Please help !!

Ponketyponk

Basically i'm about to start a uni course for the third time ( i withdrew the first year simply because the course wasn't for me and the second year i had to withdraw due to financial issues)

I was worried about whether or not i would recieve funding this year and when i went to apply with my new course details the student finance website informed me i was still entitled to the maintanence loan but the amount of tuition was showing as zero.

I called up student finance to enquire about whether or not i was entitled to it and the woman informed me that i was entitled to the full amount ( she was aware of my situation and i made a point of asking her twice to make sure). She said that the system had just not updated and that i should go ahead and submit the application, which i did.

About a week later i checked the progress of my application and it was still showing the tuition amount as zero, so i called SF again. The guy i spoke to said the same thing (that i'm entitled to the full amount and the system had simply not updated yet) I was told to wait for my letter and that it would show the real amount. However when i recieved the letter it too was showing the tuition amount as zero.

I called SF yet again and explained my situation and that i had put a deposit down on a shared house andso im expected to pay rent ( but oviously i cannot get access to my maintanence loan without first paying the uni) the women simply stated the rules which are that you may only be entitled to 4 years of tuition and that there was nothing that could be done. I recently called again to put forward a complaint and the manager simply stated the same thing and said there was nothing that could be done.

So no i'm stuck in a 10 month contract with the house and have no way of paying rent due to the false information they gave me.

Does anyone have any advice? Surely i must have a case because i would never have put myself in this position if i wasn't assured that i would recieve funding. They have the calls recorded so there would be proof that the woman told me i was entitled to the full amount.

Help??

Taiko

None, I'm afraid. You can make a complaint about the conduct of the call centre staff, but the rules are the rules on this.

silvercar

Have you started the uni course by self funding?

If you have withdrawn due to lack of funding then the options are to live in the shared house and get a job, in the mean time claiming housing benefit and income support if you have no savings.

If you are studying without the funding then it looks like finding a part time job if you family are not able/ willing to help out.