im so scared ive got to quit uni!! please help me.. independent student finance q

flea72

So if you are a 2nd year student, what was your status last year and where have you been living for the past 3yrs?

You dont meet the financially independent criteria due to your low income over the past 5yrs

Your mums partner, whether you or he, likes it or now, is financially responsible for you. So if he wont give you the extra money you need, then do like all other students jn your situation do and get a p/t job

Yes, you will be be classed financially independent once baby arrives, however that isnt some magic wand that will give you lots of money, it just means youll,get more grant, so less to pay back in future. Where do you plan on living when baby arrives, because if its with your gf, then your grant/loan will affect some of her benefits

amiehall

simonjames90 wrote: »

I am on the course right now amd struggling but plan to complete if I can

Are you already having financial problems then? Do you live with your girlfriend? I presume she is able to support herself from her benefits. Why do you think this won't continue? Have you tried to find part time work?

It's probably worth having another try at finding something even if it's just Christmas temp work. I take home around £700 a month from part-time work alongside study which dwarfs any student finance I receive.

simonjames90

Im not expecting some magic want Flea and actually ive been using my intelligence all day to figure out this scenario. Like I stated In the original message I dont need stabs in the dark or people with strong bloshie options. With regards to with "joining the rest"of the student population in my position I think you may have forgotten how difficult it is to manage a LAW degree with the amount of reading I need to do, volunteer at a local magistrates witness service once or twice a wee so I hold a good position to apply for jobs when I do qualify, help my girlfriend out who has been terribly sick throughout this pregnancy , make sure my grandmother has what she needs for a week to survive AND THEN get a job with hours fitting all these vital commitments

I left certain aspects of my life OUT of the question because it is not relevant to you and believe me is something ive gone over and over in my head about!!

Ive asked people to reply that have experienced this particular situation with student finance



Soo if I stumbled across this I would have picked up on..


Student finance base thier independent status on in my position. .self supporting for three years prior to the first day of the academic year

Their guide amount of £7500 in which they use to assess someone to have been self supporting

The fact that ive not met this on the majority of years shown in my original post

From thinking about this all day and investigating it myself ive found that


The Education (student support) regulations state that
(Amongst other things)

An independent eligible student is an eligible student where
the student (“A”) has supported A out of A’s earnings for any period or periods ending before the first academic year of the course which periods together aggregate not less than three years, and for the purposes of this sub-paragraph A is to be treated as supporting A out of A’s earnings during any period in which—
(i)A was participating in arrangements for training for the unemployed under any scheme operated by, sponsored or funded by any state authority or agency, whether national, regional or local (“a relevant authority”);
(ii)A was in receipt of benefit payable by any relevant authority in respect of a person who is available for employment but who is unemployed;
(iii)A was available for employment and had complied with any requirement of registration imposed by a relevant authority as a condition of entitlement for participation in arrangements for training or receipt of benefit;
(iv)A held a state studentship or comparable award; or
(v)A received any pension, allowance or other benefit paid by any person by reason of a disability to which A is subject, or by reason of confinement, injury or sickness.


Not in any legislation does it state that student finance must follow the £7500 figure set... people have argued it and people have been successful. .. I will be one and I will post all official documents to this post so anyone can watch the developments I go through

I AM AN INDEPENDANT STUDENT AND I WILL BE ASSESSED AS ONE

Do not patronise me with your magic wand comments and read the last paragraph of my original post... you clearly have nothing to offer so please refrain from wasting any more of my time. Ive served for our country, ive been involved in social services there is nothing you can teach me and I did not ask for any kind of that input. You may say ive taken offence to your comments but the truth is I do not appreciate them whatsoever and that is my right to push them back in your face.

simonjames90

* opinions not options

Sorry about spelling but so hard to edit on this phone

Taiko

If SFE have told you their guide states £7500, then they are lying. No such guide exists, according to the response they gave in a Freedom of Information request.

The only criteria, and this is backed up by legislation, is that you must demonstrate that you have been self supporting for three years prior to the first year of the course. The Schedule 4 of the regulations state:

Independent eligible student

2. (1) An independent eligible student is an eligible student where—

(a)the student is aged 25 or over on the first day of the relevant year;
(b)the student is married or is in a civil partnership before the beginning of the relevant year, whether or not the marriage or civil partnership is still subsisting;
(c)the student has no parent living;
(d)the Secretary of State is satisfied that neither of the student’s parents can be found or that it is not reasonably practicable to get in touch with either of them;
(e)the student has communicated with neither of the student’s parents for the period of one year before the beginning of the relevant year or, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, the student can demonstrate on other grounds that the student is irreconcilably estranged from the student’s parents;
(f)the student was looked after by a local authority (within the meaning of section 22 of the Children Act 1989(3)) throughout any three-month period ending on or after the date on which the student reached the age of 16 and before the first day of the first academic year of the course (“the relevant period”) provided that the student has not in fact at any time during the relevant period been under the charge or control of the student’s parents;
(g)the student’s parents are residing outside the EU and the Secretary of State is satisfied that either—
(i)the assessment of the household income by reference to their residual income would place those parents in jeopardy; or
(ii)it would not be reasonably practicable for those parents as a result of the calculation of any contribution under paragraph 8 or 9 to send any relevant funds to the United Kingdom;
(h)paragraph 5(9) applies and the parent whom the Secretary of State considered the more appropriate for the purposes of that paragraph has died (irrespective of whether the parent in question had a partner);
(i)in the case of a student who began the current course before 1st September 2009, the student is a member of a religious order who resides in a house of that order;
(j)as at the first day of the relevant year, the student has the care of a person under the age of 18; or
(k)the student (“A”) has supported A out of A’s earnings for any period or periods ending before the first academic year of the course which periods together aggregate not less than three years, and for the purposes of this sub-paragraph A is to be treated as supporting A out of A’s earnings during any period in which—
(i)A was participating in arrangements for training for the unemployed under any scheme operated by, sponsored or funded by any state authority or agency, whether national, regional or local (“a relevant authority”);
(ii)A was in receipt of benefit payable by any relevant authority in respect of a person who is available for employment but who is unemployed;
(iii)A was available for employment and had complied with any requirement of registration imposed by a relevant authority as a condition of entitlement for participation in arrangements for training or receipt of benefit;
(iv)A held a state studentship or comparable award; or
(v)A received any pension, allowance or other benefit paid by any person by reason of a disability to which A is subject, or by reason of confinement, injury or sickness.
(2) An eligible student who qualifies as an independent eligible student under sub-paragraph (1)(j) in respect of an academic year of a designated course retains that status for the duration of the period of eligibility.

Looks to me as if you are independent, but I'd suggest any rent statements would help you prove your case. If SFE again quote guidance stating £7500 though, please let me know.

simonjames90

Thanks Taiko, I kinda feel proud with coming up with my conclusion now! Thanks for putting things into perspective and confirm things. Rent statements has been noted I will definitely provide them... I am waiting my first decision on being assessed as self supporting so the 7500 mark has come from 20+ posts on forums I have encountered today. Will keep you up to date. . I find this very interesting but would much rather be observing than enduring.

Thanks again

flea72

You wanted help with student finance, i gave it.

I made the magic wand comment, because you seem to think that by being classed as independent of your parents your situation will vastly improve. It wont, you will be entitled to the same amount of money, it just gets given to you from a different pot, so sorting your money out, will have no effect on your ability to stay at uni now

As you have now pointed out, there are other factors that are compounding your situation. If you dont elaborate, posters can only go with the bare facts.

Working p/t is pretty normal for students. choosing to do voluntary work on the offchance it makes your CV look good, will not put food on your plate now. Sometimes you have to prioritise what is more important. You are talking about dropping out because you cant afford to live, so youd rather have no degree than drop something short-term, so you can work for money.

Yes, you will most likely win, but what do you plan to do in the meantime? You have also failed to answer my question regarding your status last acadaemic year. Why has it only become a problem this year, not last too?

I have not come to knock you, i have vast experience in SFE, but you are unwilling to give any proof of independence. The income amounts you quote are paltry and would not be classed as liveable, so unless you can provide tangible proof that you solely supported yourself on these amounts, then you will struggle to get SFE to change their mind. Ie kipping on a mates floor for a few months is acceptable, but living with any relative/partner makes you a dependent

The more info you provide, the easier it is to help you find the point you need to press with SFE. What was the income in 2011 from as this could be whats flagging your claim. Because The JSA for the other years goes in your favour, as all living expenses would be covered by benefits, making you financially independent

You are obviously stressed at the mo, but thats no reason to come back at me in the way you did. I answered your questions with a plausible solution, but youre too focused on The SFE issue at the mo, to think of other solutions to your predicament that will ease things for you. The SFE thing will eventually get sorted, but they arent in any hurry, so you need to think of what you can do now to improve your life now

flea72

Could you also drop your font size, its blimmin hard to read on a small screen

simonjames90

flea72 wrote: »

You wanted help with student finance, i gave it.

I made the magic wand comment, because you seem to think that by being classed as independent of your parents your situation will vastly improve.

WRONG

ive lost my university bursary this year £1600, my maintenance grant and also the parents learning allowance as all are means tested... last year my mothers partners details did not need to be considered

I "seem"to think my situation will drastically improve as ive lost around £7000 in support. .. which to me is a hell of a lot of money! Last year I had full everything as my background is an extremely poor one and I am the first member of my family to go to university

I don't welcome any of your comments now , thanks anyway

duchy

If you are that educated you'd think you'd know how to spell "bolshie"

If you live with your girlfriend - you'll be assessed for benefits as a couple -if you don't she'll be able to claim benefits for her and the baby in her own right.

You need to talk to the uni about your options-for example if you do need to take a year or two out before completing your degree you may be able to transfer credit from the first semester if you hang on until January before quitting rather than quitting now.

I don't understand why you can't work and study-I work 30 hours a week plus study as a mature BSc student fulltime. Yes it's tough especially as I have a son at home with a disability but there's two of you - all you need to do is work and study -you won't need to provide childcare too-that'll be your girlfriend's job.

I'm not even going to ask what you were thinking of starting year 2 knowing your GF was expecting in four months-for someone claiming to be so bright -it was pretty dumb not to confirm the financial situation first.

Another option would be to see if you can switch to part-time status for the second half of the academic year-freeing up more time to work if you don't feel capable of maintaining full-time study with working -not everyone can handle it.

Incidentally you may find people are more helpful if you don't use childishly large fonts and then complain when they ask questions. If you've behaved like this to the guys in student advice -it's hardly surprising they aren't bending over backwards to help you examine your options.

Could you go back and sort out those fonts please....it's so hard to read it may put off people who could give you advice.

(All the options about completing a half year and switching to part-time halfway through the year are options available at my uni so it's perfectly plausible they will also be available at yours)