In the absence of a family member route to RTR, her options appear to be limited. I assume you are thinking of IS via the estrangement whilst in education provision. To get the RTR, she could consider do one of two things:
1) Become self employed part time and study part time - I am not aware of any definitive test of how much work is needed to be a qualifying self employed person, and you could draw upon the helpful case law for part time employees, who can nevertheless reach the hollowed ground of 'genuine and effective', on relatively limited hours of work. Once safely a self employed person, she could access any benefits that are available within her circumstances.
2) Register for work through Worker Registration Scheme, and study part time. I do not think there are rules about minimum working hours needed for the WRS (but maybe I am wrong about that?), and qualify for benefits that way. I have so far assumed that the 'genuine and effective' criteria would also be relevant in deciding this. What do others think?
Steve
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