mature student

hi

i am a mature student with 3 more years to go in the course. i have been looking for work for the summer for the past month to no avail. does anyone know am i entitled to any social welfare payments? i did not receive the grant during college as i was living at home last year and i did not receive the back to education allowance as i was working up until i started college. i am not living at home and need to pay my rent!!!

thanks

It depends on your age and when you started the course.

You could claim Jobseeker's Benefit if you satisfy the qualifying conditions, particularly in the relevant tax year (2006). If you were over 23 on or before January in the year in which your course commenced, you could claim Jobseeker's Allownace, which is means tested.

I am 30 & currently unemployed and lookng for a job, if I am still unemployed in a couple of months I would consider applying for a course thru the CAO& go back to Uni full time and avail of the back to education Allowance to help me through. But in prep for this I would like to do a full time course that would relate to my degree nxt year this year... is this possible to be in receipt for job seekers and still do a full time day course? would it effect my chances of getting the BTE alowance nxt year if I was doing a full time day course and on job seekers? Its just something I was thinking about, I will still be job seeking but not for the day... not sure if the social will see it like that.. any ideas?

Full-time students cannot claim Jobseeker's payments during the academic year. You wouldn't be considered available for full-time work if you were attending college during the day.