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  • Lokolo
    Lokolo Posts: 20,861 Forumite
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    janwilliams3 wrote: »
    Can anyone out there help and I'm sorry if this has been asked before but there is slight panic stations in the house at the moment. My son went to uni 3 years ago and completed his first year and failed the second year. He has since worked full time for the next year and has been accpeted to start on a different undergraduate course next month on the grades he had when he left sixth form. He has just heard from student finance that he will not receive tuition fees or a maintenance loan for the first year as the max they will loan is for 4 years and he has had 2.

    They will give him the loans in his 2nd and 3rd year but not his first. I am not in a position to pay any of the fees as I am financially compromised and his sister is also going to university next month. Anyone know if this is correct as the story seems to change a little every time he contacts them.

    I guess what they're saying, quite rightly, is that if you mess up first time we want to make sure you complete the first year before we dip our hands in our pockets a second time but as it's a loan won't they get it back anyway?

    Any help gratefully appreciated.

    Not nesscerily (I can't spell today). You have to b earning over £15k, so you could go 25 years without earning over £15k and your loan gets wiped.

    As a student you get course length + 1 extra year. So a typical 3 year course means you can get upto 4 years finance. As he has had 2, he gets 2 left, and it works backwards so he gets years 3 and 2.

    He can either not go in September, work another year and save up. Or try and find the money elsewhere.
  • Oldernotwiser
    Oldernotwiser Posts: 37,425 Forumite
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    janwilliams3 wrote: »
    Can anyone out there help and I'm sorry if this has been asked before but there is slight panic stations in the house at the moment. My son went to uni 3 years ago and completed his first year and failed the second year. He has since worked full time for the next year and has been accpeted to start on a different undergraduate course next month on the grades he had when he left sixth form. He has just heard from student finance that he will not receive tuition fees or a maintenance loan for the first year as the max they will loan is for 4 years and he has had 2.

    They will give him the loans in his 2nd and 3rd year but not his first. I am not in a position to pay any of the fees as I am financially compromised and his sister is also going to university next month.
    I guess what they're saying, quite rightly, is that if you mess up first time we want to make sure you complete the first year before we dip our hands in our pockets a second time but as it's a loan won't they get it back anyway?

    Any help gratefully appreciated.

    I'm afraid that the information you've been given is correct. Most people in your son's situation use their Maintenance Grant to pay their fees and then support themselves on part time earnings and family help for a year until the full package kicks in.

    Many people never pay their loan off so this is irrelevant and the fees are heavily subsidised by government. Has your son been saving for this eventuality while he has been working this year?
  • janwilliams3
    janwilliams3 Posts: 123 Forumite
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    My son was unortunately misinformed by student finance when he enquired last year and has not saved anywhere near enough to go this year so choices are as previous post. Thanks for your reply.
  • lucylollipop
    lucylollipop Posts: 176 Forumite
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    Just wondering if anyone can help me here...

    Back in May/June, I completed my online application for financial support for a PGCE course. I supplied them with all of the evidence they asked for online, which, at the time, was only the proof that I'd completed my undergraduate degree, and financial info for the year 2008-2009, as, according to my online file, they already had the financial info for the 3 years previous to me starting uni, and therefore didn't need me to supply it again.

    Having not heard anything, and my online record constantly just stating that I was being processed, but also owed them more evidence still, I contacted the call centre, to ask what they still needed from me. I called them daily for nearly 3 weeks before they could actually answer that, which happened yesterday. It turns out that, although I supplied financial info back in 2007 for the start of my BA, I sent those to my Local Authority, and, even though the online system said that they had them, they actually don't, and I now need to send it all in. I've done that this morning, but I've got no idea how long I'm going to be waiting for my funding now - as I said, I thought I'd got it all sorted and was just waiting for a decision from them, and I've been trying to get the details for the past 3 weeks anyway - it's not like I haven't been trying! I start uni in just over 2 weeks, and all I really want to know is that my tuition is going to be in place by that date - I've had various contradictory answers from the call centre, as well as being told a couple of times that I'll have "tuition and minimum funding" in place by then, but I've still had no confirmation of this, and I'm starting to get a touch worried!

    I realise that, having only just sent in the financial evidence, it's going to take some time to process the means-tested portion of my application, but is there any idea at the moment of how long it's going to be?

    Thanks,

    Lucy
    *2016 - the year of the savings account!*

    GC: Jan (£300/£179.76) 8 NSD
    Diet: 60lbs this year - so far: 0.5
  • jim808
    jim808 Posts: 3 Newbie
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    I am a mature student due to start a 4 yr BAHons degree (inc PGCE in last year) in Sept. I am married (household income approx 30k) and have a 6yr old son. I have been told I can have a maintenance grant, but not a tuition fee loan. The reason is that I have previouse higher education. I obtained a BTEC National Cert in 1991, and a BTEC HNC in 1995. I paid for these courses myself (no loans etc), did them over 4 yrs part time whilst working full time.
    Has there been some mistake?, why am I being discriminated against because I was consciencious, and hard working enough to get educated over 15 yrs ago? Does BTEC actually count as a Higher Education Course?, Does this decision apply for the whole 4 yrs of my course, or does each year get looked at on its own merits?
    I know I have been offered the maintenance loan, but I will use that for exactly what it was meant for ie child care etc. If I can't get the tuition fee loan I'm stuffed as our family income is all swallowed up with mortgages, bills etc.
    Could some one please give me some advice on wether or not I can get the decission changed? I have e-mailed SLC 'appeals' 4 times over the last 6 weeks, with no reply,
    Thanks for listening,
    Jim
  • MrsManda
    MrsManda Posts: 4,457 Forumite
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    jim808 wrote: »
    I obtained a BTEC National Cert in 1991, and a BTEC HNC in 1995. I paid for these courses myself (no loans etc), Does BTEC actually count as a Higher Education Course?

    A BTEC HNC is a Higher Education Course
    jim808 wrote: »
    Does this decision apply for the whole 4 yrs of my course, or does each year get looked at on its own merits?

    You are usually entitled to the length of your course + 1 year. So as your course is 4 years long you are eligible for 5 years funding minus how many years you have already had. I don't know how it works with part-time study but I presume that as HNCs take two years full time that's how many years the SLC will class you as having. In which case you'd get tuition fees for the rest of your course, just not the first year. Taiko or Student_advisor will be able to confirm whether this is right but it's how I believe it works.

    jim808 wrote: »
    but I will use that for exactly what it was meant for ie child care etc.

    You may be able to get a childcare grant and Parents Learning Allowance alongside the rest of your funding
  • jim808
    jim808 Posts: 3 Newbie
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    Wicked, Thanks for the clarification. Why can't SLC provide this kind of support and advice?
  • Oldernotwiser
    Oldernotwiser Posts: 37,425 Forumite
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    MrsManda wrote: »

    You are usually entitled to the length of your course + 1 year. So as your course is 4 years long you are eligible for 5 years funding minus how many years you have already had. I don't know how it works with part-time study but I presume that as HNCs take two years full time that's how many years the SLC will class you as having. In which case you'd get tuition fees for the rest of your course, just not the first year. Taiko or Student_advisor will be able to confirm whether this is right but it's how I believe it works.


    An HNC would normally be 2 years part time study but only 1 year full time (HNDs are 2 years full time) so the situation may well not be as difficult as you think. I would expect someone with an HNC to get full funding as it would count as the "plus 1" year that you're allowed.
  • MrsManda
    MrsManda Posts: 4,457 Forumite
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    Oldernotwiser wrote: »
    An HNC would normally be 2 years part time study but only 1 year full time

    Thanks ONW, I thought someone would be able to correct me if I was wrong :)
  • Taiko
    Taiko Posts: 2,711 Forumite
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    Want to clarify the new regs before I advise on this. Been a while since I had to deal with new students, and have a feeling previous study for part-time regs may have changed slightly. It never used to be brought in, but feeling it does now.
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