Please help student finance trouble!

mellow9192

Hi everyone i am in my first year at university and have found myself in a major problem. i have maxed out my overdraft and owe the university £1,000 otherwise i can not go through to second year. i also have a £1,500 to pay in august towards other accommodation next year. I have the maximum loan i can have from student finance england and my bursary however i have still struggled and ended up in this situation. My family do not have this sort of money so i think i need a loan of around £3,000. from who and where i have no idea. i would be so grateful for any suggestions at this hard moment in time. many thanks.

agrinnall

I doubt if you'll get an additional loan of any sort from a legitimate source, they will credit check you and pretty quickly decide that you are a very bad risk. If you don't have things you can sell to find the money then I think you may have to resign yourself to taking a year out and find work in order to get your finances back on a level footing.

Bennifred

Do you have a job? If you work full-time between now and mid-September (perhaps through an agency?) it will help a great deal. You need to earn your way out of debt, not borrow more!

Voyager2002

Yes: find some kind of work, anything, and make that grand for the university your priority. If you lose the accommodation you planned that is not the end of the world: there are always odd rooms going around the start of term.

top_drawer_2

I am sure that the university are not allowed to prevent you progressing based on debts you owe to them - there was some court ruling on this some years ago. I know this as I was in a similar situation myself when I was at university.

Speak to your SU and see what they say.

It is perfectly possible to earn £1,000 in a few months, if you can find work. I did it myself last year to cover fees on a course I desperately wanted to do.

CharlieRabbit01

Hi top drawer I'm not aware of this ruling?

The university where I am have different levels of suspension depending on the amount of debt.

Those with high debts cannot progress to the next year.

However students who are struggling to meet payments can be offered a payment plan.

I would suggest OP speaks to their student union and finance department.

Both of whom will be around over the summer.

Contrary to popular belief university staff are still there over the summer.

Masomnia

Does your University have some kind of hardship fund?

I agree with others, prioritize getting a job and spend as little as you can. Speak to your Uni about the £1000, see if you can come to an agreement about paying it in installments,perhaps?

amiehall

Why do you owe the university money? What is it for? That amount sounds like fees rather than library fines or whatever... I'm confused as to why you haven't got a full fee loan?

Littlestars_2

amiehall wrote: »

Why do you owe the university money? What is it for? That amount sounds like fees rather than library fines or whatever... I'm confused as to why you haven't got a full fee loan?

It could be for accommodation if they lived in halls owned by the university.

The_Jakal

The Universities do not give out the "Access to Learning Fund" during non-term periods and apparently that's now (even though some students are still sitting exams).

I wanted to ask, did you not get given a grant because your parents earn below the threshold?

CharlieRabbit01

amiehall wrote: »

Why do you owe the university money? What is it for? That amount sounds like fees rather than library fines or whatever... I'm confused as to why you haven't got a full fee loan?

depending on the course, this could be equipment hire fines and or materials costs.