Help With Student Loans - HERE!

Savvy_Sue

sarah, rather than quitting Uni altogether, can you defer your 2nd year, and get a job as you indicated you might have done, and add to your savings which will not be 'counted' in the student finance calculations?

There are also various hardship funds available through universities, it would be worth talking to the Union about how soon applications are open for these.

melancholly

sarah_x wrote: »

incase you hadn't noticed taiko, i was asking for any help/advice. after all, this is my future we are talking about. i don't really appreciate your blunt response considering the situation....

taiko knows more about student finance regs that most of the rest of us combined. their advice is correct; rubbish as it is for you, student finance can and do do this. to tell you anything else and give false hope would be desperately unfair...... the best thing for you is to get the facts of the situation and then form a plan to deal with them. that isn't always pleasant or easy, but the sooner you have concrete facts to deal with, the better.

stacey4415c

Could you look for a job to earn some money? My loan etc doesn't cover everything in London (580 rent etc) so i have a part time job, it also stops me being lazy....

sarah_x_2

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

sarah, rather than quitting Uni altogether, can you defer your 2nd year, and get a job as you indicated you might have done, and add to your savings which will not be 'counted' in the student finance calculations?

unfortunately, last year was the last time my uni were running the course that i am doing, and so if i was to defer, there would be no way i'd be able to pick up again on the course that i have started.

i've wanted a part time job since i started, but due to the nature of my course (mental health nursing & social work), it's intense and i'm normally in 5 days a week, plus on hospital placements (including some weekends) and so the chances of my employer being understanding towards me ever changing shift patterns is slim.

i have however, applied to join NHS professionals (which you can do once you're in 2nd year) and they basically allow you to pick and choose when/where you work shifts depending on your availability & if they need extra staff. my interview is at the end of the month, but even if i get it, i don't think it'll bring in enough money to make up the shortfall....

melancholly

right then - student overdraft? access to learning fund? psychology experiments for the odd bit of cash in hand? car boot sale? ebay? any chance of a loan from family? temp work over Christmas holiday? evening bar work?

there isn't an easy solution but there should be ways to solve this. the first point of call should be to your uni about emergency funds - they may not have any but at least give it a try.

i'm assuming this is LSBU? in which case the ALF will be open for applications in October:
http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/clsd/advice/alf/index.shtml
but in the meantime meet with an advisor asap.

sanctus_diavolos

I applied online for the first time this year two weeks ago. I sent my parents income just a few days ago yet they have a timetable of payments that are not including my grant. They have sent me the payment table to take into my university to recieve payments and have my tuition fee loan accounted for also.

They said that my payments have been scheduled without my parents income so I can have some finance for when I start and when they recieve proof of my parents income they will assess my payments again.

Is the income just for the grants? because my page has no mention of the word grant, and this has made me very confused!

Thanks

Savvy_Sue

Welcome. I don't believe you'll get any grants until they have details of your parents' income, and then only if you're entitled to one on the basis that they have a low income.

liquid_lunch

hi guys,

i asked this about a month ago but received no response.
im actually due to enrol this week, and am still having no joy with SLC (atm i cant even apply due to a mixup with my account) so i have absolutely no idea about any funding i may or may not get.
original post has been cut and pasted below.
i hope some of you can help, because the stress of this is not good for me at all.
thanks.


i previously started a uni degree in 1997
basically i failed 2 modules in the 1st yr so my 2nd yr was just repeating those but due to health and personal issues i didnt complete them - the uni accepted my reasoning and let me back on the course again to do just those 2 modules - however my health was worsening still and i gave it up as a bad idea.

im still ill but have now got a good hold over the problems - in effect i dont let them ruin my life even if they do spoil some individual days (the illness is fibromyalgia if anyone is interested) and am now looking at going back to uni (with my doctors approval)

I did think id probably have to do an access course but following an informal interview and submitting some pieces of written work done for a blog, ive now been accepted on a course (different course, same uni as before) that i love the look of. BUT im somewhat concerned about finance and the student loans company.

ive heard differing stories - some say you cannot do a 2nd degree and get a student loan for the tuition fees, some seem to say you cannot get tuition fee loans on a new course if you started the 2nd yr of a different course and yet others say that whilst 1. or 2. is correct the student loans company have some discretion if the circumstances are right.


now im not even sure what category id fit into - in effect though i was there for between 2 and 3 yrs i never actually completed the 1st yr so hence never started the 2nd.

i really want to do this, ive dug myself out of a hole i never want to get into again and am moving on with my life.
Im taking the education route for several reasons both personal & private and also for a way of proving to potential employers of the future im capable of fullfilling a role and sticking with it despite an ongoing illness.


any help here would be most appreciated (positive or negative its all helpful - though please dont tell me i shouldnt be going to uni its a really positive move for me and has been approved by my doctor) [FONT=&quot]
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MrsManda

liquid_lunch wrote: »

hi guys,
i previously started a uni degree in 1997
basically i failed 2 modules in the 1st yr so my 2nd yr was just repeating those but due to health and personal issues i didnt complete them - the uni accepted my reasoning and let me back on the course again to do just those 2 modules - however my health was worsening still and i gave it up as a bad idea.

I'm not an expert (will have to wait for Taiko to reply for expert opinion) but under 'normal' circumstances you are allowed funding for the length of the course + 1 year. So if you are doing a 3 year course you are allowed one year's false start.
You can get more funding than this if you can prove extenuating circumstances.
From what I can tell from your post you've had two years at university and now want to do a three year degree course. Because you dropped out of your first university due to ill health you are likely to be able to receive funding for your entire new degree.

I did similar to you and because I could provide evidence that I dropped out my previous degree due to ill health the LEA (now will be the SFE i think) decided to discount my previous studies. This meant I could attend university again with full funding and still have the +1 year.

melancholly

i don't know the answer - but do you have a back up plan to cope until loans come through? if you haven't applied yet, you won't be getting the money any time soon even if you could do it tomorrow..... there's also a chance that you'll need to self fund your first year (but someone else will need to confirm that) - is this an option for you?

in your position i'd be calling student finance people daily to get this sorted. it must be very stressful and i don't envy you that, but even if you are entitled to the loans, they won't appear any time soon. i hope you're sorted for living expenses in the short term at least...