Student finance rejected application, how to appeal?

Hi!
I would appreciate your advice, I made an application to Student Finance for a BsH in Acupuncture, It was refused on the basis I already have a similar degree (I’ve got a degree from another country but not with Honours) Can’t proof my degree it’s lower than the one I want to study as I don’t have the certificate with me and the University where I’ve studied is Closed (COVID).
Anyway, I would like to appeal as Acupuncture (according to the Northern College of Acupuncture) is considered a Health profession. Also the NHS uses it as an alternative treatment for chronic pains, migraines and other ailments and even offers grants to doctors and nurses to study it.
My question is: is there any more evidence that I can send to Student Finance to appeal under the grounds that the degree I want to study is part of the Health professions therefore according to their website can be fully/partially funded?
Thank you very much!

Hi Indra,

For the 2019/20 and 2020/21 AY we will fund the following Allied Health Professional
courses;
• Chiropody
• Dental hygiene (Honours degree, diploma or foundation degree)
• Dental therapy (Honours degree, diploma or foundation degree)
• Dental hygiene and dental therapy (Joint or dual honours)
• Dietetics
• Dietetics and nutrition
• Midwifery (Degree or diploma level)
• Nursing (Degree or diploma level)
• Nursing and social work (Dual honours)
• Occupational therapy
• Operating department practice (Degree or diploma level)
• Orthoptics
• Physiotherapy
• Podiatry
• Prosthetics and Orthotics
• Radiography
• Radiotherapy
• Speech and language therapy


You can contact NARIC https://www.naric.org.uk/ to prove your current qualification is lower.
Thanks, Isaac

Thank you Isaac, although as i stated earlier, I do not have the certificate with me so can't send it to NARIC to evaluate it.

You should contact the university to get this when they re open.

You can submit an appeal if you disagree with an assessors decision https://media.slc.co.uk/sfe/nysf/sfe_appeals_leaflet_d.pdf however I do think the appeals team will reject your appeal as they will advise you to get the information from NARIC. It takes up to 7 weeks for an appeal to be reviewed at the moment so it's a long time.
Thanks, Isaac

Thank you Isaac for all your advice and help!

Hi Isaac,

Thank you but I'm still confused. I understand the "medicine and allied subjects" you've kindly listed above, but in addition to these the GOV.UK website further includes "health course".


https://www.gov.uk/student-finance/who-qualifies?step-by-step-nav=18045f76-ac04-41b7-b147-5687d8fbb64a#content

If you already have a degree
You may be eligible for limited funding in certain circumstances.

You may get limited funding if you’re ‘topping up’ a higher education qualification, for example you’ve finished an HNC, HND or Foundation Degree and now want to do an Honours degree.

You may also get limited funding if you hold an Honours degree or a higher level of qualification and start a new course. This could be a part-time Honours degree, a joint Honours degree or an Integrated Master’s degree in one of the following (or 2 if it’s a joint Honours degree):

agriculture and related subjects
architecture (if it’s a MArch RIBA Part 2 course)
biological sciences
computer science
mathematical sciences
medicine and allied subjects
physical sciences
technologies
You could also be eligible if you’re starting a healthcare course on or after 1 August 2017.




Additionally on this university's website they believe their acupuncture course qualifies as a healthcare course:

https://acupuncture-courses.org.uk/acupuncture-training-course/acupuncture-funding-and-student-loans

Student loans for our Four-Year (part-time) study option

The College is registered with the Office for Students. Students who are eligible can access a part time student tuition fee loan (currently *£4,625 per year) and a means tested maintenance loan (currently up to *£6,935). If you already have a degree you may still be eligible for a part time loan over 4 years (because this is a healthcare course). We therefore recommend you apply to student finance on this basis. You have to pay back all student loans once you have completed the course. However, you will only repay when your income is over a certain threshold (currently *£511 a week or *£2,214 a month before tax and other deductions). Interest is added from the moment you take out your loan (currently *2.75%).

Thank you for your help!

Good morning, the information you provided is for part time students.

Are you studying part time?
Thanks, Isaac

Good morning,
My course is full time, but please can you be so kind to confirm if an Acupuncture Degree is indeed a health care course and therefore is elegible for limited/full funding? Thank you so much

It's not eligible for funding as an exception course for full time students.
Thanks, Isaac

Thank you so much for all your help Isaac.

You're welcome. I hope you have a lovely day.
Thanks, Isaac

Hi Isaac,

I’ve applied for Student finance and because I already have a degree, I was granted only the “parent learning allowance”. My college just mentioned that recently some changes have been made at Student Finance and they cover full time courses now:

“...If you have a degree already you may still be eligible for a loan, please contact student finance directly as it is based on individual circumstances. Subject category (HECoS) is 100233 Acupuncture CAH02- subjects allied to medicine.”

My question is, as I already made an application and was granted the parent allowance, Shall I cancel my previous application and apply again? Or how can I request to Student Finance to reconsider my application for my full time course (subject allied to medicine)?
Thank you very much

Kind regards
Indra

Hi Indra, Acupuncture is not a full time exceptions course. The HECoS code you provided 100233 shows that your course is a part time exception course so if it was part time then you would be eligible for funding regardless of previous study.
Thanks, Isaac

Thank you so much for your help Isaac!!