Hi,
I'm thinking for applying for Teaching assistant position at Salford University,in return they will pay me the PhD fees. and If I'm accepted I'll move to Manchester (I live in USA) . I need advice about living in Manchester ,I have two kids , one of them has Autism , and My Husband works as an Auto Mechanic, I'll only bring about 8,000 GBP , is is enough to start living in Manchester ? is it easy to find a Job for my husband ? will it be enough to support our family?
any insight about inclusive schools for Kids with Autism.
thanks

Hi Raniat

I used to work at the Special Education department of Manchester City Council and they have a range of schools with specialism for Autistic (including Aspergers) children. You will need to ensure that you get in touch with the SEN Casework Service who will provide your child with what is known as a "Statement", a document which clearly outlines your child's needs and the most appropriate provision (whether the child can be in an inclusive mainstream school with assistance, or whether they need a special school). This only covers the area of Manchester City Council, not the suburbs, or Salford Council, who have different (and in my opinion less successful) forms of provision. Of course this also depends on your childrens ages.

If you plan to rent, you can get a 3 bed house in a good - very good area for £600 - 700 a month, so money will be tight until your husband gets a job. The most difficult aspect of this will not be finding a garage for him to work in, but arranging the work visas.

Can I just ask which department you're planning to apply at? I know a number of Salford depts are no longer allowing non-EU citizens to apply for their teaching assistant programme, but this varies.

SleepyHead
thanks for your response , I checked with Salford university and they assured me that they welcome international students.
Work visa isn't a problem , I checked with the Britich Council and they informed me that since I will be a student in UK my husband will be allowed to Work . any Ideas about Auto Mechanic salaries??

Hi I'm from Manchester, great city! My brother is severely autistic and there is a wide range of schools ranging from schools specifically for people with learning difficulties to integrated schools that have special needs departments. What's also great is that there are colleges helping with independence and careers that aim to integrate those with autism into the community and teach them life skills. There are a few 'buddy schemes' set up which allow children and teenagers with learning difficulties in the nearby area to meet up and play/make friends etc. so there shouldn't be any need for isolation. Aside from these issues, Manchester is one of the friendliest cities around, and also one of the cheapest to live. Although its an industrial city, there is plenty of greenery around. Salaries aren't so high as a general rule, but that is usually compensated for by the fact that everything is much cheaper. I honestly thin you'll be fine, you may even enjoy it!;-)
Good luck!!!

£8k should give you a good start, but with a family of 4 and all the set up costs of moving to Britain, it won't last more than few months. You can benefit from the property crash at the moment, rents in Manchester's regeneration areas are very cheap for quite plushy apartments. The City of Salford is also particularly cheap at the moment. However, cheap rents are somewhat offset by the big increases in food, fuel and utility prices (expect to pay at least 25% more for most things in the UK cf. to the US). You should also consider the fact that unemployment is rising to record levels in the UK, so it may be quite difficult for your husband to find work (we are suffering the same economic problems as the US).

The average car mechanic (not running their own business) will get something in the region of £15-25k a year (after your tax free allowance, you'll pay 20% tax on this, and an additional 11% for national insurance on any income earned above approx. £100 per wk). This type of salary, plus money you'll get as teaching assistant, should be enough to live on.

I would strongly recommend that you come over here and check everything before making a 3/4 year commitment, particularly with respect to finding decent school places for your kids.

It's difficult to answer most of it as it depends on so many things, and I know little of autism and Manchester, but re the income thing, the tax picture is a little more complicated than previous posts. In the UK there are working tax credits, so if your income is low and you have kids you get alot of that tax back. I'm not an expert on it, and how it relates if you are not a UK citizen, but look into it before taking the tax things are read. Try the inland revenue website.http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/taxcredits/index.htm

As a guide, I get just over £12k, and my partner is self employed so we have to be sure we could live off just my money if we really needed to. I think we could, but only just. All of our mortgage (and we bought our house a good few years ago, so this is a mortgage way smaller than the rent would be on our house), electricity, gas, food, phone, council tax etc comes in at about £900/month. This is with no kids.

Manchester is a cheaper bit of the UK, not the cheapest but nothing like London. And sure there's talk of financial problems, but people still need their car fixing, and I think it would take alot worse financial problems for the British to give up their cars.

Is it £8k that they have quoted, you're not guestimating any tax to take off are you? As bursaries are tax free here.

Sorry just twigged £8k is pay not bursary, so the ignore that last bit. Tax credits bit still stands though...

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Alice, you're right to say to check out the tax situation. I was only presenting the bare bones (the complexities of internationals working the UK often justify seeking specialist advice because it can get very messy).

However, generally, international students (non-EU) have a stipulation on their visas stating they must not have 'recourse to public funds'. This means you cannot get tax credits, housing benefit, council tax benefit etc. However, liability to income tax/NI is the same as a UK national.

Well I didn't know that. Thanks Missspacey. Maybe that is why they are tax credits rather than a reduction in tax. I always wondered about that, but I suppose one is then tax and the other is separate therefore they can have different entitlement regimes. Maybe. Could be nothing to do with it of course...:-)