Access to Learning application refused

DrFluffy

I'm certainly not the only grad in my year who has accessed the fund. I was our welfare officer last year and have never heard of anything more ridiculous! At my uni, grads are given priority as financial hardship tends to be more severe... That is equally true for second degree undergrads as it is for postgrads.

London Mets stance stinks!

mark1024

Yes. I won't cite my circumstances, they are pretty dire and mainly due to things beyond my control, causing extreme hardship. However the university is unconcerned. They have no hardship fund. Their only emergency money is the ALF for which, as I said, there are proscribed government criteria.

The HEFCE document on the Dept Innovation Universities & Skills web site make it clear that money should go to first degree takers. The government is the main culprit here, and because all universities receive ALF money through the same mechanism, they have or will no doubt change their own eligibility criteria to fall in line. Richer colleges may have other sources of income to put into hardship funds, but London Met certainly is not one of those.


All a bit off the original post, but there may be more to the application denial than has been said in the rejection letter.

DrFluffy

I'm not at a rich UoL institution, and the funds involved are all ALF. My medical school does have alumni funds, but these can only be activated AFTER an application to ALF, and usually not if ALF have turned you down.

Oldernotwiser

mark1024 wrote: »

The HEFCE document on the Dept Innovation Universities & Skills web site make it clear that money should go to first degree takers. .

What the document actually says is


"Institutions should give priority for ALF to students undertaking their first HE qualification; the needs of this group should be taken into account before institutions consider supporting ELQ students (unless they are in a priority group for ALF). "

which is not the same thing as you're saying at all!

mark1024

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

What the document actually says is


"Institutions should give priority for ALF to students undertaking their first HE qualification; the needs of this group should be taken into account before institutions consider supporting ELQ students (unless they are in a priority group for ALF). "

which is not the same thing as you're saying at all!

As I said, and you so helpfully quoted, the government wants the money to go to first degree takers. The consequence of this is that, given the limited size of the ALF money, the largest university in London (possible the UK) has interpreted the guideline by refusing all ELQ applications to the fund, forecasting that the total of applications from first degree takers will empty the fund of resources. Therefore what is the point of accepting my application ? If you feel this is wrong, feel free to act on behalf of ELQ students at London Met, and other universities who implement this policy. You will also find that what is said on the web sites and by student services may be inaccurate due to the fact that criteria are changed by higher levels of management. There is another thread on this board which also reminds us that one department is often unaware of what the other one has implemented vis-a-vis ELQ fees etc.
Perhaps you need to actually apply to the fund yourself to appreciate the often Kafkaesque nature of the procedure, as highlighted by the original poster on this thread.