Earn upto £3,500 for 30 minutes work!!! 'Access to Learning Fund'

yeslek

si1503 wrote:

Certainly worth a try! I think that is the general message from the original poster. Even if you don't think you are entitled to support its worth applying anyway just incase, as by the end of the year many universities have struggled to dish out the fund, and what they don't give out only gets sent back to the gov. Hence they are quite keen to give out support to those who apply.

so its advisable to hold off until next year?

mundu

I'm currrently at college doing a one year foundation course and the college have paid for 60% of my fees and giving me a £600 grant.

I was wondering if I could apply for the ALF? I was also wondering if I could apply for a ALG or if the grant given to me by my college is the ALG?

Actually I might aswell try and find this out today while I'm there!

si1503

yeslek wrote:

so its advisable to hold off until next year?

This is what I plan on doing.


From the thread starter...

robhammond wrote:

It really depends how desperate you are, the longer you can wait the better your chances.

yeslek

so when do you reckon the best time to apply is? april?

tazzababe

Just wondering that too yeslek. I am in desperate need of money. My student loan won't be available until next week, because I have had no money I have had to borrow, so all my loan is going to repay that. Plus I have a daughter

I guess I will probably get some financial help from the uni, but if I apply before xmas will they give me less than if I applied after?

si1503

I reckon applying before xmas should be okay. Its just the initial couple of months of term where they might be a little stricter as demand will likely be highest right at the start of term, once it dies down its likely they will be a bit more keen to give it away. FYI I am planning on applying midway through the 2nd term, so perhaps feb/march time, a month or so after that 2nd loan installment, leaving it too late might be hard to justify as the last term is so short, loan comes through april and may/june is exams and you're done. So i reckon feb/march would be a smart time to apply personally. Or before xmas as you propose.

robhammond

chika "Do you think I will be eligible for help from the ALF?"

Provisionally yes, although I would not like to gaurantee that as I only have a breif synopsis and would not want to get you hopes up and then discover that you have not.
What is very important in your case is that the money CANNOT be used to pay tuition fees it is very strict in the criteria. Therefore I would state that that your loan has been used for paying your fees and that you are applying for help with general living expenses & rent. That is probably your best course of action.

Regards the SLC, I would question their logic. Speak to your local advisor who can help with sorting it out.

si1503 "Does this perhaps seem like my best plan of action for securing a decent amount of support?"

Given your later comments, I would say that you are justified in applying. I would wait a short while so that your bank statements are a true reflection of your current situation. However when you do apply be completely honest with them about your whole financial situation.


yeslek "i feel so ignored"

I'm sorry if i've missed your post, I get so many requests for advice via this thread & messages that I must have overlooked you.
Your post is very brief so cannot comment in too much detail, however if you do apply remember that you do not have to declare income from a part-time job as they do not peanalise students who CHOOSE to earn extra money. They assume a reasonable income based on what a student can be expected to earn in a part time job & over the holidays. Likewise they assume your general living expenses on what is deemed reasonable by the DfES.
It is all made clear on the form, good luck with it.

Tran "does an ALF payment affect Income Support?"

It may do, i'm not sure as I don't really have expertise on general benefits. it is definatley worth finding out before applying.

PoppySeeds "I am going to struggle immensly to try and pay for the £3000 tuition fees would I be entitled to any further help."

Although now a former student advisor, It is my understanding that you will not be expected to pay your £3k tuition fees until after you have graduated. That is if you have started this academic year.
If you have been told otherwise let me know & i'll look into it.

yeslek so its advisable to hold off until next year?

I have been slightly mis-quoted by si1503. That was in response to a student who had got into a situation with gambling debts. The student was worried how it would look on his bank statements so i advised him to wait a while, if possible, for damage limitation.
However the overall advice is apply when needed but bear in mind that they will prioritise awards to the most needy in the start of the year but slightly relax the criteria later on in the year to ensure that all the money is awarded.

tazzababe I guess I will probably get some financial help from the uni, but if I apply before xmas will they give me less than if I applied after?

I would apply when you need it but bear in mind my reply to yeslek above. You can always apply now and then if your require more, reapply later in the year too.

Good Luck everybody.

Rob

Tran

si1503 wrote:

So you believe the financial support avaliable to students is fair do you? My current total student debt is £12,924.35, and I still have at least another year left after this one. Many students I know are giving their loans to parents to hold for them, or are getting far more support from home and/or elsewhere so that they will come out with very little debt. Then you get students like me that will be lucky to come out of uni with anything less than a 20k debt over our heads! Tell me is that fair? Is it fair that i have to support a child and univesity and won't be entiteled to support all because I wish to try and hold a bit of money away in savings for my child in case of emergency situations? "Hiding money?" We aren't talking burried treasure are we! FYI my student account right now is £1,558.53 with a £1.6k limit. So back to more credit card shopping this week. Student loans and overdrafts need re-paying mate. Get that into your head before trying to critisise anyone else for trying to rationalise their finances in an attempt to provide some sort of security for their children.

Going to university is a choice. You don't HAVE to do it. You could choose not to go to university.

Student finances has never been fair and you can never make it totally fair. There will always be those students who get a lot of support from parents, those who get no support, then there are those that are from a privalidged background and wouldn't know a days work if it bit them on the bum!

Sadly, life just isn't fair. Everyone thinks they are getting a raw deal and think they should get more, or at least be allowed to have a bigger nest egg. Those on benefits want more money, taxpayers want to pay less tax.

If you go to the Benefits board you'll see stories along the lines of: "I've been made redundant at 55...worked continuously since i left school... lived a modest life & have modest savings....DSS say I can't claim means tested benefits but thsoe who have never worked get it - it's not fair!"

Everyone would like to have a little nestegg to save to buy their first car/house/save for their kid's future. BUT at what point does having a nest egg become a luxury. IMHO one should spend the nest egg and not plead poverty when one have a nestegg of several grand put away somewhere.

In the example of the redunant 55 year old above; if he failed to inform the DSS of his "little nest egg" and decided to hide it away somewhere and then claimed to be skint and applied for money on the grounds of low income, then that'd be FRAUD. You said you wanted to apply to the ALF (on the grounds of low income) but after your money was put elsewhere. Okay, it may not be technically fraudulent to do that with regard to the ALF, but IMHO it's dishonest and immoral.

IMHO, just because student finance isn't fair, isn't a justification for behaving dishonestly. No doubt you won't be the first or the last who hides money to then plead poverty from the ALF. Maybe the biggest mistake is bragging that this is what you are going to do?

silaslang

Can ALF only be applied for once? Or can you apply for it every year?

si1503

Tran wrote:

Going to university is a choice. You don't HAVE to do it. You could choose not to go to university.

Student finances has never been fair and you can never make it totally fair. There will always be those students who get a lot of support from parents, those who get no support, then there are those that are from a privalidged background and wouldn't know a days work if it bit them on the bum!

Sadly, life just isn't fair. Everyone thinks they are getting a raw deal and think they should get more, or at least be allowed to have a bigger nest egg. Those on benefits want more money, taxpayers want to pay less tax.

If you go to the Benefits board you'll see stories along the lines of: "I've been made redundant at 55...worked continuously since i left school... lived a modest life & have modest savings....DSS say I can't claim means tested benefits but thsoe who have never worked get it - it's not fair!"

Everyone would like to have a little nestegg to save to buy their first car/house/save for their kid's future. BUT at what point does having a nest egg become a luxury. IMHO one should spend the nest egg and not plead poverty when one have a nestegg of several grand put away somewhere.

In the example of the redunant 55 year old above; if he failed to inform the DSS of his "little nest egg" and decided to hide it away somewhere and then claimed to be skint and applied for money on the grounds of low income, then that'd be FRAUD. You said you wanted to apply to the ALF (on the grounds of low income) but after your money was put elsewhere. Okay, it may not be technically fraudulent to do that with regard to the ALF, but IMHO it's dishonest and immoral.

IMHO, just because student finance isn't fair, isn't a justification for behaving dishonestly. No doubt you won't be the first or the last who hides money to then plead poverty from the ALF. Maybe the biggest mistake is bragging that this is what you are going to do?

Exactly. So what do I have to worry about when I am not breaking any of the rules?

And how is it being dishonest? I am telling them about ALL of my income, my expenses, and providing bank statements, everything they ask of me I am answering honestly. Sorry but I fail to see the dishonesty in that.

FYI this fund is specifically aimed at those students with children to help with the additional costs of supporting a child, students such as myself. I am mearly stating what I earn, what I spend, and i will let them decide. I may not even bother applying for it if I manage to survive comfortably within my overdraft limits, as I am very careful with my spending as it is, but we'll see how things are in a few months time.