from VTOS to BTEA

I was in the social welfare office the other day in relation to my husbands BTEA, he was on VTOS last yr and depending on whether he got a college place in college he was going to apply for BTEA, he got word that he got a place so went to social welfare to apply to BTEA but was told he wasnt entitled to it unless he was coming from JB or JA or other qualifying social welfare benefits, I looked up the website and it said different it gave a list of schemes including VTOS and then said


"You may go directly from one of the above schemes to Back to Education Allowance provided you were getting one of the qualifying social welfare payments listed above immediately before or after you started the scheme. If there is a break of more than 4 weeks between leaving the Scheme and starting an approved course of study you must establish an entitlement to a qualifying social welfare payment to qualify for BTEA."


If the above is the case he is well entitled to it.


I brought this to the social welfare office and the very nice man behind the desk made a few phonecalls for me, and apparently its a grey area! even though it lists the changes under budget 2013 on the website, the lady that he was speaking to in the BTEA section said that its a grey area there were meant to be changes to this but yet they are not on the website,so I dont think SW know themselves whats meant to be the situation, my husband was told to submit his BTEA and he should know within two weeks! I think this is dreadful telling people on the website one thing and then when they go to apply telling them another, I know a good few people that may get caught out with this.

What payment is he on now? Is he on JSA? If so he should qualify.

Thanks for reply, He is on VTOS still as if he didnt get college he was going to do another vtos course, but just got word that he was accepted to college and was advised earlier in the year that he could switch from VTOS to BTEA but when he got the offer he went to switch to BTEA and was told he wasnt entitled that he would have to be on JB or JA immediately before going on BTEA and he need a letter to say he was off VTOS, he rang VTOS and they said that he is paid up until end of August, course starts on September 2 so he wont have time to apply for JA and then apply for BTEA cos that course will have started! thats when I went into SW with the copy of the BTEA qualifying conditions from the SW website and the man at the counter who was very good made some calls and was told it was a 'grey area', and he was told to send in the form which he did. its very frustrating, we were sure he had everything right, I dont know what way its going to go now, 3 weeks till college starts, its not good enough to be told one thing on the SW website and another over the phone/counter of SW, and another thing the website was updated since Budget 2013 as it lists all the changes bar this mystery one that no one seems to know about, because of this he may miss out on college.

I don't see the 2013 changes on the website. Perhaps I'm missing something.

Have you asked them for the written changes for 2013 because based on the information you have quoted from the website he appears to qualify. That information does not seem to have been updated since Feb 2012.

I really do think they like to make life more difficult for people so that they almost have to grovel. Why not give you clear and timely information so you can plan your life.

By the way I really hope this works out for you as I went that route many years ago VTOS followed by BTEA and I have to say it was tough but life changing

Black sheep, thanks for the reply, I was looking up www.welfare.ie back to education allowance, it was last modified on 22.03.13 below is budget 2013 changes from the website. then down further it says how to qualify and that you can go directly from VTOS to BTEA, and when I mentioned this in the SW office, the man dealing with me agreed that I was reading it correctly, this thing of it being a grey area is not really good enough, it either is or it isnt. thanks again. fingers crossed it works out

Budget 2013

The Cost of Education Allowance (currently €300) payable to Back to Education Allowance participants will be discontinued for new and existing participants. (2013)
The weekly rate payable to new Back to Education Allowance participants will be equal to their previous social protection payment. (1 January 2013)
A standard maximum rate of €160 per week will apply to new Back to Education Allowance participants who were previously getting an age-related reduced rate of Jobseeker's Allowance. (1 January 2013)
Note: The weekly rate paid to participants on the Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS), Youthreach and FÁS further education and training programmes who move from jobseeker’s payments will also be matched to their previous social welfare payment. However, people under 25 who were getting an age-related reduced rate of Jobseeker’s Allowance will get a standard maximum rate of €160 per week.

VTOS isn't a qualifying payment though. He would have needed to switch to JSA. He shouldn't have been on VTOS for the Summer if he was applying to college.

I realise its not a qualifying payment, he was told to stay on VTOS as he had intended to take up a vtos course in September if he didnt get into college and that he could switch from VTOS to BTEA if he got an offer, we didnt think there would be a problem when it clearly says that 'you can go directly from above scheme (VTOS) to BTEA provided you were getting a qualifying payment immediately before or after you started the scheme' which he was he was getting JB before he went on VTOS.

I'm just wondering if someone could answer a similar question I have regarding BTEA. I have searched the website but cannot find an update of information for the Budget 2013 and BTEA.

If someone is now on JB and previously on illness benefit can they combine the time spent on both qualifying benefits to make up the 9 months required to qualify for BTEA.

Yes, provided that the time spent on jobseekers benefit is at least 50% of the qualifying period (9 months).

Taken from the BTEA operational guidelines:

1.13 BTEA and Illness Benefit

Periods spent on Illness Benefit can count towards the 3 month (78 days ) qualifying period for Second Level Option (SLO) and the 9 month (234 days) for Third Level Option (TLO), provided that at least 50% of the qualifying period was spent on the relevant Social Welfare Payment that actually qualifies the person for participation in the BTEA Scheme. ( For e.g. if a person is applying for BTEA from a jobseekers payment for a TLO course, they must have a total of 9 months, half of which must be from the relevant jobseekers claims and the balance can be IB)

However, this requirement will be relaxed for persons who previously were in receipt of Illness Benefit and qualified for another illness related payment such as Invalidity Pension or Disability Allowance prior to applying for BTEA.

http://www.welfare.ie/en/Pages/Back-to-Education-Allowance-Scheme.aspx#1.13

Thank you Gipimann

Vtos/btea

Just wondering how ye got on as will be in the same boat next year. Was money reduced and did you have to sign on to social welfare before getting btea. Thanks in advance