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

dmg24

studentmidwife wrote: »

My application for ALF has been unsuccessful . I applied 4 weeks ago because our mortgage payments (with Northern Rock) have gone up by over £350 a month and we are now struggling financially. I spoke to an advisor today and was told that they only include £6500 of your mortgage! Ours is costing over £10000 per year now but they won't take it all into account. I did'nt realise they capped mortgage amounts. Anyone else had experience of this? Not sure if its just the uni I'm at or all uni's.

Gutted!

PS Been lurking for a long time but this is my first post so hello!!

Hi studentmidwife,

Welcome to MSE!

As with all elements of student outgoings, they do have to put a cap on eligible amounts.

Is it possible to change your mortgage to interest only for the period of your course, or downsize to a smaller property?

studentmidwife

Hi dmg24

Thanks for the reply. We already changed to interest only at the start of the course and we are in a smallish terraced house so could'nt go much smaller.It would be cheaper to rent so may have to go down that route if worst comes to worst.

The advisor is going to look at my application again and see if there is anything they can do so fingers crossed.

lunar_angelic

hello!! Just been reading through this forum and was wondering whether you think my mum would be eligible for it and how far you can get back paid? i know she got quite a few bursaries etc, would this affect it? she is a single parent and has 3 children at home, she works around 16 hours a week. any help greatly appreciated!! xx

dmg24

lunar_angelic wrote: »

hello!! Just been reading through this forum and was wondering whether you think my mum would be eligible for it and how far you can get back paid? i know she got quite a few bursaries etc, would this affect it? she is a single parent and has 3 children at home, she works around 16 hours a week. any help greatly appreciated!! xx

The ALF is for current living expenses, I can't see that they would backdate it (on the grounds that if you didn't have the money before, how did you live?). The thresholds are very low, and if she receives bursaries, presumably WTC or IS, and student loans, I doubt she would qualify.

She needs to look at her outgoings and income (from all sources) and see if there is a shortfall. If there is then apply, but also remember that at this time of year many funds will have run dry.

cardiffforthefacup

Have you been accepted on the sociology course? I got only a maintanence loan when I started a course that I had previously studied at the same level, but that was only because of my circumstances. If you haven't already you should get assessed for your dispraxia(go to student services for this), then you could get help from disability (grant, mentor, extra time exams, photocopying/book allowance, library extensions etc). I used my maintanence loan to pay my tuition fees (I was determined/focused no matter how poor I was going to be), I applied for access funds/student support fund (saw the main person who deals with finance) and because I had to pay my own tuition fees, the finance department covered this and gave me extra funds so I wouldn't struggle too much. I did struggle and had no extra funds for anything other than paying bills/food, but it was worth it and the second year I was entitled to full grants/loan/bursary. The summer fund is for those who have special circumstances- can't work etc. the emergency loan is usually only about £100 max (sometimes more if you see head of finance) and covers something unexpected (bill you can't pay any other way etc), you probably won't be entitled to summer fund if you live at home or have other means of support(parents)Hope this helps a little, can't vouch for different unis but this is what happened in my case due to my own special circumstances:j

cardiffforthefacup

I was already renting due to my circumstances, I would suggest the finance office for help with halls as they can help pay that for you. I didn't know if I was going to get any help from finance but it was my last chance of doing a course so I took a chance, I would have found a way even if it meant selling all my possessions, I was good at living on less than £20 a week anyway food wise. finance covered the cost of tuition fees and gave me an extra £600 a term, plus I was entitled to a bursary (all students I believe are now), when I started I didn't know I wasn't entitled to help from housing benefit for my rent so if finance didn't help it would have been hell but they did so I didn't have to try to work as well

cardiffforthefacup

I meant the student finance office, part of student services which is a university service

LoLo

Hi, just wondering if anyone knew if I could apply for this now or have I left it too late? I will be going into my 2nd year in September and am struggling to find a job over the summer due to childcare arrangements.

bestpud

LoLo wrote: »

Hi, just wondering if anyone knew if I could apply for this now or have I left it too late? I will be going into my 2nd year in September and am struggling to find a job over the summer due to childcare arrangements.

You can definitely try! It depends if they have run out yet or not.

Perhaps you could drop in or email them and ask? They should be able to tell you if it is worth you applying or not, and if not, from what date they start the new year.

Theboys!

LoLo wrote: »

Hi, just wondering if anyone knew if I could apply for this now or have I left it too late? I will be going into my 2nd year in September and am struggling to find a job over the summer due to childcare arrangements.

I have just applied this week and have been successful. I am also about to go into my second year and like you am not having luck finding a child friendly temp job!
It is definitely worth applying you have nothing to lose.