Unable to enrol at UCL

I had a place confirmed at UCL to study this year but I had to put off enrolment because I wasn't sure I would have funding, I was in constant contact with them telling them I am waiting for SFE to confirm I would receive a tuition fee loan, finally I received this confirmation yesterday and tried to enrol today. The tutor I am speaking to has said it's no longer possible as I didn't inform them of the issue but I was doing so constantly, I am now no longer receiving and I am desperate to attend this academic year.

@999tigger Could you help with this?

@999tigger Could you help with this?

What format did your communications with UCL say?
Did you have a named person contact in admissions?
Did they say you need to enrol by x date and if you dont then you cant come?
or did they say they would keep the place open?
What did your department say? Is it the course organiser you are speaking to?
You need evidence.

When did you apply for student finance [ date]?
Seems first day of term was 28th September so about 4 weeks ago?

Only unless UCL promised to keep the spot open do I think you have a case and then you should make a complaint.
You could also potentially make a complaint against SFE, but that depends on evidence.

Im;less you have evidence, then I would be looking at seeing if I can get a place next year plus be glad ive avoided this year due to cv19 and take a gap. The feedback from freshers posting gives me the impression the impact on the uni experience has been much greater than anticipated.
2021 makes more sense.

They said if you don't enrol by the 16th then it will be more difficult not impossible. I had applied for CPR to gain an extra year of funding. I had been emailing them, I do have the name of the person who is the programme manager who I have been speaking to, I have not yet contacted the programme director as it seems futile based on your response.

So the programme manager is saying no?
You missed the 16th date, so its at their discretion.
Write to them both again and explain why youd like to start now, that you have kept them fully informed and this was down to SFE, although I think its your responsibility to get it sorted beforehand. You didnt say when you applied for CPR?

Ask them to reconsider or ask them to be admitted in 2021. Given the choice I would do 2021.

It was quite early on that I applied and yes the programme manager has said no, I am considering emailing the programme director as would they be more influential? I understand but the working from home actually suits me which is why I am so desperate to start now

What does quite early on mean? That is so vague as to be unhelpful.

Have I dealt with you before on this issue?
Make sure the wording is correct and that you dont put the programme managers nose out of joint.

If I were in the situation then I would be more interested in preserving my place.
Once it got past 16th it is down to his or their discretion, it was probably down to their discretion when you didnt enrol.

I don't think I have. As soon as I knew I wouldn't be attending my previous university I sent the evidence. How would I word the email to not annoy the manager as would it be like going behind their back?

Again not helpful, but wont ask anymore. You are better off getting a wording or advice from Threeport or Oxfossil if they have time. I believe you would need to get the balance right on asking them to reconsider and then think about points why and how the matter was beyond your control.
You should come up with some reasons about why now and how you would catch up.
You should also explain why you couldnt enrol on the actual date.

Theres obviously more to the situation.

Apologise for the vagueness. I applied in the summer when I still wasn't sure I would be going to UCL so when I made the decision I applied for CPR and informed UCL. @threeportdrift @OxFossil, could you provide any help please?

I suspect you are simply too late to start the course at UCL, end of. You need to collate the evidence of previous communications and go back to the exact person you were previously communicating with at UCL, and see if you can get a start date. However, at 23 October, I don't think this is going to happen. I suspect you will have to secure confirmation of a deferred place to start in Oct 21.

Apologise for the vagueness. I applied in the summer when I still wasn't sure I would be going to UCL so when I made the decision I applied for CPR and informed UCL. @threeportdrift @OxFossil, could you provide any help please?

I doubt I can add anything to what has been suggested already. The regulations on enrolment deadline don't seem to help you much https://www.ucl.ac.uk/academic-manual/chapters/chapter-3-registration-framework-taught-programmes/section-1-period-registration . You may have some sort of case, if the history @threeportdrift and @999tigger mention clearly demonstrates some sort of negligence on the part of UCL,but Im not optimistic. UCL aren't bound by what SFE might have done or said or not done or said. Sorry.
I appreciate it may be cold comfort right now, but in years to come, you may be glad that your first year at uni was not this one.

Do you think there's no chance they would let me start? They were willing to on the 16th and certain things such as labs have been cancelled

No, I'm afraid not. In fact, I'm surprised they were prepared to consider it on the 16th - what date was term supposed to start? Usually the most any uni will consider is 3-5 working days. The problem is that every single administrative system has to be rerun for one individual, registration, accommodation, university card, library registration, health, all the welfare briefs, H&S etc etc. Missing Fresher's week, for the admin rather than the socialising, is pretty much a killer.

Don't do nothing though, order your notes, get your facts straight, ask the individual you were dealing with re the 16th, and if the answer is no, try and negotiate confirmation for a deferred place for Oct 2021.

The impression I'm getting is that it is basically impossible for me to enrol but I would be willing to put in 8+ hours a day to catch up I am very apprehensive on taking another year out I am hoping they will consider it but I understand they're under no obligation and doing so will provide them with a student very much behind on work.

Hello fossil, hope you are well. I was just pointing out if you are going to get them to think again , then you have to be very careful you dont tread on any toes as if the balance is wrong it could make you persona non grata. In the scheme of things getting in at all would seem to be the priority.

Ah, ok, thanks.

You need to be clear about the grounds of any new approach. First, it appears you have no grounds for arguing that UCL are at fault. So this is not a complaint or grievance.

Secondly, you haven't said whether the programme manager has provided specific reasons why enrolment after the 16th is impossible. If they've said you will be too far behind on the academic side, presumably you will already have said you're willing to do whatever it takes to catch up, and that hasn't impressed them. If that's the case, your position is extremely weak to non-existent. No other authority at UCL will want to go against the course manager's judgement in the absence of compelling reasons on other grounds. So again, you need a different primary argument.

My thought would be that the only slender possibility is if the programme manager has only referred to administrative requirements. Then you might be able to ground an appeal on your special circumstances - whatever they are - to see if there's any room for you to catch up with the admin issues. That might give you grounds for contacting someone else - whether that's the programme director or an Admissions Director or something. I don't know - somone who has responsibility for admissions and enrolment rather than an academic manager. Someone who would not be treading on the PM's toes. If you want to do this, it's important that you inform the PM what you are doing, and clarify it's not a complaint or grievance, but rather an appeal on purely admin grounds.

As @threeportdrift points out, this still seems highly optimistic, and I'd again suggest entry in 2021 is a better option.