Apologies for the diversion and incidental bragging, but when an apparently inexperienced person attempts to advise a person who has been through a gruelling 6 year training schedule in medicine as to the content of a medical degree, the discussion tends to stray.
As for your question regarding discretionary awards, although everything in life has become automated and compartmentalized via the advent of technology, fortunately a very infinitesimal fragment of a human touch has been retained, so if you were to write a letter, superbly phrased and drafted, by (Royal Mail) to the Student Loan decision makers, it is remotely possible for them to bypass the laid down rules for an exceptional student. This is in a similar vein to getting a loan from a bank with a bad credit record, if you can convince the bank that you are not going to run away with their money (this is, of course, only possible by personal communication, but impossible by just applying digitally.
Good luck!