Costs of training- Oxford

[Runner27]

hiya everyone

Hope Hamrah and co will be able to help me here!

I have just left my regular job and am about to commit to the APP programme at Oxford as I believe it is one of the best opportunities for low hours pilots to get jobs, with the maximum of continuity and minimum of time.

I am just wondering if anyone in the know can help me with a couple of questions regarding my status as a cadet on the scheme.

1) Am I able to offset the cost of my training against current and future income tax?

2) Am I eligible to claim unemployment benefit whilst I am studying or will the DWP expect me to be "available for work" at any notice?

3) As financing commercial pilot training seems to come under the same umbrella as Doctors, Lawyers and vets in qualifying for post graduate and professional studies loans, does this entitle me to similar student status benefits e.g. exemption from council tax?

I am sorry if I have sent everyone to sleep, but I am just trying to make every pound of my training count towards something, even if it is just helping out with my mortgage.

If there are any existing or prospective APP guys out there, I would love to hear any comments or advice as I am very new to commercial aviation.

I also apologise if this has been put in a thread somewhere else

[schooner]

Hi,
Regarding council tax, just get a letter from OATS confirming your being on the course and send it off to the council. I don`t know about the tax aspect (not clever enough) but I know that you can`t claim benefit because you are in full time education. You still can`t get a student loan though!
Cheers.

[witchdoctor]

No, your training has no tax benefit at all either now or in the future - Gordon Brown saw to that.

No, you cannot claim unemployment benefit as you are not unemployed, available for and actively seeking work.

Yes, you can have an exemption from council tax as you are classed as being a student on an approved full-time course of study. As schooner says, OAT will provide the necessary letter confirming this.

No, there are no other benefits/reductions to which you are entitled.

Welcome to aviation training.;)

[moo]

with all due respect runner27, you have just left your job and are asking those questions NOW?? Surely such a huge decision should be made with all facts and figures laid down on the table? I for one would not even consider leaving work until I knew everything there was to know that affected my training or financial position was 100% clear in my mind...

just a thought

[silverknapper]

not really helpful now though moo is it?
I did my exams by D/L and got unemployment benefit by a touch of truth bending - ie not accepting jobs at all. It gets a bit shaky at your interviews when they probe a bit deeper - I just expected nothing and anything else was a bonus. You do have to be able to sign on though - which was no bother when D/L but not sure about a full time course, they tell you when to come and obviously it looks dodgy if you can't make times other than your lunch break!

[Runner27]

Thanks for all the advice everybody

Moo, I understand how I may have appeared quite naive from my original post but let me assure you I have considered almost every aspect of my career transition for many months now.

The questions I was asking were minor details where I greatly appreciate the advice of any of my predecessors and are simply the difference between me scraping by whilst training and being able to live comfortably.

I greatly appreciate your honesty though, which I have found quite hard to come by when approaching schools over these same issues.

Thanks again