Just been refused PGDip funding - what next?

Sam_Dawson

I am on course to do a Postgraduate Diploma in journalism at Salford, starting this September. I thought I'd be eligible for a maintenance grant, as at first glance I felt I fitted the criteria (earned below the threshold in the previous two years, don't have much in savings). I called Student Finance England up a few times during the processing period and they were fairly confident I'd qualify for the grant.

Today I got a letter saying I wasn't eligible, as only first degrees and teacher-training can be funded in this way, and that I'd have to get a CDL.

I'm having my tuition fees paid for me by generous family members and I'm living with my parents for the duration of the course, but this leaves me high and dry as far as expenses go. I do write freelance for a couple of magazines, which would be OK in terms of maintenance expenses, but as it's freelance and I'm not yet qualified as a professional journalist (which is why I'm going on the course in the first place), it can't be relied upon as a regular source of support.

I have no credit rating (I don't use credit cards, I've always been a believer in the 'if you haven't got it don't spend it' credo), and I haven't earned enough yet to pay back a single penny of my original student loan from '02-'05, so trying to secure a CDL to be ready in the space of a month on an acceptable interest rate isn't really on the cards.

Are there any sources of funding out there for students who don't have a bean, and don't seem to qualify for any special funding? I'm trying to work through the logistics of surviving on payments from freelance features at the moment and while possible, it's not reliable.

I'd only need £2k-3k to tide me over for the 9 months of the course. Has anyone got any idea who I might be able to turn to for help?

Lokolo

Sam_Dawson wrote: »

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Are there any sources of funding out there for students who don't have a bean, and don't seem to qualify for any special funding? I'm trying to work through the logistics of surviving on payments from freelance features at the moment and while possible, it's not reliable.

...

Yep, it's called a weekend job

[Deleted User]

Is there a reason why you can't get a regular part-time job while studying?

Sam_Dawson

Well I suppose the freelance money is comparable to what I'd get from a part-time job, but all it takes is a month with no commissions and I'm skint again.

Problem I've found with part-time work is that it so rarely caters for studying time. It'd have to fit neatly into the weekend, but nearly all part-time work I've come across seems to want combinations of the odd weekend day and certain weekdays, which I won't necessarily be able to do as I'm studying full-time. I've worked for various shops and pubs before, and they never just accept weekend hours.

Do you know of any jobs that tend to confine themselves to weekends?

melancholly

find out what your core hours are. i wouldn't expect them to be 5 days a week so you should have times in the week (and certainly evenings) to do other hours. it is tough to work 2/3 days a week and do a postgrad course, but it is do-able, and at this late notice, you don't have many options.

Oldernotwiser

You must have got an absolute idiot at SFE if they told you you'd get a grant for a post grad diploma!

MrsManda

As you'll be studying in Salford it may be worth you signing up to do event stewarding at various places. I worked for ShowSec International as a student in Manchester. They provide stewarding for the MEN Arena, MUFC and a lot of the events which take place across Greater Manchester (party in the park, the christmas markets etc...).
When I worked for them (admittedly three years ago) the way it worked was that you phoned the switchboard on Tuesday evening and they told you what work was available that week and you picked what you wanted to do. Sometimes there'd be nothing available when you were but as most events are evenings (Arena shifts were 5:30pm until midnight) and weekends I could usually pick up a couple of shifts.
The pay isn't great but you get to see some fab things
You could also contact the various other football/criket/rugby grounds/concert venues/parks in Greater Manchester to see if they need stewards/serving staff

Lara44

Hi Sam

I am guessing that you're starting pretty late in September, so if you're not working now you've got some time to earn a chunk of money. If I were in the same situation I would register with as many million recruitment agencies as I could find, and also visit the Up Your Income board here for things to do at home such as surveys, reviews, etc.

If you could earn £1000 in the next 2 months (which is definitely achievable on paper at least) then you could use this as a float to subsidise the more irregular freelance work. Then you'd have a bit of a breather to see how the freelance work pans out, as it would be great experience. I would also consider part time jobs that would fill any gaps in your CV. For example, an office admin jobs can demonstrate a lot of skills needed on a news desk.

Sam_Dawson

Thanks for the help guys.

In terms of office experience, I'm OK. Since leaving university I worked in PR for three years before the sector imploded, whilst working freelance as a journalist. I transferred onto the journalism course after doing 6 months of a PGCE before realising I hated teaching!

I don't need to worry about the money now though - shortly after posting up that message I bombarded a couple of comissioning editors with feature ideas and they've decided to run with most of them. It'll only be a few days work here and there, but the effect will be comparable to a more regular job once they're all published over the course of the coming months.

Thanks for all your suggestions though. Incidentally, I don't suppose anyone's got any tips on getting into full-time jobs in journalism at the moment? I've been working on an occasional freelance basis for a while now on some pretty major titles, but every time I went for a permanent job it always went to someone with specific journalism qualifications, which is why I'm doing this course. I keep hearing horror stories about how the sector seems to be a closed shop, but I only seem to hear them from 21-year-old graduates who don't even have freelance experience - more experienced journalists seem more confident.

Lara44

My friend worked as a freelance sub editor for one of the major dailies freelance, building up bit by bit until f/t hours. From there she was able to sidestep into a similar position but on a full time contract with a similar competitor.

Well done, so glad your hard work paid off