Help With Student Loans - HERE!

amiehall

LouisaMay wrote: »

Hi all, I hope you can help me! I am going to uni in September and will need to apply for student finance. I am over 25 and currently engaged, but we are not living together. However, we will be getting married at some point in the next academic year (initially we wanted September, but we are not likely to be able to afford it by then). So what I need to know is, when completing the loan forms, do I include my finance's income, even though we are not married or living together and we still won't be by 1st September?

I'm really sorry to say that getting married is going to have really adverse effects on your loan amount. If you're unmarried, your partners income is not relevant to your assessment whether you live together or not. When you get married this changes and you're assessed on your partner's income. Depends on what's affordable for you, this has really changed our potential plans to get married.

spencer.cole

hey does anyone know when is the next student loan coming in for this year?
cheers guys!

Taiko

What I will just add to amie's post, there may actually be a loophole here in the regulations, regarding events after the 1st September.

Will look through them to confirm in detail, make sure it's not closed.

davestretty

Hi Taico - were you just another unsympathetic civil servant? Black is black and white is white eh! As ever there is ambiguity in these edicts and they are open to interpretation by minions. What if Moddy's childcare costs vary from week to week depending on lectures etc? should she submit a new statement every week or can she submit an estimate to be corrected annually when actual costs are known? Also from her email I would guess english is not her first language, I have spoken english from birth (well 1 ish or is that not precise enough?) and find some of the govt and slc definitions difficult to fathom. Shouldn't civil servants actually serve and help? (SLC employees are really working for the govt aren't they)

Taiko

I'll assume you are addressing myself.

Part of the job is to protect public funds. In regards to this ancient post you're opting to drag up, it's ok to overestimate, and myself and the SLC realise it happens. However, once you know you're overestimating, it is up to the student to disclose it. In Moddy's case, they did not. The responsibility for this is outlined in the contract that the student signs with the SLC, so in effect in not doing so the student is then in breach of contract.

If you sign something, you should understand the implications of it.

dadio77

Thanks Taiko for your help via PM, your advice is extremely valuable, and is what this forum is all about! I'll let you know how I get on!!

Taiko

No problem. If you need any further help, which in my view you shouldn't, feel free to come back.

debbie_5864

So I am really confused to why I can not have a tuition fee loan. I was hoping someone could help me out and explain...
I studied in 2000, I didnt complete my first year as I fell pregnant and had a baby in the May. I went back to return to my studies in 2002 and completed a HND.
I am know in the position where i would like to convert my HND into a degree. I have been offered a place straight into year 2 of a 3 year course. I have been offered a maintenance loan of £5500 for the year. However I have not been offered a tuition fee loan? is this because of my previous years of study? if so is there an appeal process? I can not return to study and better my life without this loan so are there any other options to either top up my loan or any grants I can apply for?
I have read load on the direct gov website reagrding the tuition fees but can find nowhere stating why I am not eligible for the tuition fee loan?

Lokolo

debbie_5864 wrote: »

So I am really confused to why I can not have a tuition fee loan. I was hoping someone could help me out and explain...
I studied in 2000, I didnt complete my first year as I fell pregnant and had a baby in the May. I went back to return to my studies in 2002 and completed a HND.
I am know in the position where i would like to convert my HND into a degree. I have been offered a place straight into year 2 of a 3 year course. I have been offered a maintenance loan of £5500 for the year. However I have not been offered a tuition fee loan? is this because of my previous years of study? if so is there an appeal process? I can not return to study and better my life without this loan so are there any other options to either top up my loan or any grants I can apply for?
I have read load on the direct gov website reagrding the tuition fees but can find nowhere stating why I am not eligible for the tuition fee loan?

Why are you going into a second year and not third? The HND is the equiavalent to the first 2 years of a degree.

You are effectively repaeting a year of study, and you have already had your free repeat year (you are allowed 1 years extra tuition for any hiccups, which you've already used up).

debbie_5864

Im going back into the second year because I have been out of study for 6 years. The only way you can go straight into the degree 3rd year is by doing them back to back.
So I am still not fully understanding as to why do you only get one go at studying with tuition fess yet I can have 5 years with the student loan? I have never claimed a tuition fee loan before as I have always been under my parents care when studying and they were over the means tested amount. Therefore in the past my parents have always paid them. Now I am married with two kids and nolonger my parents responsibility.
How can I have already used up my tuition fee loan and the hiccup year when I have never had one before?