Benefits for Unemployed in the UK? Advice Required

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Hi all,

I am a BSc Computing Graduate, after reading the thread by Zimbo @ http://www.certforums.co.uk/forums/thread11894.html

I decided to go the self study route. I currently live in london and found a near test centre from Pearson Vue.

I will firstly take the Comptia A+ exam, I will be revising from one book recommended by zimbo: A+ Certification All-in-one Exam Guide by Mike Meyers.

1) What I want to know is, I am on benefits (Job Seekers Allowance) I have seen a post on this forum by someone talking about Free Exam and Books provided for people on benefits. I pm the person but didnt get a reply so if anyone has any information about this please share it.

2) Other than that I heard about a bunch of Live Tutorials where you can watch on your PC, for example for MCSE, the person demonstrate the practical side in a video to help you prepare for the exams. And also dummy exam questions to practice. Where can I get these? who provides them? etc.

Thank You For Your Help.

 

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just ask your local college,the course and the books are free of charge for the unemployed,this has been the case since last summer.The government are funding the course.
The only thing you'll need to pay for is exams,the total is £130- for those [which is half price,purely because you attended college],so whoever said this part is free is wrong,the books are free,the exams are not.
If you are going the self study route the exams will be the full price because you haven't went the college route.

 

Some good discounts there Ken. Ideal opportunity to increase your employability while looking for work at those prices.

 

those are some good deals.
Down here the A+ isn't set out the same way and is £200 cheaper, and totally free if you are unemployed,the £83 isn't needed because it's just the A+ course.

And the mcdst lost funding down here a few months ago,it used to be free,it's now £500,so there is another variation.

 

Job-hunting myself and getting Jobseekers but I was told the cheap courses were only for teenagers.

As Portsmouth isn't too far away I'd be inetrested to know if they say you are eligible.

 

yes you are fine in your 40s,i am in my 40s as you can see.
highbury college start the course in september if you want to register there for free,you'll qualify for the course and books.

 

some useful information here guys, very much appreciated. thanks

 

Job Centre staff will often bs you away and give wrong information. Some people just don't want to help. General rule is to don't take their first answer.

 

Whilst on income support 2 years ago i did the following course.
Cisco IT Essentials 1 for £55 + a free voucher for 1 A+ exam.
My local college also used their student fund to get me a discount voucher for the 2nd A+ exam.
Total cost to get A+ =£55

You just need to ask at you local college, many have funding to help those on benefit.
All you need to do is ask!

 

Get a job and stop living off of my tax money!

 

you've done well there,this course wasn't even free 2 years ago,last summer it became a free course,up till then it was full cost.

 

I am on jobseekers.

I am currently doing the A+ course paid by the job center. This is because I have been on job seekers for over 6 months. You can get free books depending, I didn't get free books because the training provider I am with uses a software called Testout which uses a disk.

I do get extra money a week because Im training and thats suppose to cover any extra materials, books etc. I also get petrol allowance for traveling to my training provider. You do tend to get a lot from them when you have been on jobseekers a long time.

I guess it is a bit of a piss take for people who do work, as the longer you are on benefit the more you get. But if you want to better yourself you can benefit a lot from it, with the training (as you can get trained for loads of other things) and you get help with CV's, interviews etc. I have also done a first aid course (Appointed person) too with job center

PS.. And all this applies to everyone at any age I believe.

 

Yep. After coming out of caring for someone for twelve years I asked the Jobcentre to fast track me on to New Deal as my current work skills were twelve years out of date.

Sepher is right. However it may be worth pushing your jobcentre on the issue. The only downside is you'll be expected to take the A+ in 4 weeks.

By the way Sepher how's the course going?

 

Pm'ed

As you saw I'm half way through it

 

I actually find this thread rather insulting. It's like "look at how easy my life is when I live on *your* hard earned cash."

I don't really mean to flame but jobless people, without good reason, really annoy me. At least you're trying to benefit in the long run and not just slumming it.

 

To be honest, I'm not particularly happy with your comment !

After 10 years of employing people, paying everyone else before myself and no holidays my business collapsed last year. I now find myself at 46, looking for work and trying to get certs to backup my experience.

In the last 3 months I have applied for approaching 60 positions and get virtually no help and assistance from the State apart from a measly £60 quid a week. Doesn't go very far when you have a mortgage and other committments and have ploughed all your money into a business.

Just remember that everyone's circumstances are different and life is not "easy" by any means ! 'nuff said !

 

Try reading my post again before commenting?

I clearly stated "without good reason". I'd say your position is justified and you're actually making an effort, unlike many others in this country.

 

Aged 23 I still don't feel you're in a position to comment. Wait until you're older.

Nice to know you think I'm "making an effort" - how patronising !