How much ALG can I get?

To decide how much you get, we look at your household’s annual income and the number of hours your course(s) is.

If you are studying full time, you can receive an ALG (FE) payment of up to £1,500 or £750 if you are studying part time. Your college must confirm your attendance, for you to get payments each term.

Your Household

If you are a dependant student

When we say ‘your household’, we mean, your parent(s) or guardian(s) if you are a dependant student. If you are dependent, we look at your parent(s) or guardian(s) income.

If you are an independent student

We consider you dependent unless you fall into one of these independent categories:

• you will be 25 or over on the first day of your course(s);
• you were married or in a civil partnership before the start of your course(s);
• you are estranged from your parents;
• both of your parents have died;
• you have been financially supporting yourself for more than 3 years;
• you are responsible for a child; or
• you are living under the care of a Local Authority.

If you are independent, your household income means your income plus that of any partner you live with. If you work part-time, this income is not counted when we look at your household income.

ALG (FE) will not affect any benefits that you or your household already get.

Amounts

Here are the household incomes and the amounts you could get for courses starting 1 September 2009 to 31 August 2010:

Payments are made directly to your bank or building society account, so you must have one before applying for ALG (FE). Remember that the account must accept direct credits.

If you cannot open a bank or building society account in your own name, please contact us.