Introduction to welfare rights

About this course

This is essential training if you are starting out as a welfare rights adviser in Scotland or need a good understanding of the benefits system. It introduces you to the social security system and important concepts to help you maximise benefit entitlement. You will gain a detailed knowledge of the core benefits and assessments involved in welfare rights advice – universal credit, the assessment of limited capability for work and the assessment of adult disability payment. You will learn how to maximise entitlement and deal with problems.

The course covers: 

Benefits overview 

• The structure of the benefits system 
• The range of UK and Scottish benefits available in different circumstances  
• Key concepts in income-related benefit entitlement  

Universal credit 

• Who is entitled to universal credit 
• Helping people claim and manage the system 
• The transfer from legacy benefits 
• The amounts that make up universal credit 
• How universal credit awards are calculated 

Work capability assessment 

• What the work capability assessment is for 
• Who has limited capability for work, and limited capability for work-related activity 
• The process of going through an assessment 

Advising about legacy benefits

• What are the legacy benefits that universal credit is replacing and who gets them
• Common issues and maximising entitlement

Adult disability payment 

• Who is entitled to adult disability payment 
• Understanding the assessment 
• How to claim 

This course is aimed at new advisers and support workers who have little or no experience of the benefits system. 

You can add to this core training by also booking on Pension age disability payment and Child disability payment – an introduction.  

This six half-day course, spread across two weeks, will be delivered online via Zoom. 

The course will run each day from 10am to 1pm with a half hour break from 11.15 – 11.45.

Course schedule as follows:

16, 17, 18, 23, 24, 25 April 2024

17, 18, 19, 24, 25, 26 September 2024

14, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23 January 2025

It is a practical course, delivered using a combination of trainer presentation, exercises and group discussion. Participants will need a Wi-Fi connection and a suitable device to access the internet. It is not recommended to join via a mobile phone. 

'All the Tutors and team were fabulous. The opportunities to ask the tutors questions were there in abundance.'