How many years funding?

curlytoast

Hi and happy easter!

How many years funding do you get for uni?
I am currently doing a 1 year CERT HE for which i have recieved the usual student finance for. This then leads to a 2 year BSc or a 3 year Bsc with hons, depending on how much workload you want.
I originally planned to do the 2 year one, but have now decided on the 3 year route, which means in total 4 years of funding which i thought was the limit.
But when i applied for student finance they said i had already used a year of funding. I had started a open university course years ago, which i thought was funded because i was on benefits at the time. I also did not get any living expenses or anything from the open uni course like you do at uni, just the course paid for. So now they reckon after my CERT HE i will only have 2 years of funding left.
I have spoken to a few people at uni and a couple have said that they have family who have been at uni for years and always been funded. Im just annoyed as the open university never told me at the beginning this would use a year of funding, i just got told i got the course free because i was on benefits.

Indie_Kid

Length of course + 1 - previous study.

MrsManda

curlytoast wrote: »

I have spoken to a few people at uni and a couple have said that they have family who have been at uni for years and always been funded. Im just annoyed as the open university never told me at the beginning this would use a year of funding, i just got told i got the course free because i was on benefits.

As Sh1305 said, it's usually the total for your course plus 1year. I'm not sure how they count the OU though I presume it depends on how much you did and how it was funded. When you applied for your funding for your HE Cert did you just apply for one year of funding or state your course lasted 3 years? Taiko or Student_advisor will be able to tell you more about how you should be assessed.
As for having family who've been funded for years, this used to happen though I'm not convinced it happens anymore. I have friends who went to uni a decade ago who received funding until they got a degree so they just kept changing courses. This is practically impossible now for the majority of students.