Mature student support

happyapple

I have applied to Uni in Sept and have been granted a place (horaay!) However as I have been in previous study direct gov have advised me that I am not entiled to futher spport bar my maintence loan. Im currently fighting this and I have provided info on my previous study, according to their records online I am entitled to a further two years support. I am confident that this will be resolved.

My worry is that as I am living on my own I will not be able to survive with just the maintenance loan, I live on my own in a rented house with no children, I currently work full time, my course will be fairly full on with lots of rehearsals so continuing to work full time will be out of the question. (performing arts course). Ive had a look on my uni website and by the looks of things will be entiled to a bursary of £359 approx.

Am I missing out on any other support that is available to me? are there people in a similar situation to myself and if so how do you manage?

Any help or advise will be great as I am really beginning to panic!

sugarplumfairy83

Are you studying as an undergraduate or postgraduate? Each offers different forms of support - I won't go into them here as undoubtedly one will be of no use to you! As far as I'm aware though, if you haven't previously taken out a loan from Student Finance there is no reason you can't apply for this to cover the course fees (I'm not sure if there is an age restriction though).

The first thing that springs to my mind is applying to your University's Access to Learning Fund. All Uni's have them, this might be the bursary you've already referred to but if not, I'd recommend contacting them as soon as possible about this. You have to provide evidence of your circumstances and why it's required but it's a straight forward process and if you are fortunate to receive funds, it's non-repayable. Also, will you be able to reduce your full time hours to part time or look elsewhere for part time work?

Hope some of this is helpful for you.

dmg24

What previous study have you undertaken (whether completed or not)?

sugarplumfairy83 wrote: »

Are you studying as an undergraduate or postgraduate? Each offers different forms of support - I won't go into them here as undoubtedly one will be of no use to you! As far as I'm aware though, if you haven't previously taken out a loan from Student Finance there is no reason you can't apply for this to cover the course fees (I'm not sure if there is an age restriction though).

The first thing that springs to my mind is applying to your University's Access to Learning Fund. All Uni's have them, this might be the bursary you've already referred to but if not, I'd recommend contacting them as soon as possible about this. You have to provide evidence of your circumstances and why it's required but it's a straight forward process and if you are fortunate to receive funds, it's non-repayable. Also, will you be able to reduce your full time hours to part time or look elsewhere for part time work?

Hope some of this is helpful for you.

The ALF is there for unforeseen circumstances, not for someone to top up their income because they knew they would be short prior to the course starting.

sugarplumfairy83

dmg24: Regarding the ALF, that is something I had forgotten, thank you! I have previously been able to apply and it just popped into my head. However, happyapple, if there are circumstances that you think may mean you're eligible that you haven't wished to share here, I'd still recommend you look into it.

Oldernotwiser

Most people in your situation use their Maintenance Loan to pay the fees and support themselves by part time work. How will you pay your fees?

Taiko

sugarplumfairy83 wrote: »

Are you studying as an undergraduate or postgraduate? Each offers different forms of support - I won't go into them here as undoubtedly one will be of no use to you! As far as I'm aware though, if you haven't previously taken out a loan from Student Finance there is no reason you can't apply for this to cover the course fees (I'm not sure if there is an age restriction though).

The first thing that springs to my mind is applying to your University's Access to Learning Fund. All Uni's have them, this might be the bursary you've already referred to but if not, I'd recommend contacting them as soon as possible about this. You have to provide evidence of your circumstances and why it's required but it's a straight forward process and if you are fortunate to receive funds, it's non-repayable. Also, will you be able to reduce your full time hours to part time or look elsewhere for part time work?

Hope some of this is helpful for you.

I'm afraid you're slightly wrong here. It's attendance on a designated course that counts, not whether or not you received the support.

Unless there are strong reasons why the previous course wasn't completed, the student will be restricted in year one. Happy to advise if the OP wants to put up more info.

happyapple

I completed year one of university and left part way through year two due to financial reasons - student finance have requested transcripts from my university to prove this is correct. I have received this and will send it off.

happyapple

I thought perhaps I could work from home in a bid to earn more income - does anyone know the best places to look for a job like this? Thanks

Taiko

I'll ignore the job bit as it's not my area of expertise, but you are certainly restricted support in year one of the course. You will only receive a maintenance loan for that first year, but be eligible for help with fees in further years.

happyapple

Thanks for your help