Pay for college by having a baby and claiming benefits, teenage orphan told

Kirsty Oldfield, 17, is studying for her A-levels and hopes to study psychology at university.

But although she works part-time at a restaurant, she does not have enough money to live on.

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She said that when she told benefits advisers she would have to leave school if her £30-a-week state support was not increased, they told her that her only option was to get pregnant.

Her teachers said yesterday it would be a tragedy if Kirsty's desire to better herself was scuppered by money worries, while her MP demanded to know why the Government did not do more to support orphans.

Her mother Jayne, a nurse, died last summer while Kirsty was studying for her GCSEs, and her father Chris, an accountant, collapsed from a heart attack aged 46 in January this year.

Despite the double tragedy, Kirsty opted to stay on at Salt Grammar School in Baildon, West Yorkshire, where she is studying for A-levels in ICT, sociology and general studies.

But even though she moved in with her half-sister, her hopes of getting good grades and going on to university are in jeopardy.

The only state benefit to which she is entitled is a £30-a-week education maintenance allowance.

Although she has halved the hours she puts in as a chef at a local restaurant, her £70 weekly wage means she is not eligible for income support or other benefits.

If Kirsty were a teenage mother, she would be eligible for child benefit, child tax credits and housing benefit as well as income support.

"I said to my headteacher that I might be dropping out because I can't afford to carry on," she said.

"My teachers said that there must be something that I could do but I have asked my benefits adviser and they said I can't claim for anything.

"They said the only way I can claim anything is by becoming pregnant and I don't want to do that because it is wasting my life."

Kirsty will be able to access a trust fund from the sale of her parents' house in Shipley - but not until she is 21.

In the meantime she is scraping by with handouts from her family and a local church.

"The last thing I want is to end up as another pregnant teenager," she said.

"I have ambitions for university and a career as a psychologist - babies are the last thing on my mind.

"I think it's incredible that I'm having the ambition knocked out of me.

"I've had a terrible few months - mum and dad's deaths hit me really badly, as they would anyone.

"But I am enjoying my education, and I want to make something of myself in a way that would have made them proud.

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"Having a baby isn't in my plans, whatever the reason."

Kirsty's teacher, Max Robinson, said: "She's a role model to students and a promising pupil.

"She seems to be in this tiny loophole in the system. It is horrendous."

Her head of year, Martyn Redhead, added: "She is such a fantastic kid, she has never used any of her problems as an excuse.

"When she was told she could get money if she was pregnant, we couldn't believe it."

Her MP, Philip Davies, said he wanted answers from schools minister Ed Balls.

"It would be tragic for anyone to be in this situation, especially a talented pupil who really wants to be there," he added.