Swansea A101 course weeks

Though I'm not sure it'll make much difference, I thought Notts was 36/34/48/44? Or thereabouts anyway, pretty certain I have years 1 and 3 right.

Swansea I'm honestly not sure but I imagine Rachel would answer promptly :wink:

If you haven't seen already, Notts have a lovely £3,000 income assessed bursary which GEM students are eligible for :biggrin:

that negates most any and all extra costs for me, essentially a free elective abroad :tongue:

Reply 2

OP

Oh, that's different info - where did you get it from? I have the above written down from the open day.

I've emailed Jane at Swansea but unfortunately I'm inpatient and was kind of hoping someone on here might have had the same question already. Have I missed Rachel? Not sure who she is.

I have seen the 3k bursary and fortunately the boyfriends income for this student loan year works out really low as he was temping at that point. It does make a difference but I've got a feeling Swansea might have longer terms so I would get more in student loans anyway which would reduce the impact of the bursary.

Reply 3

ForestCat

Original post by M150

Oh, that's different info - where did you get it from? I have the above written down from the open day.

I've emailed Jane at Swansea but unfortunately I'm inpatient and was kind of hoping someone on here might have had the same question already. Have I missed Rachel? Not sure who she is.

I have seen the 3k bursary and fortunately the boyfriends income for this student loan year works out really low as he was temping at that point. It does make a difference but I've got a feeling Swansea might have longer terms so I would get more in student loans anyway which would reduce the impact of the bursary.

I don't know the specifics about the course length but I doubt there would be very little difference in them overall, certainly not enough that it will make a huge impact on funding! If money is going to be a big issue in deciding, have a look at local rents etc that will have a much bigger impact. Plus travelling costs to and from hospitals (so what hospitals can you be placed at) etc (if you're really far away you'd likely get accomodation but its still something to think about).

Also, if you're basing the funding on your boyfriend, where is he most likely to get a job (unless he isn't moving with you)?

Hope I'm not butting in, my main point is really that because of the required hours to qualify, and the nature of the course, there is likely to be very little difference in term length and thus loans etc.

Reply 4

Original post by M150

Oh, that's different info - where did you get it from? I have the above written down from the open day.

I've emailed Jane at Swansea but unfortunately I'm inpatient and was kind of hoping someone on here might have had the same question already. Have I missed Rachel? Not sure who she is.

I have seen the 3k bursary and fortunately the boyfriends income for this student loan year works out really low as he was temping at that point. It does make a difference but I've got a feeling Swansea might have longer terms so I would get more in student loans anyway which would reduce the impact of the bursary.

Also at the open day, I asked the question and Paul responded. Though I may be recalling it incorrectly as I do not have it written down.
Rachel Smith seemed to be handling all the inquiries recently, I haven't had anything from Jane in a while. Rachel sent the emails, was there at the interview and called me to give me my offer.

Do boyfriends count for tax purposes...? :ninja:

Original post by ForestCat

I don't know the specifics about the course length but I doubt there would be very little difference in them overall, certainly not enough that it will make a huge impact on funding! If money is going to be a big issue in deciding, have a look at local rents etc that will have a much bigger impact. Plus travelling costs to and from hospitals (so what hospitals can you be placed at) etc (if you're really far away you'd likely get accomodation but its still something to think about).

Also, if you're basing the funding on your boyfriend, where is he most likely to get a job (unless he isn't moving with you)?

Hope I'm not butting in, my main point is really that because of the required hours to qualify, and the nature of the course, there is likely to be very little difference in term length and thus loans etc.

The difference in first year alone between Swansea and Notts is 7 weeks which would amount to ~£600 difference in student loan. Living cost between both is much the same with rent, facilities, travel etc.

Reply 5

OP

Original post by ForestCat

I don't know the specifics about the course length but I doubt there would be very little difference in them overall, certainly not enough that it will make a huge impact on funding! If money is going to be a big issue in deciding, have a look at local rents etc that will have a much bigger impact. Plus travelling costs to and from hospitals (so what hospitals can you be placed at) etc (if you're really far away you'd likely get accomodation but its still something to think about).

Also, if you're basing the funding on your boyfriend, where is he most likely to get a job (unless he isn't moving with you)?

Hope I'm not butting in, my main point is really that because of the required hours to qualify, and the nature of the course, there is likely to be very little difference in term length and thus loans etc.

Thanks ForestCat, I didn't realise that they were likely to be so similar. The first year at Swansea is 44 weeks and much shorter at Nottingham so that's where I was getting the info from. Fortunately money isn't the biggest concern (I've been practicing for being a junior doctor by working huge amounts of overtime and completely ignoring the European Working Time Directive) but it is the simplest at the moment due to the joys of being an older medical student with a life and responsibilities and things.

I don't think there is much of a difference between the rents, I also have a tiny and fuel efficient car so petrol costs for placements won't be too bad. If I pick Swansea I'll be living in Cardiff though because the boyfriend will have a job there and doesn't want to commute. If I pick Nottingham then I'll go live in shared student housing while the boyfriend stays in his current job and looks for a new one in the right area. Lots less disruption for both of us if I go to Swansea but I still can't put Nottingham out of my head.

Reply 6

OP

Original post by Zorg

Though I'm not sure it'll make much difference, I thought Notts was 36/34/48/44? Or thereabouts anyway, pretty certain I have years 1 and 3 right.

Swansea I'm honestly not sure but I imagine Rachel would answer promptly :wink:

If you haven't seen already, Notts have a lovely £3,000 income assessed bursary which GEM students are eligible for :biggrin:

that negates most any and all extra costs for me, essentially a free elective abroad :tongue:

Ha, that's where I got the information from too except I wrote it down :wink:

Jane has got back to me and the course at Swansea runs for 46 weeks each year which might make a fair difference to my student loan (you get the extra weeks allowance for 52 weeks if the course is longer than 45 weeks).

Although, guess that depends on Student Loans getting themselves sorted out. I applied ages ago and have been assessed as getting £0 even though the computer got the information right when it told me what I might be eligible for at the end of submitting the application. Bounced it back to the grad medicine team.

Reply 7

Swansea GEM Curriculum Map 2015-2016.pdf31.7KB

Sarb just emailed and told me year 1 is a 43 week year and then year 2 not including CP1 is a 26 week year!

Reply 8

S.Jones1

Did you get a reply back from Swansea? I've attached next years curriculum map. Hope this helps :smile:

Reply 9

OP

S.Jones1, thank you so much. That's really helpful!

Zorg, I think looking at the maths from the info I have (I got the year length from the five year course for the remaining weeks) it looks like Swansea might have longer terms all the way through and the extra funding from the longer weeks makes roughly a 3k difference for Swansea which cancels out the Notts Bursary.

I've ended up firming Swansea :smile:

lots of reasons but I definitely had more pros on my Swansea list than my Notts list.

Reply 10

Original post by M150

S.Jones1, thank you so much. That's really helpful!

Zorg, I think looking at the maths from the info I have (I got the year length from the five year course for the remaining weeks) it looks like Swansea might have longer terms all the way through and the extra funding from the longer weeks makes roughly a 3k difference for Swansea which cancels out the Notts Bursary.

I've ended up firming Swansea :smile:

lots of reasons but I definitely had more pros on my Swansea list than my Notts list.

Fair enough, glad you've got one firmed! If I'm honest I am going to miss that beach!

For other's reference I just had the paperwork through for Notts with term dates and I think year 1 is actually a 36 week academic year and it's simply their calculation including the winter and easter holidays which bring it to 43 weeks. SF will use the 36 week year.

Reply 11

OP