deferring a year

imported_goldie

If you decide, due to extenuating circumstances, to defer your second year in uni what are the financial implications? My son is unable to continue his second year due to extenuating circumstance and wishes to defer and start again in October. Would he have to pay back his grant, bursaries and maintenance loan? He has to pay for student accomm for the year so is worried how he can manage this.

bestpud

I don't know about the accomodation but he can defer from his course if he has extenuating circumstances.

I'm just doing this myself and have been told there is four years funding available so I would not have to pay money back if I deferred until september.

He would have to finish his degree within four years if he wants to be funded but they do allow one extra year for problems etc.

He needs to contact his LEA and student finance department (sooner the better really as he will be getting his new installment soon). I also found my personal tutor and the student union welfare officer very helpful.

Has he got evidence of his circumstances as he may need this (for the acomodation if not his course).

I am on the old funding system but I think this is the same for people on the newer system.

Hth

imported_goldie

Thanx bestpud. Would he be able to keep his maintenance loan for this year if he ceased his course now and started again in September do you know? He wil of course contact his LEA tomorrow but just wondered in the meantime.

D_e_n_i_s_e

be careful with certain degrees you have a timescale from beginning to end to complete it within. For instance a Pharmacy degree which can be 5 years long must be completed within 6 yrs to be recognised by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of GB.

this leaves you with just a year to play with (for deferred/mitigating/whatever) - which means if you decide to defer, you'd best not mess up any other year else you wont be accredited with the degree!


of course every degree is different but from what iv been told the above applies to all professional degrees such as medicine, dentistry, optometry, pharmacy, vetenairy etc.

bestpud

As I understand it he would keep the payment up until xmas and would be able to get another years funding when he goes back in october, but would probably not be able to keep the payment he will be getting now, as that covers the next semester and he won't be there.

I am slightly different as I notified my LEA before xmas that I may be deferring and so had January's payment stopped. The LEA person did say that was a good idea as I would otherwise be asked to pay it back.

imported_goldie

Thats bad news then as he has to find £2000 for his accomm for the rest of his year plus bills.

bestpud

Will he stay there rather than move back home then?

Is he able to work - even part-time?

If you think about it, students everywhere would be taking funded years out if they allowed them to keep this money. Not having a go btw as I know he has extenutating circs - but the financial rules have to be the same really imo.

imported_goldie

Yes he has signed a contract so has to pay for the year. He will be looking for a full tme job, just hope there are someabout. Thanks for your help, greatly appreciated.Do you know if he would have to pay back any bursaries he received prior to Xmas?

Oompa_Loompa_2

imported_goldie wrote: »

Do you know if he would have to pay back any bursaries he received prior to Xmas?

I deferred for a year a couple of years ago and received a letter from SAAS during the time in which I was working asking me to repay some money (a small grant) they had given to me, around £700. I was on minimum wage (and yes, it is difficult to cope financially but looking back now I am glad I had the experience and it did make me want to go back to my course by the end of it) and had some credit card debt so there was no way I could afford to pay back this £700!! I wrote to them telling them this and they explained that, as I was not currently in education, they had no guarantee I would pay this money back and so I had to set up a payment scheme. At the time, I was being paid fortnightly from my job and they accepted a payment of £5 per fortnight - I really do not notice this being taken from my account as it is such a small sum.

So, if you explain the situation he is in, I am sure they will be understanding and he will probably not need to pay it back in a lump sum - just explain to them that this would be impossible for him!

Oh, you could wait until you hear from them, or ask them now, up to you. But if your son leaves it until a few months down the line, the first letter may be quite a scary one (the one I got was) so it might be a bit of a shock later if you leave it to one side now.

bestpud

imported_goldie wrote: »

Yes he has signed a contract so has to pay for the year. He will be looking for a full tme job, just hope there are someabout. Thanks for your help, greatly appreciated.Do you know if he would have to pay back any bursaries he received prior to Xmas?

It depends on his circumstances and whether or not he finished his first semester.

If he didn't complete the semester then, as far as I am aware, he will not have to pay anything back if he puts an extenuating circs claim in and it is accepted.

If he finished the semester and passed all the assessments etc then no, he will not have to pay it back if he is deferring/leaving.

He can defer retrospectively and therefore retake all his second year - in that case he would also need to show he had extenuating circs.

Remember he can only have four years funding in total and thus he would have no leeway again if he repeats the second year entirely.

If he can manage to complete the first semester then he will have another semester to play with if his extenuiating circs crop up again.

I would give the LEA a call - mine were very helpful with me and gave me all the options etc.