Help is at hand for students and their advisers, with Students and Benefits 2010-2011.

Students and Benefits is an on line guide to help students and their advisers work out their entitlement to social security benefits.

The guide is published by Law Centre (NI) in association with the National Union of Students /Union of Students in Ireland. It is available to advisers on the Publications/other Publications/Benefits and Tax Credits  page or from the following link:

Download Students & Benefits 2010 [PDF]

Students and student unions can also access it on www.nistudents.org and on NUSConnect, a new specialist resource and community website for UK and Ireland-wide NUS member unions, www.nusconnect.org.uk, which goes live on 20 August.

'More and more young people across Northern Ireland are seeking to enter further and higher education.  Others, such as unemployed people or single parents, go back to study to further their skills and improve their chances in an increasingly competitive labour market.  With our Students and Benefits guide, advisers and others working with students will be able to help them navigate the complex rules surrounding social security benefits for students,'  said Ursula O’Hare, Law Centre (NI) Assistant Director (Policy and Publications).

“As students get ready for the new academic year, it is vital that they understand how social security benefits are affected by their study.  We are glad that the Law Centre has once again made its expertise of social security benefits available to student advisers.  We are proud to be associated with the publication and distribution of Students and Benefits,'  added Ciarnan Helferty, NUS/USI student president.

Solicitor Patricia Carty, a social security legal adviser at the Law Centre, commented: 'This is an invaluable tool for anyone advising students on benefit entitlement.  Concise and written in plain English, it shines a very helpful light on this important and often neglected area of benefit law.'