Any grants / bursaries available to me?

r8frazer

Im a returning student going back to Nottingham Trent Uni for my second year of a law degree..

Tuition fees are 1200, and last year, as I had a high household income I got minimum loan and no grant.. however my parents have split and cos my dad is no longer with us our household income is only £10,500.

I've re-applied for a bigger loan with this in mind but I wondered if anyone knows of any grants / bursaries that I might be able to get my hands on?

Eoin_McLove

Most universities have 'hardship funds' available to students in financial difficulty. One of my former housemates received £900 from the hardship fund, and yet he wasn't in financial difficulty; he earned £600 a month as a 'sound technician' at the Union.

Barcode

Are you serious? I assumed you had to be struggling to get the hardship fund. I applied in my first year, received 1300 pounds, and have not applied since thinking it will look bad if I apply every year (I'm almost certainly going to need to apply if nothing comes through for MA funding).

Anyway, print out your bank statements, and preferably evidence of the drop in parental income and take it to the student finance people. If you don't get anything from the hardship fund then there are emergency loans available. Remember that the University want you there. They are making money from your fees and drop-out rates look bad. I imagine they should be able to help you in the short-term at least.

black-saturn

I know it's a long shot but if anyone in your family is a member of the Mason's they will give students a sum of money.

Eoin_McLove

Barcode wrote:

Are you serious? I assumed you had to be struggling to get the hardship fund.

Unfortunately, yeah. My housemate was very proud of himself that he had essentially conned the university into giving him money that he didn't need (I, and my other housemates, thought he was a !!!!, so he conveniently found another house for the next year). Having said that, he did have to supply bank statements, so surely the person dealing with his 'financial difficulty' would have seen that he had a monthly income of around £600?

This is, I am resentful to say, an immensely bourgeois university, however, so perhaps they genuinely feel that a regular income of £600 per month is insufficient to live a college-boy lifestyle, what with the Pringle jumpers and the Versace jeans...

Eoin_McLove

black-saturn wrote:

I know it's a long shot but if anyone in your family is a member of the Mason's they will give students a sum of money.

One of my old school-friends went to LSE and, because his grandfather was a Freemason, he got accommodation in central London for £200 pcm for both his second and third years! :money:

DrFluffy

Sit down with the Education Grants Directory, published by the Directory of Social Change, and available at most if not all local libraries, or contact the Educational Grants Advisory Service (http://www.egas-online.org/fwa/) and make a list of every charity that might help you. Write to them, call them, email them, whatever!!!

I've already managed to secure £2600 for next year in this way, so it is doable...

executiverocker

i think you might be able to go for the maintenance grant as the seperation changes things. the student finance direct website has a handy part where it can estimate your support.

http://www.studentsupportdirect.co.uk/portal/page?_pageid=1647,467717&_dad=portal&_schema=PROTOCOL

impy78

r8frazer wrote:

Im a returning student going back to Nottingham Trent Uni for my second year of a law degree..

Tuition fees are 1200, and last year, as I had a high household income I got minimum loan and no grant.. however my parents have split and cos my dad is no longer with us our household income is only £10,500.

I've re-applied for a bigger loan with this in mind but I wondered if anyone knows of any grants / bursaries that I might be able to get my hands on?

As your parents have split up, you need to re-apply for a grant, and inform the student loan company of your change of circumstances.

I don't know how it works now, but when I was at uni, if your parents were legally seprated, you automatically qualified for a full grant.