Hi jamiemitchell,
My daughter is funded by SAAS and attends university in London, where she lives during term time. She is in her third term of first year and we were really disappointed with the amount of student bursary and loan she received this year - certainly when compared to the rest of the UK funding agencies Scottish students get a pretty raw deal in terms of student finance for living expenses. Paying for accommodation for her first year has been difficult enough but when we got her 2013/14 funding notice through from SAAS yesterday we were delivered yet another kick in the teeth - the Scottish Government (who have, unsurprisingly, kept this change very quiet) have decided to remove the London weighting allowance formerly attached to the student loan for students studying outside Scotland in the next academic year. This means that a young or independent student studying in, say, Blackpool, will get the same amount of student loan as someone living and studying in Central London - if you've managed to take a look at accommodation prices in the capital you'll know this is absolutely ridiculous. I have written a letter of complaint to SAAS as we are now in the position where my daughter might not be able to continue her studies down there. All pretty unfair if you ask me, considering that the vast majority of her funding is in the form of a loan (she does not benefit from the free tuition afforded to all Scottish students who remain here). One could be forgiven for thinking this has all the hallmarks of anti-English sentiment on the part of our beloved 'government'...... I wish you the best of luck in your studies and hope you manage to navigate your way through the nightmare that is SAAS!