Help! Course and college not found on student finance website?

Morganarla

Hoping someone can help...

I'm completely new to applying for student finance, have taken the plunge and applied for my course starting in September - after a large number of years working menial jobs in my sector, time to put that experience to good use and get qualified at last! :j

BUT! I'm filling in the info about my course, and neither my college of my course are recognized by the website.

What does this mean? That I'm not eligible for student loans? Because without this, I will not be able to do my course. No way.

The course is Level 3 Diploma in Veterinary Nursing, the college is College of Animal Welfare. The course is classed as full time, and I was asked by the college to fill in a form about finances so I assume you can apply for a loan?

Any help will be appreciated!

x

Lokolo

Pretty sure Level 3 courses aren't applicable to student finance. They are equivalent of pre university courses (A Levels and such).

Student finance is for university courses. You would need to do Higher Education courses.

http://www.caw.ac.uk/courses/vn/veterinary-nursing-courses.aspx

The Diploma is a further education course (not funded by student finance). The degree is a higher education course (funded by student finance).

Morganarla

Oh crap.

I hadn't looked into that. Applied completely on a whim.

Thank you for that, a lot of thinking to do now.

Any idea what (if any) financial help I would be able to get? I will not be able to work for the first year of the course so will have zero income.

Dunroamin

Do you have the qualifications to do a degree in Veterinary Nursing?

Morganarla

I do, however the diploma course allows me to accept paid work in the second year, and lets me qualify quicker. After growing up within the industry and working extremely hard to get the invaluable experience I have, as soon as I had the opportunity to qualify, I wanted to do it as soon as possible.

The diploma course is also preferred within the profession than the degree course, for both actual and political reasons (too in depth to go into here!).

Much to think about. Will have a chat with the OH this weekend.

flea72

Yes, as of september, you can get loans for level 3 courses, but im not sure if the applying process has been finalised yet. I think you do it through your college, rather than SF tho

Fire_Fox

Could you take the level 3 diploma part time/ day release and work part time in your current role?

Is there any respect for the foundation degree? That is technically full time and eligible for student finance, but you are actually expected to work part time in the industry alongside these courses, the attendance is often as low as one day a week equivalent so you can end up quite a wealthy student between finance and paid employment.

Lastly given you have children would you be entitled to claim working tax credits, child tax credits and other benefits to get you through the level 3 diploma?

Dunroamin

flea72 wrote: »

Yes, as of september, you can get loans for level 3 courses, but im not sure if the applying process has been finalised yet. I think you do it through your college, rather than SF tho

Loans for the fees (depending on the student's age), not maintenance loans.

dizzyrascal

Morganarla wrote: »

I do, however the diploma course allows me to accept paid work in the second year, and lets me qualify quicker. After growing up within the industry and working extremely hard to get the invaluable experience I have, as soon as I had the opportunity to qualify, I wanted to do it as soon as possible.

The diploma course is also preferred within the profession than the degree course, for both actual and political reasons (too in depth to go into here!).

Much to think about. Will have a chat with the OH this weekend.

The issue with people who graduate with the degree and the Veterinary Nursing qualification along with it, is that they tend not to have the necessary work experience. This is why vets tend to prefer the VN qualification done as a day release course with tons of practical experience whilst working. (it is a very practical job)
You hint that you have loads of experience (and you wouldn't be the first to work as an unqualified VN for many years)
If you do have a good background then I don't think you should rule out the degree. In fact it might be a better route for you if you have already gained considerable knowledge and experience.

Once qualified, you might find the combination of the degree PLUS your experience will be highly sought after.

Morganarla

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Could you take the level 3 diploma part time/ day release and work part time in your current role?

My practice is not a TP (training practice) sadly. Getting a place in a TP and being allowed up onto the course would firstly be like finding a needle in a haystack and then secondly I would spend a lot of time working my way up the practice hierarchy and waiting list before I got to go on the course

Is there any respect for the foundation degree? That is technically full time and eligible for student finance, but you are actually expected to work part time in the industry alongside these courses, the attendance is often as low as one day a week equivalent so you can end up quite a wealthy student between finance and paid employment.

There is some respect for it, of course But less dizzyrascal makes a good point in their post (quoted further down). I just know how I have experienced the two different qualified end products, and I would hate to be 'tarred with the same brush'.

Lastly given you have children would you be entitled to claim working tax credits, child tax credits and other benefits to get you through the level 3 diploma?

My children were not full term and did not live to take their first breaths Sorry, my sig is a bit misleading there.

Dunroamin wrote: »

Loans for the fees (depending on the student's age), not maintenance loans.

And maintenance loans is exactly what I would need..

dizzyrascal wrote: »

The issue with people who graduate with the degree and the Veterinary Nursing qualification along with it, is that they tend not to have the necessary work experience. This is why vets tend to prefer the VN qualification done as a day release course with tons of practical experience whilst working. (it is a very practical job)
You hint that you have loads of experience (and you wouldn't be the first to work as an unqualified VN for many years) <----
If you do have a good background then I don't think you should rule out the degree. In fact it might be a better route for you if you have already gained considerable knowledge and experience.

Once qualified, you might find the combination of the degree PLUS your experience will be highly sought after.

You make some good points here.. Are you in the industry? Do you have a TP and need a day release nurse?!?!?!?! :rotfl:

Another few reasons why I had chosen college over uni:

-My OH is doing an internship close to the college, and will be there for one year. If I was to be at college for two years in the same area, it would work better iyswim, he could work in the local area while I finished off.. etc etc.

-After I had qualified, we planned to return to his home country to live, and try for a family. Due to previous issues with pregnancy, having a successful future pregnancy may take some time, and I don't want to be getting older and older as we are trying (I'm not ancient btw, far from it, but my pregnancies will already be high risk and I don't want my maternal age to in any way be a contributing factor.. )

We still haven't had chance to talk it through yet...

Morganarla

After further checking, it would seem that actually I don't have the qualifications needed for the degree course. Sigh.

Going to look and see if there are any other options...

Does anyone know of any other funding options for those ineligible for student maintenance loans?