Getting worried about finance as September gets closer!

kymbogs

Hi guys,
I'm sure that there are many of us in the same boat but it's not making me any less worried lol!

I'm 25, living with my husband and we have two young children, 1 and 2. I'm going to uni in September and my littl'uns are going into the nursery which is more-or-less on site.
I have zero faith at the moment that SFE are going to get our finance sorted in time for the beginning of the academic year. I'm working right up to enrolment day and am arranging to take a mortgage payment holiday in September so we have a little breathing room but am really panicking about the fact that I haven't heard anything from them yet - apart from them finally admitting to having received my passport etc. However they recently asked for more documentation, about 2 weeks ago, and I am worried this is going to delay things further - I sent the info as soon as they asked for it.

Also somehow they only had one of my children down on my online application though I am fairly certain I wouldn't have forgotton Megan when I was filling it in! So sent off change of circumstances form to tell them I suddenly remembered I have 2 kids, not one....

Up till now I have only communicated with them through their online service but they never seem to answer the questions I am asking. Has anybody had any success in speaking to them on the phone? Does it get you anywhere?

For some background info, my husband works full time earning £16k, we have mortgage, the usual bills, and some debts which are under control but they do take a large chunk of his wage, we would not be able to cope without the finance I will (hopefully) receive. I currently work part-time earning roughly £5k a year, from my provisional calculations I figured out between maintenance loan, grant and whatever else it is I've applied for we should be as well if not better off. I will probably have some money to pay towards the childcare costs but not a huge amount.

Many thanks for any advice

Kimberley x

Wiggynut

when I applied for finance last year in February I heard nothing for 3 months - I then found out that the local authority had not been granted access to the applications for another month & half after this - I then got sent the letter to sign by the end of August and finally got the confirmation just over a week later!

is it the local authority you are speaking to or student finance? I found talking to the local authority a little easier (took many times to actually get through to them) they were the ones who told me about the delayed access.

once they had access it went through fairly quickly - I was worried the whole time! lol... huge sigh of relief went it all went through ok - I am a mature student with no children or partner so it's a lot simpler for me!

sorry, I can't be any further help but you might find that it will go through by time your course starts as once I signed the declaration and sent it back it showed online just a day later! so it seemed that nothing happened for so long then suddenly done!

hope that's the case for you - good luck!
:-)

have you had any response from them?

Helix

Wiggynut wrote: »

is it the local authority you are speaking to or student finance? I found talking to the local authority a little easier (took many times to actually get through to them) they were the ones who told me about the delayed access.

As of this year new students are all dealt with student finance completely. The local authorities have nothing to do with it anymore (except for existing students that started last year or before) so the OP would be wasting her time contacting them

kymbogs

Yup speaking to the LEA wouldn't get me anywhere I'm afraid!

Lokolo

I would cut back now and save as much as you can in the next couple of months....

And next year make sure apply earlier (I applied in Feb, a month later I had my payment schedule)

stitch26

Hopefully the fact that they've requested extra documentation should be a good sign, as it means they've actually done something with your application. I started Uni 2 weeks late last year but still had my payments within a month so don't panic too much yet, you can also send them messages from your login on the site but with a bit of luck you'll have confirmation before they have to process all of the A level students.

Best of luck

brians_daughter

Also somehow they only had one of my children down on my online application though I am fairly certain I wouldn't have forgotton Megan when I was filling it in! So sent off change of circumstances form to tell them I suddenly remembered I have 2 kids, not one....

mine said the same, that i only had 1 child when i have 2 they assured me that they had details for both! hth

kymbogs

Lokolo wrote: »

I would cut back now and save as much as you can in the next couple of months....

And next year make sure apply earlier (I applied in Feb, a month later I had my payment schedule)

We don't really have much to cut back on but am trying my best, our budget is pretty tight as it is.

I applied 5 mins after I pressed 'send' on my UCAS application, I did apply late to uni but as soon as I knew I was definitely going for it I whizzed through my application and then did the finance side too, so it was all done at the earliest possible time.
Will apply for 10/11 as soon as I possibly can!

kymbogs

brians_daughter wrote: »

mine said the same, that i only had 1 child when i have 2 they assured me that they had details for both! hth

Hmph, I did send them a message asking them to check what they had at their end and they told me to send the COS form in. Weird!

astraea

HI
i am also getting really worried about getting my finance sorted in time, i sent off my childrens birth certificates 3 weeks ago, they have not even acnowleged they have recieved them yet!!

My account shows approved waiting for signature, but that is for non-income assessed, which does not help me much as i should be entitled to full grants and loans!! student finance are no help whatsoever, and i am getting more and more concerned abot what i am going to do???!!

kymbogs

astraea wrote: »

HI
i am also getting really worried about getting my finance sorted in time, i sent off my childrens birth certificates 3 weeks ago, they have not even acnowleged they have recieved them yet!!

My account shows approved waiting for signature, but that is for non-income assessed, which does not help me much as i should be entitled to full grants and loans!! student finance are no help whatsoever, and i am getting more and more concerned abot what i am going to do???!!

Hiya...not to worry you further but it's been 2 months or more since I sent my stuff off and they have only just acknowledged that they received my passport, even though I got it back in the post about 6 weeks ago. They probably have received the birth certificates but it will be a little while before they marry them up with your application, this seems to be where the giant sticking point is. At least if we get non income-assessed to begin with they will be able to sort us out with the difference shortly afterwards. I hope!

x