Wrong three times student finance!!

nad1611

Hi
Just had to ask about the situation with my daughter as I have no faith in the customer service @Student Loans. We applied very early on paper and sent all the necessary info which was fine. We had a final assessment about 8 weeks ago but they ahd only offered the Maintenance Grant stating that we hadn't applied for the Tuition fee or Student Loan. So we were advised to download the forms which we di. We then received another final assessment but this time we only has the Tuition fee and the maintenance grant, so today we've had to post off another form for the Maintenance Loan. Having two daughters going away in September it's all turning into a bit of a nightmare.
My actual question is are we okay if it says that the loan for maintenance is non-income assessed. As we gave our earnings in support of our daughter I thought it would have been income assessed. Would be really grateful for a reply. Many Thanks.:rolleyes:

kymbogs

Hi there,
I've heard that people who have asked for income-assessed funding are getting non income-assessed funding through primarily just to make sure you have some money come September, and when things calm down in hopefully the near future they will adjust the funding and anything left remaining to be paid will be paid ASAP.

But probably worth sending a message to them or calling them to ask if the letter you have received today is a temporary thing until they finish off doing the assessment, or if it is the final draft.

Hope this helps

Kimberley

ka7e

My DD definitely applied for means-tested loan, she will be starting her 3rd year so should know the ropes! She recieves an NHS bursary which doesn't even cover her rent in E London.

As she has only just finished this year's study (midwifery degree) and her confirmation letter was sent to us rather than her term-time address (SL error #1), she has only just opened her Payment Schedule.

She has only been granted the basic non-income assessed loan (£2498) with no element for assessed income. Last year she got £3170. She phoned our local authority who maintain she has never had an income-assessed loan. Each year we have had to supply missing info from the financial part of her application, yet none of those letters are viewable in her online file. She was told the reduction of £672 was due to it being her 3rd year, which should be shorter than previous years. They assume her course finishes in June '10 when it is an extended course and won't finish until the end of July.

Revising her application, the section asking for means-testing is blank and last year they also made out she had forgotten to tick the box asking for income assessment. Strangely, both years, her flatmate who also applies for max means-tested loan has had exactly the same responses!

I have tried to phone SL direct, but they either refer you to the online site or ask you to call back later. I'm starting to doubt my own sanity and DD is absolutely frantic at the thought of trying to survive for a year on even less than last year (which sees her at max overdraft and having to find part-time work just to be able to afford to eat.).

ubermum

ka7e, funny how I stumbled across your thread when I was on here wanting advice about student finance, myself hoping to start a midwifery degree in london in 2010

I have scoured the net, and every site tells you a totally different thing. However, having just read every page on the NHS bursary site, there is a very specific section saying that entitlement to an NHS bursary automatically precludes you from applying for a full loan:

"If you are undertaking a degree level course, you may be entitled to a reduced non- income-assessed student loan to cover the balance of your living costs."

The SLC website says about the maintenance loan:

"Maximum entitlement is affected by...entitlement to other financial support, such as NHS bursaries."

Direct.gov website says:

"Financial help for certain healthcare professional courses
The NHS Bursary in England also provides financial help to fund a limited number of places on courses in certain healthcare professions.
The main entitlement consists of:
a degree-course bursary based on your income, or a diploma bursary which is not income assessed
full payment of your tuition fees
if you are studying for a degree, a reduced rate (approximately 50 per cent) Student Loan for Maintenance, not based on your income."

and then further down the page, confusingly enough:

"If you’re getting a social work or NHS bursary, you may still qualify for help through the standard finance package (though you won’t be able to apply for the Fee Grant or Course Grant for part-time students if you’re getting an NHS bursary)."

And yet having been browsing the midwifery student forums it seems some ARE getting the means-tested portion of maintenance loan and others are reporting their LEA/student finance saying they're ineligible.

Personally it's even more of a minefield because I have 2 children, so would be applying for the Special Support Grant - whether I'm eligible for this or not is a mystery - and also because the maximum childcare support available is significantly different if you look at the "Help with childcare costs for NHS-funded students" and the Childcare Grant described on the direct.gov site :mad:

Because all this information is from various different sources it's very hard trying to piece together some sort of entitlement to plug into entitled.to and find out how viable this whole idea IS, in terms of potential eligibility for Local Housing Allowance and Income Support and what have you, and I have no idea whom to ask.

In answer to your question - based on the info quoted above, I wouldn't be complacent about them giving your DD the rest of the loan when they get around to it, rather persist with getting hold of someone now, i think :S

elfen

kymbogs what you're saying is true. I'm currently dealing with SFE myself and their catch-up time is anything from 6-8 weeks. All I can suggest is to phone them regularly (after a few weeks) if you haven't heard anything and see how it goes.

nad1611

Think I've worked it out now.basically the Basic Loan for Maintenance is not completely income assessed and neither is the Tuition Fee Loan. Then there is a portion of the Maintenance Loan which is income assessed and reduces the amount of repayable loan for the Student. Obviously the Maintenance Grant is fully income assessed.
For example a student going to study in London
Basic Loan for maintenance £4988
Less loan subject to income assessment £1940 (this equals a total loan of £6928) Reduced so that the amount is less to be paid back.
Maintenance Grant £2906 (Full Grant)

Hope that makes sense. I've answered my own question but hope it helps anyway.

student_advisor

ubermum wrote: »

Because all this information is from various different sources it's very hard trying to piece together some sort of entitlement to plug into entitled.to and find out how viable this whole idea IS, in terms of potential eligibility for Local Housing Allowance and Income Support and what have you, and I have no idea whom to ask.

Why not make an appointment to see a welfare advisor at the uni you hope to go to? They will be able to sit down with you and go through exactly what you will and won't qualify for. Then you can make an informed decision about whether or not you can afford it.

student_advisor

ka7e wrote: »

She has only been granted the basic non-income assessed loan (£2498) with no element for assessed income. Last year she got £3170. She phoned our local authority who maintain she has never had an income-assessed loan. Each year we have had to supply missing info from the financial part of her application, yet none of those letters are viewable in her online file. She was told the reduction of £672 was due to it being her 3rd year, which should be shorter than previous years. They assume her course finishes in June '10 when it is an extended course and won't finish until the end of July.

Regardless of what your daughter has received, as a midwifery degree student she is only entitled to the income-assessed NHS bursary and the reduce maintenance loan. The loan is not income-assessed

If she has received more that this in previous years, she may be asked to pay it back if her LA notice they've made a mistake.

The loan amount available in the last year is significantly less than in earlier years and I would need to check the regs to see if the extra weeks loan applies to both a final year and an NHS funded course.

elfen

The loans are 72% non income assessed, with the other 28% being made up by income assessment. I also remember them only giving a certain amount if the student is in receipt of the NHS bursary.

And the loans are for less in the third year which takes into account the shorter year for most students. If this doesn't apply, you will need to get hold of SFE and see what they say.

Taiko

If you're seconded onto the Midwifery course, you can qualify for the full student loan package. It's the NHS bursary that would exclude you.

juno

The SLC decided to write to my daddy requesting information, even though I applied non-income assessed and ddin't put him on the form. I can only assume they used details from when I applied a few years ago and did mention him.

A lot of people are having issues this year. They do seem to be non-income assessing first, and then sending out a revised income assessed version later.