Not eligible for funding because I have CertHE... Should I appeal?

You’ll usually get student finance only if you’re doing your first higher education qualification - even if your previous course was self-funded.

However, you may still get limited funding if, for example:

you change course
you leave your course but decide to start again
you’re ‘topping up’ a higher education qualification, eg 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)

Have a look here: https://www.gov.uk/student-finance/who-qualifies

In particular:



You already have a higher education qualification and you're proposing starting a new degree rather than topping up your existing qualification, so I would guess this is the reason it's been denied.

There is no way to study the exact same course that I left in the past via distance learning (I studied Spanish and Philosophy joint honours which is a 4 year degree including 1 year spent abroad in a Spanish-speaking country), unless I do something like an Open Degree with the OU, gain accredition of my previous studies, and start at OU from the 2nd year onwards (the DipHE level).

This is an option I will go for if there is absolutely no other way I could get funding for a named degree, but tell me - will this work? Should I do that? Shall I start a new SFE application for this option?

It would be my last choice since I prefer having a named degree. But I would do it anyway if that will work. I have always wanted to complete a degree.

I think that's a question for the OU and student finance. From my very limited knowledge of it (at one point during uni I considered transferring to the OU but didn't go ahead with it) I would guess it would work though.

This is an option I will go for if there is absolutely no other way I could get funding for a named degree, but will this work? Should I do that? Shall I start a new SFE application for this option?

It would be my last choice since I prefer having a named degree. But I would do it anyway if that will work. I have always wanted to complete a degree.

I do have qualms about studying a foreign language with the OU as I think the year abroad is very useful for me and I could manage with my child - either I take her with me and she goes to school there while I study, or my husband is happy to care for her here while I go abroad for a year.. Also I think contact time is really important doing a foreign language and I know I won't get as much doing it through the OU, so for this new degree I am taking, it is not going to be a language degree. Rather I was going to do Psychology. But anyway, still worth thinking about doing a Humanities degree I guess, but without the student loan funding, I cannot do it.

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It won't let me post in the SFE thread you mentioned me in. The calculation is length of course - length of time spent in HE +1.So that person studied from 2001-2005 =4 years so 3-4+1=0 years entitlement left.

By signing the agreement your agreeing to the terms and conditions of SFE, not the actual loan amount agreed upon, so if they appeal and it's changed signing the agreement won't affect this. They can't start a new application, you can only have one application at a time.

Due to the fact that they've started part time they'd still have ~12 year's part time funding available to them with the OU for example.

Copying message from SuperCat

Copying message from SuperCat

12 years part time funding with OU... How does that work? Is it through student finance england? Or do I have to apply for funding from OU?

Should I sign the contract with the £0 on it then? What happens if I don't sign? Can I still not start a new claim?

As I understand it, you still get 12 years of part-time student funding from Student Finance England, so you could do an OU degree no problem. If you want to do that, I think you will need to re-apply for a loan from student finance. But obviously you should check with them to be sure.

No, don't sign it - phone them up and tell them they've made a mistake.

If you started in 2003 then you have 2 years of funding left (assuming you want to do a 3 year full-time degree).

Hi again, I still can't reply. It just says I don't have access to that part of the site...

To answer her questions: She needs to sign the declaration, otherwise they'll just keep sending more and will eventually say they can't do anymore until she signs. She's accepting the T's and C's, not the amount of funding offered. You can only have one application going at once.

You get 16 years part time funding to allow people to study at 25% rate. So 16-2 = 14 (sorry 14, not 12). Part time funding is separate to full time funding, hence why the allocation is different. Obviously you get no maintenance payments for part time. The amount of years you need depend on the rate you study. Psychology takes 4 years minimum with the OU, and you have up to 16 years to complete it with them.

You'll need to cancel the full time application to start your part time one, like I've said 3 times you can only have 1 application on the go at once.

Don't write a letter, email in using the formal appeals email address. That's the official process to appeal a decision.

This is getting more confusing. SFE's letter to me states I can only contact them via their PO Box address or by phone. They never provided any email addresses and they didn't mention anything about appealing either. Also my student loan application was for a part time distance learning Psych course at UWE, not full time.

I prefer to write (email or post, but since they didn't provide an email address but only a PO Box address, I can only post snail mail).. I prefer to write because that it is all in black and white and I can keep a letter trail. No miscommunication there.

So do you not think it's advisable to post?

Also how does one cancel an application? There is no mention of cancellation procedures on any of the letters SFE sent me.

Sorry snufkin I am not purposefully burdening you with answering my questions. It is meant for all and anyone who knows something can reply And hopefully someone from SFE can reply to me too.

Google formal appeals, the email address comes up.

I'm guessing that UWE course is possibly considered part time anyway as it's distance learning (like the OU), so maybe you've applied for funding under the wrong branch of SFE and that's why you've been rejected? You need to check with UWE and SFE whether the course is considered part, or full time.

They have to cancel the application, you can cancel it online, but apparently that can confuse the system so it's best if they do it.

But don't cancel just to restart the same application again. It's better to appeal the decision and await the outcome and then reapply for part time funding if you don't get the outcome you want.

I wouldn't bother phoning for information, the advisers mostly don't have a clue. If you appeal, it gets sent through to the team who actually understand how funding works so you'll be more likely to get a straight answer from them when they apply.