SFW - can anyone confirm as true what they say here, please?

vjm63

Hi all, somewhat stressed parent here. Can I just confirm a few facts with those who have expert knowledge of student finance rules, please? - we are having a terrible time with SFW this year, and I just need to know if their latest decision is correct.

The facts for us are that son is doing a 3 year degree in Wales, we are living in Wales so he normally gets the WA discount on the fees. He did first year, retook the whole because just missed the marks in a core topic in resits, and passed first year. So sat second year (his 3rd in real-time) and again failed 2 core topics and 2 others (just!) so the uni has said he needs to resit this second year (so it will be his 4th in real time). Same course, no change at all, just getting there slowly.

Before anybody slates him for needing to resit, he is mildly dyslexic, and gets 70%/80% in the practicals and coursework - he just has problems with exams. This was recognised in primary school, but they would not make it official because they would have had to give him extra funding. He is trying, and wants this degree, believe me!

Now he has had a letter from SFW saying because he has had 3 years of 'previous study' he will get no fee support this year, or maintenance grant / special support grant, because they are linked to fee support.
Can any experts here tell me if that is correct, please - both the fee support bit and the two grant bits?
Also, does that mean he would pay the full £9K fees, or would he get the Welsh discount?

I am asking here because so far this year they have been terrible with us: not sending us PR2 forms for months until I contacted them about it; not scanning in what we did send them, then saying we had not sent it to them; telling us to use their secure email system that does not work; telling us he was not supported by us, according to their assessor (?!?); sending us wrong forms anyway; ... I have been so stressed up about it, and I simply do not trust them to get it right now. Even in this most recent letter they talk about this being his 'proposed course' and compelling personal reasons for him leaving his 'previous course' - it is all the same course!

Many thanks.

Ed-1

vjm63 wrote: »

Hi all, somewhat stressed parent here. Can I just confirm a few facts with those who have expert knowledge of student finance rules, please? - we are having a terrible time with SFW this year, and I just need to know if their latest decision is correct.

The facts for us are that son is doing a 3 year degree in Wales, we are living in Wales so he normally gets the WA discount on the fees. He did first year, retook the whole because just missed the marks in a core topic in resits, and passed first year. So sat second year (his 3rd in real-time) and again failed 2 core topics and 2 others (just!) so the uni has said he needs to resit this second year (so it will be his 4th in real time). Same course, no change at all, just getting there slowly.

Before anybody slates him for needing to resit, he is mildly dyslexic, and gets 70%/80% in the practicals and coursework - he just has problems with exams. This was recognised in primary school, but they would not make it official because they would have had to give him extra funding. He is trying, and wants this degree, believe me!

Now he has had a letter from SFW saying because he has had 3 years of 'previous study' he will get no fee support this year, or maintenance grant / special support grant, because they are linked to fee support.
Can any experts here tell me if that is correct, please - both the fee support bit and the two grant bits?
Also, does that mean he would pay the full £9K fees, or would he get the Welsh discount?

I am asking here because so far this year they have been terrible with us: not sending us PR2 forms for months until I contacted them about it; not scanning in what we did send them, then saying we had not sent it to them; telling us to use their secure email system that does not work; telling us he was not supported by us, according to their assessor (?!?); sending us wrong forms anyway; ... I have been so stressed up about it, and I simply do not trust them to get it right now. Even in this most recent letter they talk about this being his 'proposed course' and compelling personal reasons for him leaving his 'previous course' - it is all the same course!

Many thanks.

Yes maintenance/special support grant entitlement is conditional on being entitled to a tuition fee loan.

You are entitled to a maintenance loan if you do not hold an equivalent or lower level qualification to the one you are studying.

You are entitled to a tuition fee loan (and maybe a maintenance/special support grant) for:

the ordinary duration of your course + 1 year - any years of previous study

(Partial years of previous study count as 1 year but the number of years of previous study can be reduced if Student Finance Wales accept compelling personal circumstances - this is the only discretion they have as they are bound by the student support regulations.)

From how I understand your post, the student studied the 1st year (1 year of previous study) then repeated it (2 years of previous study) then studied the 2nd year (3 years of previous study) and is now needing to repeat the 2nd year. The ordinary duration of the course is 3 years.

So the student is entitled to 3 + 1 - 3 = 1 year of tuition fee (hence maintenance/special support grant) funding left which is applied to the final year of the course. The student is entitled to a maintenance loan only for their repeat 2nd year unless you can prove to Student Finance Wales that any of the repeat years were a result of compelling personal circumstances.

Student Finance Wales are correct. The student will need to pay the university any tuition fees they ask for in the repeat 2nd year.

See my response to a similar post here: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?p=69054314&highlight=#post69054314

and here:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?p=69063943&highlight=#post69063943

sheramber

http://www.studentfinancewales.co.uk/continuing-students.aspx#.VeMY4Htjqpc

As I understand it, your son is entitled to funding for three years plus one minus any years he has already had. Funding is given for the last years and then preceeding years

He has already had three years so only has one year left which is applied to the last year of the course so cannot be used for repeating 2 year.

Taiko

Above are correct, and I'm afraid the dyslexia wouldn't be grounds for an appeal for compelling personal reasons.

Approach the university, and see what additional support they can provide.

vjm63

Thanks all three of you for your confirmation of that - much appreciated.

Starrystarrynight1

Hi OP.

Has your son applied for DSA support? If not, it might be worth it to get him some Dyslexia tuition.

He'll need to complete the relevant application form and send it to SFW with a copy of a post 16 Dyslexia assessment report. If he has one, of course. He should also be able to ask the university for extra time in his exams, if that's a particular problem, and hasn't already been offered.

Poppy9

If your son has a disability he should have completed an Exceptional Circumstances form. He needs to speak to Uni disability advisor as he may be able to suspend studies and just resit Y2 exams and then go on to Y3 next year.

Agree SFW difficult to communicate with. DD had to ring them and was actually told they couldn't tell her what information they were waiting for as it was in the office next door and they weren't allowed to talk to them. DD couldn't talk to them either and just had to wait. I've submitted a formal complaint as the service was so poor!!

vjm63

Thanks Poppy and Starry for your comments - to be honest we had not thought of asking down the disability route. He does not have a dyslexia assessment report, but I have suggested he contact the university disability people asap to see what maybe could be done.

vjm63

As title - I know this was several months ago - but it involved SFW!!

Anyway, it is good news. My son had a disability assessment as was suggested, and he has been officially diagnosed with Specific Learning Difficulties - which in a way is a relief to have it professionally diagnosed. Maybe they do not call it dyslexia now, I do not know, but it seems pretty similar, if slightly broader than that. This was sent to SFW, and they have accepted he merits DSA - he has yet to find out what they will fund, if anything, but he is getting 25% extra time for his exams, which is good, and allowance for it with his coursework from now on, which is good.

In addition I appealed their management of his loan application, with all the delays and lost documentation and eventually after going to the second stage of appeal got an apology from them.

We then appealed him having to pay for this year's tuition himself, citing for CPR the SpLD report that they had just accepted which meant he qualified for DSA, and again the delays - six weeks to even get back a letter saying 'give us more evidence'! Maybe the assessor then reread the report after I spoke to them on the phone, but three days later we were told that they have agreed to granting him the extra year's funding.

I am so pleased - so, so pleased! If anyone else is going through appeal processes or DSA applications with any student finance body, I feel for you! - but keep going, you will get to see daylight at the end of it.

It is up to him now to pass the exams and get to his final year, and do well in that, but I have done all I can. Apart from try not to nag him too much to revise!

Starrystarrynight1

That's great news, vjm63!