Jobseeker's Allowance and Education

You won't get Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) if you are one a full-time course.

A full-time course is one which consists of more than 16 hours per week of "guided learning" or (in Scotland) less than 16 hours of guided learning together with additional structured learning packages which together add up to more than 21 hours per week.

If you are over 25 and have been claiming JSA for over two years you can attend a full-time employment-related course for up to one year and still get JSA. The JSA regulations define "employment-related course" as any course designed to assist people to get or improve skills for employment, for seeking employment or for a particular occupation. You will need to get approval from the DWP before starting the course.

You are able to claim as a full time student if you have a partner who is also a student and you have a dependent child. In these circumstance you can claim during the summer break providing that you are available for work.

You can claim JSA as a full-time student during an agreed period of absence due to illness or because you had to care for someone.

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Part-time students

If you are a part-time student, your hours of study should not affect the hours that you have agreed to be available for work. If these hours clash with your availability, you need to be able to either rearrange your course hours immediately should you be offered work or give up the course if a job becomes available.

There are some circumstances where the DWP can agree to you restricting the hours you are available for work. These are:

• you were on approved training for all of the three months before you started the course and you were getting JSA, incapacity benefit, statutory sick pay or income support on the grounds of incapacity for work; or
• you met the above criteria for a total of three months in the six months before you started the course. For the rest of the period you were in full-time work or earning too much to get any of the above benefits.

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