Do I have grounds for Personal Compelling Reasons?

Hi everyone,

I have just started my first year at university and am still waiting to hear if I can get my tuition fee loan covered through 'Personal Compelling Reasons'. At the moment I cannot be covered as I have effectively used two years of my finance. I attended a university 3 years ago yet dropped out after a couple of weeks - due to me deciding against living away from home. I never actually attended a lecture at that university and no tuition fees were paid. That did, however, count as one year of funding.

My second year of funding was used two years ago on the course I'm on now. I dropped out half way through my first year due to my Mum being diagnosed with terminal cancer. I was in contact with my tutors the whole time and we agreed to 'suspend my studies' with the view of my coming back in future.

Sadly, my Mum passed away in April of this year. I am glad I suspended my studies as I got to spend valuable time with her. I decided to return to my studies this year and was made aware that I wouldn't be eligible for tuition fee funding due to me "using up two years of funding". I applied for Personal Compelling Reasons and sent evidence supporting my claim in July. SFE didn't say they had received the evidence until the end of August, and then informed me it would take another 4 weeks to review.

I had sent a copy of my Mother's death certificate, a letter outlining my situation and also a copy of my Birth certificate. I was quite unsure of what to send and obviously expected it all to be sorted by the time I had started university. I was informed around the 20th of September that my evidence was insufficient and that they would require further evidence to support my claim, preferably in the form of a letter written by a professional.

I spoke to my tutor and he wrote me a letter outlining the situation as to why I suspended my studies in the first place; something I should have done when sending my first evidence. In the letter, he outlines the timeline of when my mother received her diagnosis, and the subsequent effect that had on my state of mind and my studies. I sent this letter, with another letter written by myself, to SFE the following day.

I have phoned them a couple of times since I sent the latest evidence, and they have told me not to expect a response until October 26th. Basically, I am in deep worry as I have had to register my own bank account as a form of payment for my tuition fees ( I was advised to do this in the hope that SFE would have all this sorted by now and my tuition fees would automatically be covered by SFE). The first payment for my tuition fees is due October 25th, and I simply don't have the money in my bank account - even if they try to withdraw it.

I simply can't pay for my own tuition fees. I'm really enjoying my studies and I would be absolutely gutted if I had to drop out again - due to me not being able to receive funding. Personally, I can't believe how inefficient SFE are and how long it takes for them to process evidence and simple information.

Sorry for the length of this post, but there's a lot of context to it. Basically, can I accept to get my application approved? Is my Mother's diagnosis and the toll that had on myself enough to get it approved? And also, have I sent suitable evidence or do I need to send more?

Thank you and I'd really appreciate any responses,

A severely worried student