...as the depentant of a depentant) that only direct depentants apply.

You may say, why doesnt my mam seperate, but she is also a foster mother, so there would be questions asked etc, and she'd lose in one way and gain in another.

One thing that has really irrated me is ppl's reliance on this very black and white system with no leave-way. Also, ppl have been telling me mulitple things, one person told me my sisters child was a depentant and others are saying he isnt, so theres no solid info.

I know its a rather involved story, and would rather to pm it, but i dont have 25 posts, and dont want to just post 25 for the sake of it, So if anyone could help i'd greatly appreciate it thanks

snubbleste

You will be assessed on your parents' income unless you are a mature student at 23 or over. Read through Myth's signature for more info.

Ask your mum to check her figures again since the income threshold increases if there is more than one child in education at a time.
Is your sister availing of Back to Education through social welfare? I'm sure she was advised on the Access course on her grant options, if not she should consult the Access office in Nuig. I'd advise her to head into the student union welfare officer in Nuig and ask them about childcare through the Student Assistance Fund.

You mention not qualifying for the full grant, so you will both still get something?

clirion

clirion wrote: »

Okie, i actually sent a really long message to Myth cuz he seems to be the guy in the know here, but i only have like 5 posts so they dont send msgs.

Me and my sister are hoping to go to Nuig and GMIT respectively, however, money is going to be a huge issue.

However, theres a rather unique situation, which is annoying cuz unless you tick the boxes they dont really care.
I've been to citizens' advice but they were of no help. Im just waiting a bit before going to the actual Vec/local authority because my mam wants to go to an accountant first and stuff.

So, my mam is basically a single mother who suports a fairly large family, but, my father still lives with us,(just think old cathloic morals on my mams part). They are basically seperated, but its just not on paper or anything. He doesnt support any of us, keeps his money to himself and is very private etc.

Unfortunatly, both of their incomes just brings over the limit for a full grant. I could get a testimonal from a doctor/ teachers other reptubale ppl,but they dont care about that, which i can understand. Since there is no way of proving that he doesnt support us financially.

My sister however is a bit more complicated, she is 21, and left school when she was 15, she went back did her leaving cert and then an access course. Now shes been living away from the house for four years, and this can be proved. She has a child.
Now ppl are telling me that she has to apply thru my parents income, and i was just off the phone with the student support who said that she is a dependant of my mother,(even tho shes been living away for 4 years) and her child ISNT a depentant of my mother(which you'd assume...as the depentant of a depentant) that only direct depentants apply.

You may say, why doesnt my mam seperate, but she is also a foster mother, so there would be questions asked etc, and she'd lose in one way and gain in another.

One thing that has really irrated me is ppl's reliance on this very black and white system with no leave-way. Also, ppl have been telling me mulitple things, one person told me my sisters child was a depentant and others are saying he isnt, so theres no solid info.

I know its a rather involved story, and would rather to pm it, but i dont have 25 posts, and dont want to just post 25 for the sake of it, So if anyone could help i'd greatly appreciate it thanks

Hey there clirion,

Sorry about the 25 post rule, there were problems with spammers before so that's why it was brought in. I'll request anonymous posting actually on this forum now so such a situation won't happen again and you'll be able to post confidentially

The first thing that came to mind when you said the income limit was the following line (from here)

In the 2008/2009 academic year, where 2 or more children (or the candidate's parent) are pursuing the courses listed below, the reckonable income limits may be increased by €4,815 where there are 2 such children, €9,630 where there are 3 such children and so on, by increments of €4,815.

/just noticed snubbleste beat me to it in a nicer and more informative manner!

If you have further queries that you don't want to discuss here for whatever reason you should consider contacting the Student Support Unit - they were set up by the Dept. of Education to answer queries on grants and other such stuff, and it might be good to chat to them in case you don't want to talk to your VEC. But of course, do feel free to ask anything else further on here if you so wish.

clirion

well i've a sister whos a mature student in ucc, does she count as one of those ppl to increase the threshold by 4900 or whatever it was? and thanks for the replies, I dont know if I myself will get anything or much, but my sister might get something, because she can prove she was away from the house for years.

Just a very annoying situation all the same, but where theres a will there is a way i suppose

It kinda depends on whether she is 'dependent' according to the Council/VEC I believe.