Student Finance Knocked back

Tommasi

Tommasi

Striker
My lass (no) has just had a year off maternity, she hated her job so has sacked it off and is meant to be starting Uni in September to do Social Work.

Because she done a psychology degree after she left school they have knocked back her tuition loan so I'm guessing we now has to find something like 9 grand a year for her to be able to do it.

Has anyone else been in a similar situation?

I'm guessing there's only 3 options. She either doesn't do it, we get a personal loan to cover it, or we see if we can save and earn enough to pay for it.
 


Yes. Been there.

Was very lucky in the fact that there were bursaries available to cover a lot, but not all, of the tuition.

Have a look to see if there are any other avenues of support available. Are the social services crying out for social workers? Hopefully they are and may chip in. The university in question will have a full list of what may be available.

Can also approach prospective or current employers and if the degree will be good for them they can contribute too.

Finally, if either of her parents were in any work with a professional body e.g. BMA etc. They may help too. SSAFA helped me out with some cash for books when I studied, as my dad had done his national service.
 
Thanks for all the feedback so far lads, think she's going to ring the uni on Monday and try and get some advice. Really don't fancy taking out a £27k loan or trying to save nigh on a grand a month!
 
Used to work for the student loans company (SFE).

As she already has a degree she will need to study a higher level qualification to receive funding. I take it she student finance funded her first degree?

Best option is to try and find a sponsor to put her through the second degree, this is extremely rare however. Perhaps her current company would be persuaded by her increasing her skill set / knowledge base and being able to benefit the business.

Other than that she can study a masters degree and have it fully funded. Don't think she will get any maintenance loans though however I could be wrong.
 
Tommasi said:
Thanks for all the feedback so far lads, think she's going to ring the uni on Monday and try and get some advice. Really don't fancy taking out a £27k loan or trying to save nigh on a grand a month!
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I did my Masters/Social Work qualification at Durham Uni so was funded. Not sure if it’s still the same but maybe worth an enquiry
 
Tommasi said:
My lass (no) has just had a year off maternity, she hated her job so has sacked it off and is meant to be starting Uni in September to do Social Work.

Because she done a psychology degree after she left school they have knocked back her tuition loan so I'm guessing we now has to find something like 9 grand a year for her to be able to do it.

Has anyone else been in a similar situation?

I'm guessing there's only 3 options. She either doesn't do it, we get a personal loan to cover it, or we see if we can save and earn enough to pay for it.
Click to expand...
If she wants to do mental health social work training its now open via another method called "think ahead " . Its specifically for existing graduates .
Think Ahead: Apply your mind to mental health
 
Tommasi said:
My lass (no) has just had a year off maternity, she hated her job so has sacked it off and is meant to be starting Uni in September to do Social Work.

Because she done a psychology degree after she left school they have knocked back her tuition loan so I'm guessing we now has to find something like 9 grand a year for her to be able to do it.

Has anyone else been in a similar situation?

I'm guessing there's only 3 options. She either doesn't do it, we get a personal loan to cover it, or we see if we can save and earn enough to pay for it.
Click to expand...

I believe from what a mate says that once you've taken out a student loan, you cannot take out another for an equivalent level qualification.

You can take one out for a higher level one though, say at Masters level. Are there not Masters options she could look at?

The system is designed to deter perpetual students I believe.
 
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wasnotwas said:
I believe from what a mate says that once you've taken out a student loan, you cannot take out another for an equivalent level qualification.

You can take one out for a higher level one though, say at Masters level. Are there not Masters options she could look at?

The system is designed to deter perpetual students I believe.
Click to expand...
Aye I'm pretty sure that's the case. Happened to me even though I'd paid off my original student loan.
 
Tommasi said:
My lass (no) has just had a year off maternity, she hated her job so has sacked it off and is meant to be starting Uni in September to do Social Work.

Because she done a psychology degree after she left school they have knocked back her tuition loan so I'm guessing we now has to find something like 9 grand a year for her to be able to do it.

Has anyone else been in a similar situation?

I'm guessing there's only 3 options. She either doesn't do it, we get a personal loan to cover it, or we see if we can save and earn enough to pay for it.
Click to expand...

Tommasi said:
Aye I'm pretty sure that's the case. Happened to me even though I'd paid off my original student loan.
Click to expand...

This is the link to the student loan advice section of the Government website.

Student finance

The relevant section is shown following. You normally not awarded a student loan if you've already a degree unless you're upgrading, though there are exceptions if you're taking various part-time engineering or computing courses. These exceptions are either open university or at your local university.

I've highlighted in bold another possible exemption in that limited funding might be available for a healthcare course. Could the Social Work course qualify in any way under this exemption?

One ambiguity not covered in the below is you can get a post-graduate loan for Masters if you've a normal Bachelors degree, but not if you've a Masters degree. I've asked my mate who already had a higher level qualifications, but wanted to investigate career change. He needed a post-graduate student loan to do it, his preference being to do a one year masters. But because he had an equivalent qualification from years ago, he was bluntly told he wouldn't get a loan to cover the Master's fees.

He didn't fancy the Open University route or part-time as he wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible. He's narked in that he had no outstanding student debt and it's been years since he was in full time education and thinks people should become eligible again after say a 10 year gap. Even part-time, a higher level qualification takes a lot of money to fund the tuition fees alone.

##########################################################################

You’ve studied before
You’ll usually only get student finance if you’re doing your first higher education qualification - even if your previous course was self-funded. You may still be eligible for limited funding in certain circumstances.

If you do not already have a degree
You may get limited funding if:

  • you change course
  • you leave your course but decide to start again
If you already have a degree
You may get limited funding if:


  • you’re ‘topping up’ a higher education qualification, for example you’ve finished an HNC, HND or Foundation Degree and now want to do an Honours degree
  • you hold an Honours degree or higher level of qualification and start a part-time Honours degree in engineering, technology or computer science (or a joint Honours in 2 of these subjects)
You may also get limited funding if you’re starting a healthcare course on or after 1 August 2017.
​
##########################################################################
 
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wasnotwas said:
I believe from what a mate says that once you've taken out a student loan, you cannot take out another for an equivalent level qualification.

You can take one out for a higher level one though, say at Masters level. Are there not Masters options she could look at?

The system is designed to deter perpetual students I believe.
Click to expand...
I finished my degree in 1987. So if I now found myself unemployed because the line of work my degree qualified me to do does not exist anymore and I needed a new degree for a new career I would be snookered as I already received student finance thirty odd years ago. Seems a bit harsh. (Hypothetical case).
 
alanturing said:
I finished my degree in 1987. So if I now found myself unemployed because the line of work my degree qualified me to do does not exist anymore and I needed a new degree for a new career I would be snookered as I already received student finance thirty odd years ago. Seems a bit harsh. (Hypothetical case).
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I don't think the current system can access student finance record prior to the 2001 academic year.

In all honesty, the best case is just to not declare any previous study at any level. Unless they have records of you studying since 2001 they have no reason to suspect anything and you will receive full funding.
 
alanturing said:
I finished my degree in 1987. So if I now found myself unemployed because the line of work my degree qualified me to do does not exist anymore and I needed a new degree for a new career I would be snookered as I already received student finance thirty odd years ago. Seems a bit harsh. (Hypothetical case).
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I know and agree that once a certain amount of time has elapsed, you should be eligible for finance again.

But one minor point is that it's simply holding a degree that will deny you finance and not whether or not you received funding first time round, unless (taking account of the exceptions listed) you do a higher level degree than you already hold.

FishburnMackem said:
I don't think the current system can access student finance record prior to the 2001 academic year.

In all honesty, the best case is just to not declare any previous study at any level. Unless they have records of you studying since 2001 they have no reason to suspect anything and you will receive full funding.
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Hmm, fair comment. It seems from what you say that my mate was too honest. But that said, he tells me he only enquired and did not formally apply for funding so they won't have a record. :)
 
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wasnotwas said:
I know and agree that once a certain amount of time has elapsed, you should be eligible for finance again.

But one minor point is that it's simply holding a degree that will deny you finance and not whether or not you received funding first time round, unless (taking account of the exceptions listed) you do a higher level degree than you already hold.



Hmm, fair comment. It seems from what you say that my mate was too honest. But that said, he tells me he only enquired and did not formally apply for funding so they won't have a record. :)
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I used to see it everyday, people who had studied for a few year although self funded / 20-30 years ago were being denied funding as they had used up their 'entitlement'.

As long as you haven't studied post 2001 and don't declare any previous funding on your applications there won't be any issues.
 

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