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

student_advisor

rainbowfairydust wrote: »

i am starting a degree with open uni. Will i be eligble to apply?

The OU does appear to have an Access to Learning allocation, so in theory, you can apply. Information about additional funding at the OU is available here.

Fang_3

GEEGEE8 wrote: »

That's your problem Fang, you presume far too much.

Keep my current lifestyle? What, paying my bills?

ATL fund to 'bail me out' - how rude. I'm not expecting anyone to bail me out thanks. I'm 27yrs old and old enough to plan for my expenses each month.

I will be getting a job once I know my hours at Uni.

Jeez - I read the opening post, thought I'd take the advice and now I'm being accused of being underhand in applying for something that I shouldn't and having a lifestyle that I can't afford and will need bailing out of. Give me a break!

I am quite used to sorting myself out thank you, and halls would be more expensive for me compared to my privately rented flat. Family live 150 miles away and it's just not practical as far as having to work during Uni and holidays.

It would make a change for you to be paying for things and having a lifestyle that you can afford.

GEEGEE8

Fang wrote: »

It would make a change for you to be paying for things and having a lifestyle that you can afford.

Please explain what you mean.

dmg24

GEEGEE8 wrote: »

I will be getting a job once I know my hours at Uni.

I would not leave it this long. In fact, if you live in the area, start applying for jobs now, before the rest of the students get back.

GEEGEE8

dmg24 wrote: »

I would not leave it this long. In fact, if you live in the area, start applying for jobs now, before the rest of the students get back.

It's slightly complicated as I'm currently living off my insurance policy for redundancy. Any job for uni will be part time, so I can't afford to take a part time job now but will once uni starts. I hope that makes sense..

Unless you mean, apply and advise them when I can start working? eg, Sept 20th.

Impet_Limpet

I had to be living over 20 miles away in order to get a place in halls in the first year.

In second year I applied to ALF, because (odd and as sick as it sounds) we caught our landlord conducting an affair red handed in OUR beds! I moved out that night but obviously he had all my rent that had been paid in advance for the following 3 months and my deposit. So I money to find somewhere else to live!

System

robhammond wrote: »

Hi,
You might be interested to know that there is FREE money available to quite a few students up to a maximum of £3,500 per academic year.

I know (as a former member of an ALF reward committee) that every Uni is struggling to give the remainder of their money away.

What absolute rubbish. This money is not free - it is paid for by the tax payer. It is also rubbish that "every uni" is struggling to give their money away. I used to do the ALF applications for a Uni and we had to cap our payments at £2k per student because we always ran out of money months before the end of the academic year.

Doing the ALF applications was actually what made me leave my job in the end. I was sick of looking at these scroungers who were being given £2k+ for nothing except drop sprogs left, right and centre that they weren't prepared to pay for themselves through hard work. Far easier to rely on the taxpayer to fund their disgusting lifestyles. The worst case I ever saw was one 'student' who was taking home over £25k in benefits and grants. That is far more than I was taking home and I was working full-time in a job I hated. I clearly had 'mug' written all over me.

If these people can't afford to pay for themselves then they should get a job like many of the rest of us had to. I had to pay for my own education so why shouldn't everyone else? I am still paying for mine even 10 years later.

It's interesting to note also that there is no caveat with this ALF money so a person isn't even required to graduate in order to get it. I saw many cases of people joining a course, getting the 'free money' and then !!!!!!ing off. The whole system is a joke and should be scrapped.

ruperts

I read this is not definitely available

dmg24

ruperts, the ALF will look at your joint income when assessing any claim. If your relationship is developed enough to live together, then it is developed enough to look at sharing finances. Hopefully a job will turn up soon.

Tombo

Is this included in the inital application for Student Finance? I am receing a grant as well as a loan. I know the first post states otherwise but things may have changed since the post was made. I am struggling with money a bit at the moment (i.e. using up overdrafts and credit cards while waiting for my student loan (which still hasn't been deposited into my account )). This is getting annoying as I need to buy a printer so I can print stuff when I'm at home. I know that there are printers in the library at uni but this isn't practical when I'm working at night or at weekends. My parents are on a very low income and I am living in halls at the moment. Is it worth me applying for this or will the loan and grant cover me throughout the year? It it still the start of the year so it is hard for me to judge at present. I am also looking for a part-time job but I need to update my CV. (Google Docs likes to crash a lot and my computer can't handle Microsoft Office)

Anyway, any help will be much appreciated.

Also, if I get a part-time job, what sort of hours would be appropriate to work per week? The course I'm taking is Psychology.