I'm a 1st year Media Studies Student studying from September 2016 at the University of Brighton. I previously attempted 2 years of a Criminology degree at the same university. The first year basically went to **** halfway through because I ended up going to counselling for depression and having a horrible time with it, as well as getting cut off financially by my parents (They had previously been supporting me with 1grand per term as I was receiving the minimal maintenance loan amount and no grants or anything, but we had a falling out and that stopped, didn't help the awful time I was having). I left uni until the following september (2015) and came back to repeat my first year and give it another go with my finances more in order and my head screwed on straight (A much better frame of mind once I'd dealt with my issues)
I completed the year but basically realized by the end of the year I really wasn't enjoying my course. What I wanted 2 years ago when I left college wasn't what I wanted anymore, I dont think I was ever in the best position to decide what I wanted to do with my studies/future career at the time.So I did a lot of research and reflection on what I wanted to do, and ended up deciding that a Media Studies course would be much more up my alley. Luckily I got accepted for an internal transfer to the new course from the University and am now on said Media Studies Course.
Unfortunately I am now being told by Student Finance England that they won't pay for my 1st year's tuition fees as I already used up 2 years on the previous course, and they'll only cover tuition fee loans for years 2 and 3 of my course. Supposedly this is because they cover the length of your chosen course + an additional year, and seeing as my original course was 3 years long that leaves me with 2 years worth of tuition fee loan left.What can I do? I really enjoy my new course and I've finally got myself settled and happy in the area and in life in general with a nice house and I feel like I've finally got everything under control and I'm on the right path in terms of studies and career, and I really dont want to leave the course.I cant get a loan from basically anywhere other than student finance because my credit score is supposedly terrible due to me still repaying my halls fees from year 1 in a monthly repayment plan.