Help With Student Loans - HERE!

Oldernotwiser

kittiechaos wrote: »

Hi all, hope everyone's OK and not getting to stressed out by the SLC! I have a query and I wondered if anyone had an answer. My pasrtner and I are currently on Income Support together (the claim is in his name) and also he gets low-rate DLA, both mobility and care. If we had our own place, we would also get housing benefit at a one bedroom rate. We are both 25. I am due to start uni on Sept 21st, and although I haven't read anything solid on-line, what I have read seems to suggest that we can still claim some benefits, especially as the claim is in his name. Does anyone know what our entitlement might be? We will be living in our own place by the beginning of term as well, by the way. It would help to have this information, as the maintenance grant and loan from the SLC is plenty to support one person, it would hardly be enough to support us both if my partner loses all his benefit! If anyone has any idea, that'd be great, as it would save me a 5 mile trek to the Jobcentre only to be sent around the reakin etc.

Student funding affects means tested benefits but not DLA.

Top_Banana_2

Top_Banana wrote: »

Hi- can you help?

I had a place on a 2 year HND in 2009. I had to defer the offer due to ill health. Again, in 2010 I was still ill and the uni agreed to defer until 2011. I am now fine and will be starting in September this year.

I applied for the tuition fee loan but I've been refused. I'm told I am not entitled to any tuition fee loan or grant (the things I applied for) as according to their records I have already studied for 2 years at HE level.

I have not done this as I deferred in both years. I have letters from UCAS dated August 2010 confirming this. How could I enrol/register if I had been confirmed as a 'deferral'? You can't.

In September 2010, the loans company paid me £800 of the grant in error. I repaid this immediately. This was a mistake as I did not attend 1 day of either the 2009/10 or 2010/11 years.

I've phoned the uni to ask for a letter from them confirming I have not studied with them in those 2 years at the request of the student finance people. The uni asked me to email in the request but I've not had a response yet.

Is there anything I can do?

This is a mistake on either the university's part (i.e. they mistakenly told student finance I had attended) or student finance's.

Thanks.

Hello.

I've quoted my original post to save me having to type it out again - it gives you the background of my problem.

Update: I have sent in the letter from the uni to confirm that I had never studied with them before and the UCAS deferral letter - both of which were requested by SFE.

I have not heard anything from SFE yet. I have called them a number of times over the past two weeks, but they simply tell me to be patient as it is being 'manually assessed'. I've already had it assessed and they made the mistake - yet I now suspect I'm back at the bottom of the list. Surely, if you'e been assessed already any changes can be dealt with more quickly?

I originally applied in April for the funding!

My worry is that I won't have the funding sorted out by the time the course starts on 12th Sept. Will I still be able to start the course if I haven't got it sorted by then?

I am not in any way to blame, yet I fear I could miss out on starting

Any tips?

Thank you!

Taiko

I'll drop you a PM after I've slept off this wine, Top Banana. Happy to take this on as casework and get things sorted for you.

Top_Banana_2

Taiko wrote: »

I'll drop you a PM after I've slept off this wine, Top Banana. Happy to take this on as casework and get things sorted for you.

Thank you, Taiko!

I appreciate the help!:T

CleggL04

Hi there,

Hoping someone can help, I'm looking at doing a Foundation degree in Business Admin at my local college/uni, its on a part time basis i have been told that 'Part time courses are capped at £900 pounds per annum' it's a 3 year course so £2,700 in total.

I work full time and earn approx 16k. I'm married with 1 child (age 3.5) and my husband earns approx 24k + overtime so = to about 30k. We received no benefits just child benefit £80 per month.

I have the option of asking work, but then I am tied to staying in this employment. Is there any funding/grant/loan that I may be eligible for? And i'm I too late for a course which starts in Sept 11

Any help would be gratefully received as it seems a bit of a minefield and very confusing!

Cheers:)

Oldernotwiser

Part time courses are current funded by means tested fees based on household income and I'm afraid that yours is likely to be too high.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/EducationAndLearning/UniversityAndHigherEducation/StudentFinance/Typesoffinance/DG_171530

From 2012, loans will be available for part time fees but fees will be jumping to around £2,500 for a course equivalent to half a year's full time study.

Your local college/university will be able to let you know whether there are still places available, or you could look to study by distance learning with the OU.

CleggL04

'Your local college/university will be able to let you know whether there are still places available, or you could look to study by distance learning with the OU.'


Thanks, as I thought, because we pay for everything ourselves including £500+ a month nursery fees we aren't entitled to any help. When that where all our spare income goes!! It drives me bonkers, but thats an argument for another day.
:mad:

So looking forward , Can you tell me what difference doing it with OU be to me?

Thank you!:)

MrsManda

CleggL04 wrote: »

So looking forward , Can you tell me what difference doing it with OU be to me?

Thank you!:)

Studying through the OU means you can work while studying as you are not required to attend classes at a set time and instead can study around your other commitments.

Their courses also start throughout the year so you should be able to start in September whereas your local college may not have places left (as ONW said, if you want to go to your local college it's worth calling the admissions dept asap to see if they can fit you in from September).

kittiechaos

"Student funding affects means tested benefits but not DLA. "

I already knew that his DLA is safe but what I really wanted to know was how it works with the Housing Benefit/Income Support. From what I can glean (which isn't very much) from small mentions on a few websites, it suggests that my partner is entitled to some HB and also to claim IS just for himself (instead of for both of us like he is now). The thing is, when I do a benefit checker it doesn't seem to allow for me being a student, or the same with a student funding checker. I've looked for solid answers everywhere but I've found very little.

Oldernotwiser

CleggL04 wrote: »

'
So looking forward , Can you tell me what difference doing it with OU be to me?

Thank you!:)

Studying with the OU is by distance learning but with occasional evening classes and day schools, particularly in the early stages. You can do a straight Business Studies Degree (or Foundation Degree), add in other units like languages or broaden it out completely to an Open degree. If you do start this year and have to pay fees, you can open a budget account (OUBSA) and spread the costs of fees over the year.

A good place to start learning about OU study is here.

http://www3.open.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/business-and-management/index.htm