Declined for Student Loan

Gengal

Hello everyone,

First time poster here, so apologies if I do anything wrong.
I'm in a bit of a pickle, you see. I've applied for student finance for uni, and with the start of the school year approaching imminently (21st September), I called Student Finance England to ask why it was that I had yet to hear anything and why it was that my application was frozen. It was at this point that they informed me that they were awaiting further evidence relating to residence. Now the reason for this, is that after finishing my first year at the Uni of Leicester in summer 2013, I spent two years in Canada before coming back for university summer 2015. I visited my dad in Canada who was going through a depression, and he put significant pressure on me to stay and support him through his depression, which I did. I'm happy to say he's doing significantly better now, but now it's been almost 2 years that I've spent abroad. I have no temporary VISA or temporary work permit due to being a dual citizen of Britain and Canada and not needing one, but that also means I have no evidence of my intention to stay there only permanently. Now that I'm back, and set to start at the Uni of East Anglia, SFE are unlikely to approve my application for a student loan because I haven't been here for the 3 years prior to my course, and don't have any significant evidence to show that I remained resident in the UK.
Do I have any other options for finance or do I have to abandon my studies at this point?

cornish123

so where were you a resident? surely you can prove that you were a resident here, despite living in having an extended stay in Canada.

On the electoral roll, have banks / credit cards in this country, have a tenancy.

If not why the hell were you trying to scam / defraud the UK taxpayer by putting in an application for finance if you were a resident elsewhere?

if you haven't got the 'evidence' to show you were resident here, pretty much all other financing avenues will be closed, because they will need similar 'evidence'

Voyager2002

You might get some even more useful responses if you post on the Student branch of this forum.

HappyMJ

Gengal wrote: »

Hello everyone,

First time poster here, so apologies if I do anything wrong.
I'm in a bit of a pickle, you see. I've applied for student finance for uni, and with the start of the school year approaching imminently (21st September), I called Student Finance England to ask why it was that I had yet to hear anything and why it was that my application was frozen. It was at this point that they informed me that they were awaiting further evidence relating to residence. Now the reason for this, is that after finishing my first year at the Uni of Leicester in summer 2013, I spent two years in Canada before coming back for university summer 2015. I visited my dad in Canada who was going through a depression, and he put significant pressure on me to stay and support him through his depression, which I did. I'm happy to say he's doing significantly better now, but now it's been almost 2 years that I've spent abroad. I have no temporary VISA or temporary work permit due to being a dual citizen of Britain and Canada and not needing one, but that also means I have no evidence of my intention to stay there only permanently. Now that I'm back, and set to start at the Uni of East Anglia, SFE are unlikely to approve my application for a student loan because I haven't been here for the 3 years prior to my course, and don't have any significant evidence to show that I remained resident in the UK.
Do I have any other options for finance or do I have to abandon my studies at this point?

You can borrow privately from a bank and you should have more success taking that route.

Pixie5740

If you weren't resident in England for the 3 years preceding the start of this university course then you are not eligible for funding from Student Finance in England. You won't be eligible for any career development loans either because of your residency, or rather lack of it.

I doubt you'd be able to borrow enough using personal loans to cover the costs of tuition fees and living either.

Do speak with the University of East Anglia to find out what options you have. It's a long shot but there might be an alternative way of funding your course. The university might let you defer until you are able to obtain funding from Student Finance England.

Another alternative would be to look at part time study with the Open University or similar.

Gengal

Hello, sorry for the late reply.
I had was only 18 when I left and being an irresponsible youth, I hadn't signed up to an electoral roll. I sent them evidence of my open bank account and the 10 month lease I had in Leicester which I paid for since I was unable to find someone to sublet it from me. I also sent copies of my passport/birth cert to show that I am a dual citizen of UK/Canada as it's why I don't have a temporary VISA or work permit for my stay since I didn't need one. It was an extended gap year essentially because of family issues. Still waiting for an answer but considering my poor experience with SFE, they're going to reject me. UEA have allowed me to start the course but aren't able to provide any funding. I guess I should start thinking about what I can do with just A levels. The idea of open uni is a good one, or deferring. Thanks for those ideas.

chrisjdw

I would gather all evidence that you can, any old continuous card payments leaving your UK bank account, direct debits, purchases showing your account was still open etc.
They might come back and say yes you could've been a resident but you're not classed as one unless you're in the UK more than 6 months of each year. If they do id look at open university, maybe get out in the working world for a little while until you'd get accepted