One of my clients is currently in full-time non-advanced education.

She has been living at home, but the behaviour of her parents is adversely affecting her mental health (in quite a serious way) and her studies. She needs to move out and has grounds to claim estrangement.

However, she is currently 20 and started the course after her 19th birthday, thus cannot claim IS. Are there any benefits that she could be eligible for, or does she simply have to drop out of College and look for work?

Also, if things come to a head and she becomes homeless, will she have to formally quit education before she is able to access benefits?

Many Thanks

What about doing a part-time course and claiming jsa?

thanks - that's a possibility i could put to her. it'd be a shame because she is planning to go to university and she is getting top grades on her course.

seems that she's stuck in a catch-22 situation - i don't like advising people to stop studying but it seems like she's going to have to stop entirely, or go part-time.

There is nothing to stop someone studying full time and getting JSA. As long as you are actively seeking work and available for work and you remain flexible as to how you can fit 40 hours work in per week (i.e. evenings and weekends, as well as daytime) then it is all about agreeing the terms of the jobseekers agreement with the employment officer. The other key being, of course, a willingness to give up the course and start work immediately if offered a job.

Employment officers should be flexible in their approach and work with claimants for future beneficial outcomes rather than be intransigent and dogmatic with an eye only on short-term targets and statistics.

Just to add, providing you are one of those students entitled to claim JSA.

Big proviso, that.

Is the course definately full time for JSA purposes?

I only ask because I used to work in an FE, and a lot of what the college described as FT courses were actually part time for the purposes of JSA, i.e. 16 or fewer hours per week 'guided learning hours' (basically classroom time). Lunch and coffee breaks at college, and time spent on homework etc, is ignored when calculating this. As long as the course is funded by the Learning and Skills Council or Scottish or Welsh equivalents (i.e. the vast majority of FE courses as far as I am aware) this rule applies, regardless of the fact that the college may say it is a FT course.