student entitlement whilst awaiting to re-do placement

I’m assisting a pre-reg nursing student on an undergraduate program. She must re-do one placement that she previously failed. Her course would have ended this month (Feb 2013) but she will continue to be enrolled and will then repeat her failed placement from May.

Her NHS bursary will be suspended from Feb 2013 and will then restart in May 2013 when she returns to placement. This is because she is effectively not studying during this time.  However for benefit purposes she is still classified as a student and after trawling the books I find she is not entitled to benefit (she is a loan parent but her children are beyond 5yrs age). I’m aware that her housing benefit will continue but that’s all.

Aside from the Access to Learning Fund which is discretionary I can find no other key sources of income. I find this incredible considering she is a loan parent with children to care for. 

Anyone got any suggestions ?

Is she not getting Child Benefit and Child Tax Credits?

Thanks for your reply.

Yes CB and CTC are in place but they alone won’t be sufficient to cover her daily living costs. I’ve explained she will be able to maximise her housing benefit for this period whilst her income is reduced. But it’s an income replacement I’m after e.g. IS or JSA for her living costs not just the extra costs for the children.

Just wondered if anyone had any similar experiences or could shed any light on this area of entitlement.

A student taking time out (of a full time course) (often referred to as ‘intercalating’) to resit exams,  because they cannot find a work placement etc is not entitled because they are still treated as a ‘student’. This principle has been long eastablished by a series of decisions of the Court of Appeal including ‘Clarke & Faul’, ‘Webber’ and ‘O’Conner’ - CIS/368/1992, R(IS)6/97, R(IS)7/99.

When governments amended the benefit and student support rules over a period of years it was the intention that students in this situation would be supported through student support funding and not benefits. Of course in practice such support is mostly discretionary and very difficult to get. Most students in this situation will receive no income from the state (unless like your client they are entitled to support for their children) or fit into one of the limited exceptions including ending of illness or caring responsibilities or pregnancy. See CPAG Handbook chapter 29.

Its a few years since I’ve dealt with students - so hopefully someone with more up to date knowledge will join in…

1. NHS Bursary - what will she be doing from Feb - May - is there any mileage in asking the NHS for discretionary funding? I have got it in the past - but cannot recall the regs - bu worth looking into
2. Access to Learning Funds - which you’d already thought of - the max used to be £3K - not sure currently & would also depend on how much left in the coffers
3. JSA - the regs state that you can claim JSA if you’re a lone parent and its during the “Summer Vacation” - its a long shot - but any mileage in argument that she has been forced to take her “summer vacation” early? Realistically it’d probably go to Tribunal - but a sympathetic Judge *may* go for it (although thats not really a short term option)
4. If you havent already done so - may be worth trying the NASMA discussion forum - if its still going

good luck

John

Thank you for your helpful replies. You’ve both touched on areas that are helpful and much of what you say resonates with my findings so far. Thanks for the specific case law!

I’ve tried to pursue the NHS avenue of discretion for the period concerned but been advised that funding cannot be justified when a student is not actively studying. Students can be subject to gaps in their studies for a variety of reasons. The university advise that they need to provide consistency in their reporting to the NHS. I could do with exploring the regulations further. Only pregnancy and illness appear to be given specific attention in the guidelines published by the dept of health.

I’ve advised the student to apply to ALF asap.

I’d thought about the JSA ‘summer vacation’ option but I think it’d be pretty difficult to argue, particularly as nursing students don’t really get a summer vacation at all.

Thanks for the suggestion about NASMA. I’m new to occupying my role in an education setting and it’s good to know of other resources.