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HND/Top-up Degree Question

karajishi

Hi all,

Have a question regarding a potential degree. For reference I am 25.

A bit of history;

- 2008

Attended Foundation Year (not foundation degree, unsure of its level) at Southampton Uni. Fees were full undergrad fees (annoyed me as it was on the full time boundary and in my opinion quality of the course wasn't worth the fees).

- 2009

Went into first year of a Oceanography & Geology degree at Soton Uni. Ended up leaving at the end of the first year due to financial/personal issues and a realization that it wasn't the subject for me.

- I obtained funding for both years, both tuition and maintenance.

Now onto present day,

I have since realized my real love lies in computers, namely security. After taking the time to recover my finances I am ready to take up study again. I have applied and been offered a place at a couple of uni's and am awaiting my student finance app to be processed.

Having looked around at my eligibility, I am starting to realize that I may have to fund my first year of study. Although I am unsure as the Foundation was not degree level. I am bracing myself for this and am desperately trying to raise the cash to fund my first year. I am passionate and will do what it takes to do this.

Of course the big issue for me is that the fees rise next year. If I am unable to save it all then I will be in a tough position. My alternative is to do a HND, thus facing a lower tuition charge for my first year. Then topping up after completion. The uni i am looking to attend offers this.

My question is this? How does that leave me for tuition. As I understand it, you get length of course + 1 year, minus any previous study.

So if my foundation year does count then I have 4years-2years so 2 years of allowance. Meaning with a 2 year HND and 1 year top up I would have to fund the first year of my course. My question lies in the logistics. The HND/top up path isn't a complete unit, i.e. it is two different components and would have to apply for the top up after completion of the HND.

My concern is that I apply for the HND, get told I have to pay for my first year. Then on completion for that apply for the top up and not get funding due to previous study. Whereas if I did a degree, I would have to pay for first year yet be guaranteed i would get funding for the whole term. Does anyone have any idea of how this would work?

I hope this makes sense. I apologize for the essay but I wished to provide as much info as possible. Any help would be much appreciated!

Reply 1

karajishi

Before it gets asked; I have looked for info on here and have tried to get an answer out of student finance but some of the people on the phones can't understand!

Reply 2

Taiko

Foundation year does count in this case, as it was an integrated year and therefore eligible for support.

For the HND, it'll be calculated as (2+1) - 2 = 1 years support, so the 2nd year of the HND is funded, but you'll need to pay fees in year one.

You will receive funding for the top-up year, under Regulation 23, as it only looks at your HND and not the course at Southampton. For top-up entitlement, the formula is (D+X) - PrC where:

D = 3 or the number of academic years that make up the top-up, whichever is greater.
X = 1, unless it's ordinarily a 3 year HND, in which case X = 2
PrC = Number of years you studied on the HND.

Reply 3

karajishi

Cheers Taiko.

Still not sure what I'm gonna do. I wanna avoid the HND if possible but if I need to I will. I am currently forecasting a tuition deficit of about 800 pounds. I will offset this by using a bit of maintenance loan if possible but it isn't desirable.

The big issue is the increase in fees. I wasn't gonna go in this year but the fee change has kinda forced me really. If I am needed to self fund then the amount i need to raise will more than double! Not good.

Anyways, cheers for the help dude.

HND/Top-up Degree Question

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