Strange situation

Same situation no, similar yes in that the fact your husband has been advised he can get a place without doing Acces because other factors including career were taken into consideration.
All the unis we spoke to in advance stated evidence of recent (last 3 years) study was required. We applied anyway based upon what we already have and received offers 5 choices each, 9 offers.

Yes you will lose the Adult dependents grant. It is not available to two students. If you were claiming for an elderly parent as the dependant adult then you will get the adult dependant grant shared between you.

Do you have dependent kids ?

You will need the approval statement from SFE saying you are both eligable for and have been awarded the Fee loan (unless you can afford 54K between you.) in order to matriculate. If you do not matriculate then your student finance is not paid, so ask the uni how that situation will be handled, not only your husbands, but but yours, as it will change to unapproved as described above.

Good luck and I hope all the above work out and he gets his GCSE B.

Based upon our experience I cannot see how you will get student finance sorted in time and I think applying outside of UCAS will make it even slower. So your initial payments maybe delayed by a week or two, however ALF can assist you cope with any delay in the mainteance component of your funding.

The only point I would make is that the Adult Dependant grant would be lost anyway next year.

Thank you for the advice. Yes we do have dependant children. I have spoken to student finance this morning and they have said that my student finance should be sorted out by next week as it is just a case of removing the adult dependants grant as you said and that my husbands should be processed within 4 weeks. They have said that as my student finance was already approved that I should still receive it on time so that is positive news.

The main thing that I am curious about is whether this is a genuine offer or whether it could get to that date and then he is still turned down anyway. I have applied through UCAS for my place so it is pretty straight forward but as he is applying directly to the University, I was just curious how that will stand.

Obviously your finance will change to a special support grant if your husband becomes a student and receives SFE funding. You both should receive a special support grant and a learning parent allowance. Plus the full loan each as the SSG does not reduce the loan like a maintainance grant does.

They told my wife and I that it would take 4 weeks, that was from mid march until last week.......

Good luck

The offer on the foundation year, which is effectively an Access year at university, the difference being it is tailored towards the needs of the follow on course. So if your husband has a change of heart about where to complete his degree, he may have fewer options.

University applications are down this year, most 18 year olds do not apply for foundation courses because the already have sufficient qualifications to start a degree. Entrance qualifications are stricter for under 21 year olds. Universities are allowed to waive level 3 qualifications for over 21 year olds with relevant work life experience. It sounds like your husband's CV was sufficient. Universities can also accept direct applications, they choose to use UCAS for their conventional recruitment because it allows the have a better idea of how many students are likely to take up the place. Before UCAS or it's predecessor UCCA, a university could easily end up oversubscribed or undersubscribed, they would only find out on enrollment day.

Have the university made your husband a formal offer in writing? If they have then subject to him meeting the offer criteria, his place should be secure. If they are offering him place at this stage, they have space for clearing. If they haven't confirmed it in writing, get them to do so, then if your husband gets his Maths GCSE, he will get the place. Even if you put in a UCAS application in now, it would not be sent to the university until clearing opens after the A level results.

For peace of mind, get the application form now, fill it out and submit it with everything but the GCSE result. When your husband gets his results, submit the result with a copy of the application.

Someone I know made a late application, the week before the course started and secured a place on the course they wanted at university. They just made a phone call to confirm they had places available and a check to see if their qualications were acceptable. Universities can cope late with late applications if they want to. What they are asking you to do, is not dissimilar to the process used for clearing, except you not UCAS seHnds the application through.

By the sound of it, you still have the insurance policy of the Access course place, so don't give that up until the final confirmation comes through from the university.

Out of interest, how much is the university charging for the foundation year, as compared with the Access course.

Unless the email contains some kind of disclaimer in the footer or similar then based upon what you described that email constitutes a conditional offer of a place on the foundation year.

You can enter into a binding agreement via email, even an informally worded and constructed one, which is why in a commercial context precise and accurate wording in emails is essential.

All the best

If he gets a C instead of a B, give them a call and see what they say. They are at the behest of Gove getting stricter about GCSE Maths and English. But if they need to fill the course, he may get lucky.

Well at least your husband will be eligible for student finance for the foundation year unlike an Access course. Which at least means repayment is defered until you meet the earnings thresholds. Once he has secured his place, it is worth checking if he would be eligible for any additional funding in year 1, for doing well on the foundation year from the university.

Good Luck.