Student finance help!

astraea

hi
i have a few questions which i am hoping for some help with.

My student finance account online says i have been assessed, but it has only got me down for a tuition fee loan and a maintenence loan! i have 4 children and my husband will also be a full time student in september, i am working part time at the minute but wont be working many hours in september, we get working tax credit and childrens tax credit are these counted as income?, they have sent me a letter asking for my childrens birth certificates and my tax credit award letter, which i am sending tommorow, so will they re-assess my claim once they have recieved these?

Akso what is the limit on income when you are entitled to the full grant etc? and does this include your tax credits? and does it go on what you earned this year even though i wont be working as many hours in september?

thanks vikki

astraea

anyone? please.

MrsManda

Have you received paperwork with the completed assessment for you to sign?
If not, and as they've asked you for further information it may be simply that the status is wrong. You could send them a secure message from your account asking what is going on.
I presume you did fill out the form requesting income assessment? You shouldn't have put any of your salaried income on the form. I'm not sure about tax credits etc... You could try filling out the Student Finance Calculator to see what it predicts you should be entitled to.

I think your best course of action is to either send a message via your account or telephone the SLC and ask what's going on.

HTh

Lokolo

I know the limit for grants is £50,xxx (not sure what the xxx is!). Between that and £60k its extra loan.

I am assuming your total was over this when they took tax details from 07/08?

If there is a 15% change in income after this you can get a change of circumstances and get more monies.

astraea

no our income including my wages and working and childrens tax credit is about £20k a year, so i assumed i would be entitled to everthing? especially as this will go down considerably in sept?

Also what do they include as income? does it include wages, childrens tax credit and working tax credit?

Lokolo

Usually its taxable income, so most benefits are not counted. However this is student finance so not sure.

Fire_Fox

If you are going to be a full-time student your wages are not taken into consideration at all. Other than that they only count non-earned taxable income such as from a BTL property, interest on savings (not ISAs). Some benefits are taxable - did you receive and read a copy of the explanatory notes when you completed your student finance application?

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/incometax/taxable-income.htm

student_advisor

astraea wrote: »

hi
i have a few questions which i am hoping for some help with.

My student finance account online says i have been assessed, but it has only got me down for a tuition fee loan and a maintenence loan! i have 4 children and my husband will also be a full time student in september, i am working part time at the minute but wont be working many hours in september, we get working tax credit and childrens tax credit are these counted as income?, they have sent me a letter asking for my childrens birth certificates and my tax credit award letter, which i am sending tommorow, so will they re-assess my claim once they have recieved these?

Akso what is the limit on income when you are entitled to the full grant etc? and does this include your tax credits? and does it go on what you earned this year even though i wont be working as many hours in september?

thanks vikki

Is your partner going to be an HE student too? If so, you will need to provide your wage details for the 2007/08 tax year for each other's application (but not your own).

Your tax credits are taken into account during your assessment for the parent's learning allowance & childcare allowance if they are paid to your partner but not if they are paid to you.

If you would like further support with your financial application, why not see the support services at the institution you are hoping to study at? They can normally help you with the hurdles of student funding.

astraea

my hubby is going to be a full timw student at college so he is not entitled to any funding?

Also when i applied i said no to the special support grant, will they assess me for this anyway as i think i am entitled to it (we recieve some housing and council tax benefit) And am i right that we will both be exemp from council tax in september? how do we sort this out?
thanks

MrsManda

astraea wrote: »

my hubby is going to be a full timw student at college so he is not entitled to any funding?

He'll not be entitled to student loans as these are for higher education but he may be entitled to some support. See HERE for what may be available to him

astraea wrote: »

Also when i applied i said no to the special support grant, will they assess me for this anyway as i think i am entitled to it (we recieve some housing and council tax benefit) And am i right that we will both be exemp from council tax in september? how do we sort this out?
thanks

If you said no to them assessing you for the special support grant they won't assess you for it because (I think) you need to give them permission to share your details with another agency. It's the same for university grants - if you are eligible for a maintenance grant you are also eligible for a grant from your university but unless you tick the box on your application allowing the SLC to share your financial information with the university you cannot get this grant as your university can not assess you.

astraea wrote: »

And am i right that we will both be exemp from council tax in september? how do we sort this out?
thanks

Yes. You both should get letters from your university/college confirming you are a FT student and the length of your course. You usually get this once you've enrolled but if a confirmation isn't given to you you can request on from the university/college finance office. Dependent on your council you will need to fill out a form and either take the documents in to the council office with the form or post it all to a central office. The council website should explain the procedure otherwise just call their customer support.

HTH

astraea

lol now i am confused. I rang student finance who said that if i qualify for the special support grant then i will recieve this even though i did not ask for it? is this correct or are they telling me wrong info?