There have been some changes made to the Back to Education Allowance (BTEA) Scheme, operated by Dept of Social Protection, which came into effect from yesterday, 19th July 2010.
The qualifying period (time spent on an appropriate SW payment) for the Third Level Option has been reduced from 12 months to 9 months for all qualifying payments except Illness Benefit which remains at 2 years.
One of the conditions for BTEA was that the applicant was commencing first year of the approved full-time course. This is being relaxed, and persons who meet the other qualifying criteria may now have an entitlement to BTEA if -
- They are granted an exemption from the first year of the course by the college or course provider based on life experience or previous courses.
- They had completed earlier years of the course on a part-time basis while employed and are now unemployed
- They previously dropped out of a course, but have been given leave to return to a second or subsequent year by the college or course provider.
The SW page on Back to Education Allowance hasn't been updated yet, however you can read the press release from the Minister which outlines the changes - there is a link to Press Releases to the right of the SW homepage.
The qualifying period (time spent on an appropriate SW payment) for the Third Level Option has been reduced from 12 months to 9 months for all qualifying payments except Illness Benefit which remains at 2 years.
One of the conditions for BTEA was that the applicant was commencing first year of the approved full-time course. This is being relaxed, and persons who meet the other qualifying criteria may now have an entitlement to BTEA if -
- They are granted an exemption from the first year of the course by the college or course provider based on life experience or previous courses.
- They had completed earlier years of the course on a part-time basis while employed and are now unemployed
- They previously dropped out of a course, but have been given leave to return to a second or subsequent year by the college or course provider.
The SW page on Back to Education Allowance hasn't been updated yet, however you can read the press release from the Minister which outlines the changes - there is a link to Press Releases to the right of the SW homepage.