Foilsiú
Operational Guidelines: Back to Education Allowance
Foilsithe
An t-eolas is déanaí
Teanga: Níl leagan Gaeilge den mhír seo ar fáil.
Foilsithe
An t-eolas is déanaí
Teanga: Níl leagan Gaeilge den mhír seo ar fáil.
The Back to Education Allowance scheme is a broadly targeted education opportunities scheme. The focus is to assist people improve their qualifications through full-time education courses and as a result improve their access to sustainable employment.
BTEA is an administrative scheme approved by the government. Government Decision S.29416 of 8 October 1996 refers.
There are three streams which provide income support to certain Department of Social Protection (DSP) customers to undertake a range of education and training options with the aim of improving labour market opportunities. These are:
Back to Education Allowance (BTEA)
Part-Time Education Option (PTEO)
Education, Training and Development Option (ET&D)
This version of the rules and guidelines for the Back to Education Allowance scheme are operational from May 2024 and supersede previous guidelines issued in respect of the scheme.
Policy in respect of the BTEA scheme is developed by:
The scheme is administered by the Employment Personal Advisers of the Employment Services Operations Division of the Department.
Queries of an operational nature should be addressed to the local Employment Services Team. If a query cannot be resolved locally, a referral should be made to the relevant Employment Support Manager.
Queries of a policy nature can be emailed to: MBX-BTEA_Enquiries@welfare.ie or BTEA_Enquiries@welfare.ie
Income support is available under BTEA to enable two study options to be pursued.
The Further Level Education option enables study to be undertaken provided it leads to an award from Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) up to and including level 6 (see note below*)
The Higher Level Education option enables study to be undertaken to an award at QQI up to and including level 8 and in limited circumstances to include postgraduate study (Level 9).
BTEA requires that all modules of a full-time course must be completed within the same academic year.
Note: At level 6 there are two award types:
The Higher Certificate (Ardteastas in Irish) is a Higher level education award at level 6 on the National Framework of Qualifications in the Republic of Ireland . The Higher Certificate is awarded by various Institutes of Technology/Technological Universities
Green Cert Courses
The 'Green Cert' refers to a list of land based courses which qualifies a person as a 'trained farmer' .These could be in horticulture, agriculture, forestry or equine studies.
Level 6 Green Cert can be either full-time or part-time. The Green Cert is a QQI Level 5 Certificate in Agriculture and Level 6 Specific Purpose Certificate in Farming. For the purposes of BTEA, the Employment Personal Adviser/Job Coach should ensure that it is a full-time course of study.
BTEA can be approved for certain DSP customers to attend a full-time further education course of education at any Community, Comprehensive, Secondary, Education Training Board (ETBs), College of Further Education or Institute of Technology/Technological University with which the Department of Further Education, Research, Innovation and Science (DFHERIS) have a funding relationship.
The course of study being pursued must be a full-time day course and lead to a qualification that is:
or
The types of full-time day courses for which BTEA can be approved are:
In addition to existing Access/Foundation courses, approval may be given to preparatory Higher Level education courses of at least 18 week’s duration requiring full-time attendance and conferring a Special Purpose Award of a a minimum of 30 ECTS credits that accumulate towards the student’s chosen higher level education qualification.
BTEA can be approved for Further Level Education courses in Northern Ireland provided they lead to a Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) equivalent to a QQI level 5 or 6.
BTEA is only permitted for courses commencing in Ireland and Northern Ireland. However, BTEA can be approved to avail of a year abroad if it is deemed to be an integral/mandatory/compulsory part of the course of study (as verified by the Registrars/Admission Office). Where possible this should be discussed with an Employment Personal Adviser/ Job Coach at the time of applying for BTEA. (Refer to Section "BTEA and Erasmus+ 2021-27 (work abroad)")
Only in limited circumstances can BTEA be approved for DSP Customers undertaking postgraduate studies leading to:
or
or
Where the Customer already holds a postgraduate qualification, they are not eligible for BTEA, with the exception of Springboard+/Human Capital Initiative (see section 2.7).
Postgraduate study option is not available for study in Northern Ireland.
Tertiary Degrees are co-designed and co-delivered by the Education and Training Boards and Higher Education Institutions to provide seamless pathways from Further Education to Higher Education.
The Tertiary Programme consists of Level 7 and 8 degree programmes validated and awarded by various Higher Education Institutions. The difference with the Tertiary Degrees is that the first year and, in some cases, the second year are delivered in the ETBs. Further information is available on National Tertiary Office.
For the purposes of the Back to Education Allowance, these tertiary degrees are being treated in the same way as existing Level 7 and 8 degree programmes.
Springboard+ and Human Capital Initiative (HCI) Pillar 1 are Government initiatives which offer courses in areas where there are employment opportunities. Further information can be found here.
In these guidelines the term Springboard+ is used to describe both Springboard+ and HCI Pillar 1 courses as they are treated in the same way for DSP income support purposes.
The following are not considered eligible courses of study for BTEA purposes:
The DSP customer is responsible for securing a place on the approved course.
In order to qualify for BTEA the customer must be:
This section applies to qualifying payments and study option criteria and is set out in 3 tables:
Refer to the following tables and also see appendix 4 for combined table.
In the case of Jobseeker payments an Employment Personal Advisor / Job Coach must have considered and recommended the application prior to a decision to allow BTEA.
All customers must continue to satisfy the rules, including means test (where applicable) while in receipt of BTEA.
| Jobseeker qualifying payments (or combination see section "Linking Provisions" below ) | Further Level Education | Higher Level Education | Post Graduate Option |
| Jobseekers Allowance (means-tested), Jobseekers Benefit , Jobseekers Benefit Self-Employed, Jobseekers Benefit Credits ONLY* – not paid by the department, Farm and Fish Assist (means-tested). * | Aged at least 21 And have 3 months in receipt of DSP payment OR 2 years out of formal education (Note 1) if aged between 18 and 20. | Aged at least 21 years And have 9 months (234 days) in receipt of DSP payment OR 2 years out of formal education (Note 1) if aged between 18 and 20. | Aged at least 24 years And have 9 months for Higher Diploma/Postgraduate Option OR 12 months in receipt of DSP payment for the Professional Masters in Education OR 12 months in receipt of DSP payment for Masters based solely on Life Experience |
| One Parent Family (Qualifying Payments) or combination, see section "Linking Provisions" below | Further Level Education | Higher Level Education | Post Graduate Option | |
| One Parent Family Payment (means-tested) | Aged at least 18 And have 3 months in receipt of DSP payment | Aged at least 18 years And have 9 months in receipt of DSP payment | Aged at least 24 years And have 9 months for Higher Diploma/Postgraduate Option OR 12 months in receipt of DSP payment for the Professional Masters in Education OR 12 months in receipt of DSP payment for Masters based solely on Life Experience | |
| Jobseekers Transition Payment (means-tested), Deserted Wife’s Benefit/Allowance (means-tested), Widows/Widower’s Contributory Pension, Widows/Widower’s Non-Contributory Pension (means-tested), Prisoner’s Wife’s Allowance (means-tested) | Aged at least 21 And have 3 months in receipt of DSP payment | Aged at least 21 years And have 9 months in receipt of DSP payment | Aged at least 24 years And have 9 months for Higher Diploma/Postgraduate Option OR 12 months in receipt of DSP payment for the Professional Masters in Education OR 12 months in receipt of DSP payment for Masters based solely on Life Experience |
| Disability & Caring (Qualifying Payments | Further Level Education | Higher Level Education | Post Graduate Option | |
| Blind Pension (means-tested), Carers Allowance (means-tested) – note Caree must be transferred to another recipient, Disability Allowance (means-tested), Illness Benefit/Credits (separate conditions apply refer to section "Linking Provisions"), Incapacity Supplement (means-tested based on a Life Disablement), Invalidity Pension | Aged at least 18 years And have 3 months in receipt of DSP payment | Aged at least 18 years And have 9 months in receipt of DSP payment | Aged at least 24 years And have 9 months for Higher Diploma/Postgraduate Option OR 12 months in receipt of DSP payment for the Professional Masters in Education OR 12 months in receipt of DSP payment for Masters based solely on Life Experience |
Both partners can simultaneously qualify for a BTEA payment and can be supported to undertake courses of study.
The Qualified Adult Dependant (QA) of a person in receipt of one of the qualifying payments for BTEA purposes may be approved for BTEA provided they establish an entitlement to a BTEA qualifying payment (see tables above) in their own right and subject to satisfying all other BTEA conditions. This provision does not extend to a QA of a person made statutorily redundant nor does it extend to a QA of customers of work placement schemes (CE, TÚS or RSS).
Periods spent in receipt of a QA allowance on qualifying payments should be counted in addition to any periods in receipt of a qualifying payment in their own right provided the claims are not broken by more than 12 months.
Periods spent on any* qualifying payment and periods on other schemes/payment which are not broken by more than 12 months (52 weeks) can be combined in determining if a customer satisfies the qualifying period criteria.
Illness Benefit *
BTEA can be approved for a customer currently in receipt of Illness Benefit (IB) payment or IB credits or the QA of such payments/credits provided they satisfy the age requirements and are in receipt of the IB payment or credits for at least two (2) years.
Where a customer does not have two (2) years on the IB payment or credits, periods spent on other BTEA qualifying payments (refer to tables at 3.3) can be combined with Illness Benefit (IB) to count towards the qualifying period provided that there is 50% of the time accounted for on the current primary payment that qualifies the customer for the scheme.
A customer wishing to revert to Illness Benefit from BTEA should contact the Illness Benefit section to discuss their options.
BTEA will only be awarded where the applicant has an underlying eligibility to IB on the first day of their new course.
Periods spent on a range of other education, training, work placement and activation support schemes can be taken into account when determining the required number of days in receipt of a qualifying payment.
The provision applies ONLY in cases where the customer has established an entitlement to a qualifying social welfare payment in their own right and subject to satisfying all other conditions immediately prior to commencement of their course.
The schemes/payments are limited to the following:
Only in circumstances where an Employment Personal Adviser/ Job Coach is satisfied that a course of study represents a better activation option, should a customer cease engagement on these activation schemes prior to completion.
Jobseekers awarded statutory redundancy under the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967- 2014 have access to the BTEA scheme immediately on being made redundant or within one year of the award of the statutory redundancy. The jobseeker must establish an entitlement to a relevant social welfare payment immediately prior to commencement of an approved course of study.
Statutory redundancy is the only redundancy payment covered under this scheme.
Qualified Adults of jobseekers that received statutory redundancy cannot be approved for BTEA under this provision.
Applications from jobseeker claimants who wish to take full-time Springboard+ courses are assessed under a bespoke version of the Back to Education Allowance (BTEA) scheme where normal rules of BTEA apply except for the following conditions:
One-Parent Family Payment customers, wishing to remain on OPF can undertake a full-time Springboard+ course without requiring permission from the Department. Alternatively, they can apply under the bespoke BTEA where this is more beneficial. A person who is in receipt of another welfare payment should contact the appropriate scheme area to confirm that they can retain such payments (i.e., a person on Disability Allowance must contact the Disability Allowance section).
Work placement is a feature of Springboard+ and should be clearly identified when it is an integral/mandatory/compulsory part of the course. Only work placements within Ireland are supported. Income from paid work placement should be means assessed in line with the means test of the underlying qualifying payment.
Jobseeker's Benefit (JB) or Jobseekers Benefit Self-Employed (JBSE)
All BTEA applications received will cease payment when entitlements toJobseeker’s Benefit/Jobseeker’s Benefit Self-Employed exhausts. The BTEA customer will be entitled to payment for the duration of their entitlement on jobseekers benefit only.
BTEA will only remain in payment if the customer qualifies for another BTEA qualifying payment once their Jobseeker's Benefit /Jobseekers Benefit Self-Employed ceases. In such circumstances, an application must be made and assessed for the appropriate jobseeker or other scheme payment in the normal manner. Where an entitlement to retain the BTEA payment is established, the payment can be approved at the rate appropriate to the new qualifying payment. A customer may have an entitlement to a credits only claim where BTEA can continue, however, no payment will be made by the department. Where no entitlement to another qualifying payment exists, BTEA payment ceases.
The customer is obliged to inform the department of any change in their circumstances which may affect their continued entitlement. This should be noted for when JB / JBSE expires and establishing another qualifying payment to retain the BTEA. (RSU circular 37/17 refers)
Jobseeker Benefit/Jobseekers Benefit Self-Employed customers will receive full relevant* personal rate of JB/JBSE, while on BTEA, irrespective of whether they are engaged in part-time work or not. Casual dockets are not required. A QA rate is applied as per the guidelines of JB/JBSE claims.
Jobseeker's Allowance (JA)
From 2016/17 academic year the CT for JA BTEA should no longer be frozen for new customers.
Signing Arrangements
Applicants for International Protection who are studying full-time (including those previously supported through the Sanctuary Programmes) and who go on to receive their stamp 4 (permission to remain) after the commencement of the academic year are entitled to apply for BTEA. This extends eligibility for BTEA to former Protection Applicants who have commenced studying prior to receiving their permission to remain (stamp 4), from the date that they have received this permission (or commencement of an academic year).
To be considered for the BTEA a former Protection Applicant learner must
The applicant does not have to satisfy the conditions of section "Commencement of BTEA after first year of an approved course of study" relating to the commencement of the first year of a course (i.e. they may be awarded BTEA form the mid-point of a course or at the commencement of a later year of study).
Where the Stamp 4 is granted before or between academic years, the BTEA should be awarded for payment from the date of the commencement of the new academic year. Where a student’s Stamp 4 is granted at the mid-point of an academic year, the BTEA can be awarded from the date they have received this Permission i.e. a weekly BTEA rate of payment equal to the applicable jobseekers rate (i.e. including means) that would have been applied.
Where this provision is applied to a BTEA claim, the student will not be required to re-establish an entitlement to an underlying qualifying scheme at the start of subsequent academic years (in line with section "Commencing or resuming a course of study").
Entitlement to BTEA will cease and payments must be terminated in situations where:
BTEA customers cannot work full-time or engage simultaneously on:
Working Family Payment recipients are not eligible for the Back to Education Allowance scheme.
All BTEA customers (including customers commencing a new course) with eligibility based on a qualifying payment must re-establish their entitlement to the qualifying payment at the beginning of each academic year. Customers must continue to satisfy the means test (where applicable) during the academic year (refer to section "assessment of means and work placements" ). The conditionality attached to the qualifying payment must be examined at the beginning of each academic year in order for BTEA to be approved.
In certain circumstances, the provision that a customer must be commencing the first year of a full-time course to be approved for BTEA can be waived, subject to all other scheme conditions being fulfilled.
Deciding Officers and Employment Personal Adviser / Job Coaches may waive the conditions where the BTEA customer:
Remain on their JST and receive SUSI grant. Such customers have 7 years on JST in which to complete their relevant studies. Should their course of study not be completed before their youngest child reaches 14 years they will not be able to complete the course on JA as GSW (genuinely seeking work) is not satisfied.
Alternatively the Customer could opt for BTEA from their OPF claim in which case they will not be able to avail of the SUSI grant. The cost of education allowance payment may be payable. (Refer to section "Back to Education Allowance and Student Grant Scheme (SUSI)" and "Cost of Education Allowance")
In these cases an appointment should be made with an Employment Personal Adviser / Job Coach who will advise an option.
Mitigating circumstances can include but are not limited to a long-term illness or injury requiring prolonged absence from attendance at lectures, the serious illness of an immediate family member requiring the customer undertaking a caring responsibility, force majeure, discontinuance of the course by the educational institution. Documentary evidence from the college must be provided and in the event that a medical condition existed supporting documentation from the doctor/specialist etc. may be required.
Other mitigating circumstances that may arise can be considered by the officer having regards to all the relevant circumstances of the case.
Further Education Level
In certain limited circumstances BTEA can be approved where the customer proposes to undertake a course of study leading to a qualification at either QQI Levels 5 or 6 where the customer already holds qualification at the same level or lesser level.
In order for such an application to be recommended and subsequently approved, an Employment Personal Advisor / Job Coach will consider their recommendation in terms of further professional/career development and the customer’s overall job prospects having regard to:
Higher Education Level
In general, BTEA should only be approved where the course of study leads to a higher qualification on the National Framework of Qualifications than that already held by the customer (refer to Appendix 3)
| Level 7 | Ordinary Degree |
| Level 8 | Honours Degree |
| Level 8 | Higher Diploma |
| Level 9 | Professional Masters in Education (PME) = 2 years. (The PME is a two-year, full-time programme for graduates for the purposes of registration as a post-primary teacher) |
Customers holding a Higher Education qualification should not be approved for BTEA to pursue a course at a similar or lower qualification level. Separate rules apply for Springboard+/HCI. see section 3.8).
If a QQI level 8 degree is held, application to study for QQI level 8 Higher Diploma can be approved.
A customer who already holds a level 7 ordinary degree can only apply for the one year add on honours degree course which may be in a different discipline. They are not eligible to receive BTEA for a new level 8 degree course.
It should also be noted that if the customer already has a Post Graduate qualification, they cannot be approved for another (with exception of Springboard+ courses, see section 3.8).
BTEA repeat customers must:
A BTEA customer who fails and repeats an exam, which results in a break of their previously awarded BTEA payment and who satisfies all other eligible criteria for BTEA may be approved for BTEA in order to progress to the next year of their course of study.
If the break in payment is for a period longer than the academic year, they should be treated as new entrants to the scheme for payment purposes.
A BTEA participant who fails to complete, or drops out of a course of study should not be approved for a BTEA payment to pursue a different course of study. A BTEA customer who defers a year of their course of study should not be reapproved for BTEA unless there are mitigating circumstances. (Refer to section "Definition of Mitigating Circumstances")
However, if an Employment Personal Adviser/ Job Coach is satisfied that due to mitigating circumstances that it would be unreasonable to expect the customer to have continued the course of study they may be eligible to continue their course of study.
Customers who defer a year of a course of study are deemed to be new customers and are subject to the conditions on the date of reapplication.
BTEA customers (including those in receipt of Jobseeker's Credits only) may be eligible for support to offset the cost of the student registration fee, including other fees payable to access courses, if the BTEA customer satisfies the eligibility criteria for both.
However, customers approved for BTEA are not eligible for the student support grants operated by SUSI on behalf of the Department of Further Education, Research, Innovation and Science (DFHERIS).
Further information on the Student Grant Scheme can be obtained from www.susi.ie.
Age related payment rates were abolished with effect from 1st September 2017. As a result all BTEA customers will receive a weekly payment equivalent to the maximum standard personal rate of the qualifying payment (less any applicable means). Refer to RSU circular 63/18 and also note appendix 1 of same circular on how to apply rates.
Increases for QA and Child dependents should be awarded in line with the primary payment.
If there is a change in circumstances which effect increases for Qualified Adult/child entitlements, a review of these allowances should be completed and the rate payable for these allowances adjusted accordingly.
BTEA is paid on a weekly basis by Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) or by post draft (PDT). Customers are required to supply details of their bank account/post office at time of application.
Jobseekers payments only
BTEA approved in respect of Jobseeker's recipients is payable for the duration of the academic year only (or in the case of JB/JBSE when the claim exhausts), providing entitlement continues to exist. BTEA is not payable for the summer between academic years. Where BTEA customers are unable to find employment during the summer period, they may be entitled to claim an unemployment payment (JA/JB) subject to satisfying the usual qualifying conditions for those payments.
All other qualifying payments
BTEA customers other than jobseekers (JA/JB/JBSE only) will retain their BTEA payment during the summer period provided they are progressing to the following academic year of their course of study or to another approved course of study under the BTEA scheme.
From 1st September 2017 the Cost of Education allowance of €500 per academic year is payable to all BTEA customers with a qualified child payment on their claim subject to fulfilling all conditions on the primary scheme.
Where both the primary customer and the qualified adult are engaged with BTEA the maximum rate of payment of the Cost of Education Allowance in respect of their combined claims should be €500 per academic year, i.e. a maximum of €500 per household.
The tax status and legislative changes of Social Welfare payments have been updated and are included in the 2018 Finance Act. BTEA is categorised as a tax exempt payment, therefore, payment including increases for qualified adults or children and other allowances paid with the BTEA payment is fully exempt from income tax, PRSI and USC.
All BTEA claimants remain subject to the means test of the qualifying payment. This is used to determine the rate of BTEA payment and in any subsequent review.
BTEA claimants who engage in part-time work while in receipt of BTEA should be means assessed in accordance with the primary payment.
The customer is required to inform the Department of any change in circumstances that occurs.
With respect to Jobseeker's (JA/JB/JBSE), the condition of entitlement that a person must be unemployed for 4 days in any consecutive 7 days does not apply for the period of BTEA entitlement.
Customers may continue to receive any secondary benefits to which they would otherwise have an entitlement under the provisions of their qualifying payment and subject to meeting the conditions of the specific benefits.
In relation to Fuel allowance, entitlement to Fuel cannot be established by participating on a BTEA scheme. Please refer to section 9 of the National fuel Scheme guidelines.
In circumstances where BTEA customers have to, as an integral, compulsory, mandatory part of their course of study, undertake a period of work placement/experience or prepare a thesis/dissertation, BTEA can continue in payment for this period subject to the rules of the primary payment.
This may also include a work placement abroad (refer to section "BTEA and Erasmus+ 2021-27 (work abroad)"). The customer must give written notification in advance and indicate this course content in the application. Deciding Officer’s must require written evidence from the Registrars’ Office/Admissions Office or Student Records Office of the educational institution before confirming payment to cover these periods. Confirmation should indicate clearly the start and completion date as this may affect the resumption of the BTEA claim.
Where a BTEA customer receives payment for an integral/mandatory/compulsory work placement this should be assessed in accordance with rules of the primary payment. This also includes any paid work placement abroad.
On completion of the work placement, the customer should contact their local Intreo Centre to resume their BTEA claim (subject to normal BTEA rules).
Travel and Subsistence allowances should not be means assessed as they are genuine expenses incurred due to the nature of the work.
However, the Deciding Officer should ensure that the allowances received are actual travel and subsistence expenses and not a substitution for a customer’s salary while on work placement. Supporting documentation should be provided for clarification.
The Erasmus Programme is an EU exchange student programme that aims to provide foreign exchange options for students from within the European Union.
BTEA customers may be approved for payment if pursuing a year of their course of study under the EU Erasmus Programme. Deciding Officers must require written evidence from the Registrars’ Office/Admissions Office or Student Records Office of the educational institution before confirming payment to cover this period. Confirmation should be received in advance of travel abroad and to include a statement that the year abroad is an integral/mandatory/compulsory part of the course, the start and end date of the course and the details of the college abroad, where the study will be conducted and contact details of the customer while studying abroad. Where a monthly grant is received while participating in a year abroad through the Erasmus+ programme, this is not assessable as means for the BTEA.
Erasmus and Disability Allowance customers
Customers who were in receipt of a Disability Allowance (DA) payment within 30 days prior to the commencement of their Erasmus participation, may access BTEA to participate in the one year EU Erasmus programme as part of their studies.
Disability Allowance customers who lost their entitlement to DA because of participation in an Erasmus year of study, may access the BTEA scheme from the date of commencement of their Erasmus participation, where SUSI is not in payment. A customer may avail of the Cost of Education allowance where relevant. (Refer to section "Cost of Education Allowance" above).
Bursaries and scholarships awarded to students who are claiming Back to Education Allowance are assessed under the means test of the qualifying payment.
Proof of registration
The following are applicable for all BTEA customers:
Applications
BTEA customers have until 30th November to supply the required documentation to the Intreo Centre. If evidence of registration is not supplied by this date, payment of BTEA should be suspended immediately.
All applications must be submitted on an official BTEA application form Back to Education Allowance (BTE1) , or in paper version at Intreo Centres. Officers should assist customers to make applications at the earliest opportunity with final decisions on eligibility and payment rates reserved until immediately prior to commencement of the course of study when confirmation is available.
The BTEA application process:
All BTEA customers should be encouraged to submit the BTE1 application form once they have applied for a course of study and have received notification from the educational institution/CAO that an application has been received (generally available from March each year). Employment Personal Advisers / Job Coaches and Deciding Officers may make preliminary determination of suitability and eligibility pending final offer of a course of study by an educational institution (generally made from mid-August to mid-September each year).
All applications must be made in advance to enable scheduling of assessment processes and interviews with customers, if deemed necessary and the establishment of eligibility and provisional award of payment by the Deciding Officer.
To facilitate late placement offers, applications may be received up to but no later than 30 calendar days of the commencement of the course of study.
Applications received more than 30 calendar days after commencement of a course of study are deemed to be late applications. A late application can be considered having regard to any mitigating circumstances that may arise (see section 4.3).
Role of the DSP Employment Personal Adviser / Job Coach and Deciding Officer
As part of their functions to support customers, Employment Personal Advisers /Job Coaches will primarily be involved in determining suitability of the course of study being proposed for the Jobseeker to ensure it is in line with the activation needs of the customer, including alignment with the jobseeker’s Personal Progression Plan (PPP). The Employment Personal Adviser / Job Coach should provide direction insofar as this relates to ensuring that the course of study is in an area/sector of the economy where there are identified skill needs and job opportunities.
BTEA eligibility should be assessed primarily by the Deciding Officer (DO) and in all cases, only the DO can approve the customer for a BTEA payment, following receipt of a positive recommendation from the Employment Personal Adviser / Job Coach that they meet the eligibility criteria. The DO should issue a provisional award letter and final award letter. Eligibility for the scheme can only be determined immediately prior to the commencement of the course. Final approval letters should only issue when all conditionality of the BTEA scheme are met in full and following verification of payment requirements. A template letter is available on the Working Age Schemes Policy site on Stór. A copy of this letter should be scanned to the customer’s claim on BOMi4 and/or kept on the customer’s file.
In the event that an Employment Personal Adviser / Job Coach is unable to make a positive recommendation or the DO establishes that the conditions of entitlement are not satisfied, notification must issue to the customer clearly stating the specific grounds for refusal of BTEA. The customer must be advised of their right to request to have the decision re-examined and reviewed within 21 days of the issue of the letter of refusal and the manner in which a request for a reexamination or review can be made.
A customer who is not satisfied with a recommendation of an Employment Personal Adviser / Job Coach and/or a decision of a Deciding Officer may request in writing to have their application and assessment reexamined and reviewed. The request must clearly state the basis of the review being requested and enclose any new evidence or any other information to address the reasons for refusal communicated by the department.
As BTEA is an administrative scheme, a re-examination and review must be conducted by an officer of the department with relevant knowledge of the operation of BTEA and not involved in the previous recommendation/decision or by a higher officer of the relevant Intreo Centre. Employment Services Operations, Divisions/Intreo Centres should put in place standard arrangements for dealing with re examination and reviews of BTEA recommendations and award decisions. As this is an administrative scheme decisions cannot be appealed to the Social Welfare Appeals Office.
The reviewing Officer should ensure the original decision and any new evidence supplied is examined taking these rules and guidelines into consideration in their entirety. The outcome of this re-examination and review should be clearly documented and communicated to the customer outlining in detail why the application has been awarded or refused and noting that all new evidence has been taken into consideration in coming to a final decision.
(If BTEA is refused based on the recommendation of the Employment Personal Adviser/ Job Coach , the review should be taken by another Employment Personal Adviser / Job Coach or the Employment Services Manager.)
Staff should ensure that all SLO/TLO/OSLO/OTLO/ISLO/ITLO applications received and processed are recorded/input on the TLA system (available on OFFICE system).
| SLO and TLO | Further Level Option and Higher Level Option |
| OSLO and OTLO | Further and Higher Level Options for OPF claims |
| ISLO and ITLO | Further and Higher Level options for Illness Benefit Claims |
Data on the operation of BTEA is essential to the management of the scheme and therefore all applications should be recorded as:
A training manual for this system and relevant refusal and analysis codes are available to department staff.
Officers should refer to the department’s anti-fraud strategy which requires that effective divisional and local controls are implemented to protect the expenditure of public funds, prevent fraudulent activity/claims and minimise errors in the processing and approval of applications for BTEA. Actions relating to control of BTEA must be aligned with the aims to reduce fraud and abuse, minimise risks to public funds and eliminate incorrect payments.
Employment Services Operations Divisions must ensure that systematic verification processes, including reviews, are implemented during the payment cycle and where relevant, termination of BTEA payment at academic year end. Additionally, operational management should provide for targeted inspections of BTEA customers to ensure ongoing compliance.
In general, at least 5% of BTEA payments should be examined annually. Measures undertaken at operational management level will be supported by control actions undertaken by BTEA central policy unit. Failure by customers to comply with the rules and conditions of the scheme should result in termination of the BTEA payment and, where identified, the raising of an overpayment or consideration of a prosecution where fraudulent conduct is suspected. The actions of divisional staff is essential in ensuring that such situations do not arise, particularly in respect of providing information and guidance to customers on the ongoing need to advise the department of any changes that might impact on eligibility to the BTEA scheme.
Primary responsibility for control and monitoring rests with the Deciding Officer and the Employment Personal Adviser / Job Coach managing the application.
In January each year, a BTEA circular issues outlining control requirements including a procedure for confirming that customers are still in attendance at their approved course. Participation in the Back to Education Allowance may also be periodically reviewed to confirm that the conditions of entitlement continue to be satisfied.
Forms SLO8/TLO8/SLO8a/TLO8a/UP6 (BTEA) will issue to BTEA customers in April annually to request the supply of the course finish dates for the current academic year (normally date of last exam) and to determine a customer’s intentions for the future academic year. On return of these forms, Intreo Centres should ensure that actions set out in the circular are implemented.
Where BTEA customers are paid amounts to which they are not entitled, arrangements for debt recovery must be pursued. A review may also be initiated on receipt of notification of any change in circumstances which may affect entitlement or the appropriate rate of payment. Where a customer has received BTEA payments from the Department of Social Protection, which they were not entitled to receive, the customer shall be liable to repay on demand a sum not exceeding the amount of the money received.
Staff are required to ensure that all information and personal data received in respect of BTEA, (to include application, monitoring and control processes) are treated in a confidential and secure manner in line with Departmental data protection requirements.
Completed application form (BTE1) should be returned to:
Details of Relevant changes to Third Level Allowance/Second Level Allowance and Back to Education Allowance since 1990:
| 1990 | Third Level Allowance (TLA) first introduced. Applied to Jobseeker's Allowance and Jobseeker's Benefit only. Age criteria was 23 and qualifying period was 15 months | |
| 1993 | Extended to recipients of One Parent Family Payments Qualifying period reduced to 12 months. | |
| 1995 | Age criteria reduced to 21 years of age Qualifying period reduced to 6 months. TLA extended to Postgraduate qualifications (age criteria 24) provided applicant was on LR for at least 6 months after completing primary degree | |
| 1996 | TLA established as a separate stand-alone scheme. TLA payable at maximum personal rate. Book Allowance (€127.00) introduced. Payment of TLA during summer vacation period. Requirement to be for Postgraduate Option, on LR for 6 months after completing primary degree abolished | |
| 1997 | Second Level Allowance (SLA) established as a stand-alone scheme | |
| 1998 | Both the Second Level Allowance (SLA) and the Third Level Allowance (TLA) were merged into a unified Back to Education Allowance (BTEA) Scheme. Disability Allowance and Blind Pension became relevant qualifying payments for BTEA purposes. Annual Book Allowance was re-titled Cost of Education Allowance and increased to €190.00 | |
| 1999 | Annual Cost of Education Allowance increased to €254.00 | |
| 2000 | Invalidity Pension, Incapacity Supplement and Carer's Allowance became relevant payments for BTEA purposes. The Qualified Adult of a BTEA eligible person could "take over" the relevant Social Welfare payment in order to access the BTEA scheme. This arrangement is known as "Spousal Swap". Periods spent on Back to Work Allowance, FAS Job Initiative and Job Start could count towards qualifying period for BTEA | |
| 2001 | Early School Leavers (18-20 year olds) qualified for BTEA provided out of formal education for at least 2 years. People with disabilities who accessed Community Employment Schemes through the National Disability Authority (NDA) became eligible for BTEA without having to establish a Social Welfare entitlement | |
| 2002 | Persons in receipt of Deserted Wife's Allowance/Benefit Widows Contributory/Non Contributory Pension and Prisoners Wife's Allowance without dependent children became eligible for BTEA. BTEA was extended to persons in receipt of Illness Benefit for 3 years or more. Qualified Adult of BTEA eligible persons became eligible to access scheme in their own right (replaced "Spousal Swap") | |
| 2003 | Summer payment to BTEA participants previously on Jobseeker's Allowance and Jobseeker's Benefit discontinued. Postgraduate option of BTEA scheme restricted to Higher Diplomas (H.Dip.) or Postgraduate Diplomas in Education (Primary School Teaching) | |
| 2004 | Qualifying period for TLO increased from 6 to 15 months | |
| 2005 | Qualifying period for TLO reduced from 15 to 12 months JA and JB recipients qualify for TLO at 9 months if participating in NEAP process. Annual Cost of Education Allowance increased to €400.00 | |
| 2006 | Periods spent on SWA or Direct Provision from HSE to count towards qualifying period provided entitlement to relevant Social Welfare payment is established prior to commencing an approved course of study | |
| 2007 | Qualifying period for Illness Benefit reduced to 2 years. Persons awarded Statutory Redundancy may access scheme provided entitlement to a relevant Social Welfare payment is established prior to commencing an approved course of study. 1/9/2007 | |
| 2008 | Annual Cost of Education Allowance increases to €500.00. Cost of Education Allowance extended to "credit only" cases | |
| 2009 | Reduction of the qualifying period for Second level courses from 6 months (156 days) to 3 Months for all qualifying payments. (1/5/2009). Earlier access to Third level Option of the BTEA on the recommendation of the Job Facilitator. (Jobseeker's claims only). (1/5/2009) | |
| 2010 | Qualifying period for receipt of TLO courses reduced to 9 months( 234 days ) for all payments (July 2010) except Illness Benefit. (2 year qualifying period for Illness Benefit cases). Relaxation of the condition of first year of course of study (July 2010). BTEA recipients no longer eligible for Student Support Maintenance Grants (maintenance element only) September 2010 | |
| 2011 | BTEA recipients allowed to repeat only 1 year of their course of study (21 June 2011) | |
| 2012 | Annual Cost of Education reduced from €500 to €300. BTEA and Half rate JB, the half rate payment ceased for new applicants from 02 February 2012. | |
| 2013 | The €300 cost of Education Allowance was abolished for new and existing BTEA participants form January 1st, 2013. This applies to all courses commencing after this date. The practice of uprating over 25 year olds on all DSP payments to the maximum weekly rate is discontinued for new entrants only from 1 January 2013 and the uprating of under 25s on age related Jobseeker payments to a new reduced maximum rate of €160 applies to new entrants only from 1st Jan 2013. Under 25 year olds with means will have their means applied to the new €160 rate. Those currently engaged with BTEA and who are progressing, or who are mid course (for example will finish year one in May 2013 and resume their studies in September 2013), will not be affected by the budget 2013 changes relating to ‘uprating’. This includes people progressing from SLO to TLO. Qualified Adults are no longer entitled to the full personal rate of the qualifying DSP payment. A person participating on DSP Work programmes ( CE, Tús, RSS etc.) , Work Placement programmes (JobBridge etc.), Back to Work schemes , VTOS or FAS schemes must establish an entitlement to a qualifying DSP payment in order to qualify for BTEA at the applicable rate. From 4 July 2013, former One Family Parent customers affected by age related changes to OFP in full-time education who did not opt for BTEA at the start of the course may be admitted to BTEA ‘mid-course’ where OFP is being withdrawn due to the age of the youngest child. | |
| 2014 | All new BTEA (Jobseeker) applications from June 2014 will require Case Officer / Job Coach recommendation. Applicants wishing to pursue the new Professional Masters of Education (L9) will be able to avail of the BTEA if they have 312 days (12 months) on a qualifying payment and satisfy all other criteria. Illness Benefit customers require 2 years or more to qualify. BTEA customers who already hold a Fetac Level 5 or Fetac Level 6 qualification may be allowed to pursue a course of study at either of these levels in limited circumstances and will require Case officer / Job Coach approval. | |
| 2015 | Jobseeker's benefit participants – payment ceases when benefit exhausts and all part-time work assessed in accordance with the primary payment. If BTEA customer qualifies for Jobseeker's allowance, BTEA can continue. A Jobseeker / OFP/JST BTEA customer must re-establish entitlement to their primary payment at the recommencement date of the next year or the commencement of a further year of education under the scheme. Qualified Adults of BTEA qualifying payments must establish an entitlement to a BTEA qualifying payment in their own right in order to qualify for BTEA. | |
| 2016 | All part-time work assessed in accordance with the primary payment. Study within Ireland and Northern Ireland permitted. (Exceptions apply). Former DA customer who was in receipt of a Disability allowance payment within 30 days prior to the commencement of their course, may access BTEA to participate in the one year EU Erasmus programme as part of their studies subject to not being in receipt of SUSI maintenance grant. | |
| 2017 | Cost of Education Allowance introduced for customers with dependent children. Abolishing of age related payments for all customers. SLO customers no longer to commence study in UK (excluding Northern Ireland) Department of Education and Skills 1916 Bursary Scheme exempt from means assessment. | |
| 2018 | Uversity Registered Charity launched its Higher Education Scholarships for Adult Learners from January 2018 which is exempt from means assessment up to €7000 p.a. | |
| 2019 | Introduction of reduction in age for One Parent Family Payment customers from April 2019 | |
| 2020 | Advice on awarding BTEA for courses impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic. Introduction of the COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment for those who transition to a Jobseekers payment. Introduction of JBSE as an underlying payment for BTEA. Erasmus+ funding exempt from means assessment | |
| 2021 | Advice on awarding BTEA for Protective Applicants. Role of Job Coach included. S contribution inclusive for progression condition | |
| 2022 | Jobseekers who have transitioned from PUP to a Jobseekers payment and have remained on the Jobseekers payment will be deemed to have met the qualifying period | |
| 2024 | Time on Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection weekly payment (introduced in March 2024) can be considered towards the qualifying period. Second level courses renamed as Further Level education courses. Third level courses renamed as Higher Level education courses |
Qualifying payments and study option eligibility criteria combined for quick reference/print out.
| Jobseeker qualifying payments (or combination see section "Linking Provisions" below ) | Further Level Education | Higher Level Education | Post Graduate Option | |
| Jobseekers Allowance (means-tested), Jobseekers Benefit , Jobseekers Benefit Self-Employed, Jobseekers Benefit Credits ONLY* – not paid by the department, Farm and Fish Assist (means-tested). * | Aged at least 21 And have 3 months in receipt of DSP payment OR 2 years out of formal education (Note 1) if aged between 18 and 20. | Aged at least 21 years And have 9 months (234 days) in receipt of DSP payment OR 2 years out of formal education (Note 1) if aged between 18 and 20. | Aged at least 24 years And have 9 months for Higher Diploma/Postgraduate Option OR 12 months in receipt of DSP payment for the Professional Masters in Education OR 12 months in receipt of DSP payment for Masters based solely on Life Experience | |
| One Parent Family (Qualifying Payments) or combination, see section "Linking Provisions" below | Further Level Education | Higher Level Education | Post Graduate Option | |
| One Parent Family Payment (means-tested) | Aged at least 18 And have 3 months in receipt of DSP payment | Aged at least 18 years And have 9 months in receipt of DSP payment | Aged at least 24 years And have 9 months for Higher Diploma/Postgraduate Option OR 12 months in receipt of DSP payment for the Professional Masters in Education OR 12 months in receipt of DSP payment for Masters based solely on Life Experience | |
| Jobseekers Transition Payment (means-tested), Deserted Wife’s Benefit/Allowance (means-tested), Widows/Widower’s Contributory Pension, Widows/Widower’s Non-Contributory Pension (means-tested), Prisoner’s Wife’s Allowance (means-tested) | Aged at least 21 And have 3 months in receipt of DSP payment | Aged at least 21 years And have 9 months in receipt of DSP payment | Aged at least 24 years And have 9 months for Higher Diploma/Postgraduate Option OR 12 months in receipt of DSP payment for the Professional Masters in Education OR 12 months in receipt of DSP payment for Masters based solely on Life Experience | |
| Disability & Caring (Qualifying Payments | Further Level Education | Higher Level Education | Post Graduate Option | |
| Blind Pension (means-tested), Carers Allowance (means-tested) – note Caree must be transferred to another recipient, Disability Allowance (means-tested), Illness Benefit/Credits (separate conditions apply refer to section "Linking Provisions"), Incapacity Supplement (means-tested based on a Life Disablement), Invalidity Pension | Aged at least 18 years And have 3 months in receipt of DSP payment | Aged at least 18 years And have 9 months in receipt of DSP payment | Aged at least 24 years And have 9 months for Higher Diploma/Postgraduate Option OR 12 months in receipt of DSP payment for the Professional Masters in Education OR 12 months in receipt of DSP payment for Masters based solely on Life Experience |
Note: Periods spent on ETB full-time training courses and Youthreach can count towards the relevant qualifying period and may be regarded as periods out of formal education.