Tuition and maintenance loans for a foundation year

Likely not, the course your are on, the foundation year, regardless of the name, should be a 4year course. By transferring to biochem after the foundation you'll still only have 3 years left, so it is still just 4years in total. What you will want to do though is make sure that student finance class it as transferring from course A to course B and not adding on extra years, usually that will mean getting UEA to write a letter saying you could not have gone directly onto year 1 of biochem without the foundation year first; if you don't do that it will be classed as transferring to a new course and the foundation year will be counted as the 'extra year'; so if you ever had to repeat a year, then you'd have to pay upfront...only if you don't send the letter though.

Reply 2

Original post by Et Tu, Brute?

Likely not, the course your are on, the foundation year, regardless of the name, should be a 4year course. By transferring to biochem after the foundation you'll still only have 3 years left, so it is still just 4years in total. What you will want to do though is make sure that student finance class it as transferring from course A to course B and not adding on extra years, usually that will mean getting UEA to write a letter saying you could not have gone directly onto year 1 of biochem without the foundation year first; if you don't do that it will be classed as transferring to a new course and the foundation year will be counted as the 'extra year'; so if you ever had to repeat a year, then you'd have to pay upfront...only if you don't send the letter though.

Uea won't write a letter. They'll automatically update the details with the SLC. Depending on how they do this will determine whether the foundation is counted as a gift year or an integral part of the course.

Reply 3

PJNolen

OP

13

Original post by Et Tu, Brute?

Likely not, the course your are on, the foundation year, regardless of the name, should be a 4year course. By transferring to biochem after the foundation you'll still only have 3 years left, so it is still just 4years in total. What you will want to do though is make sure that student finance class it as transferring from course A to course B and not adding on extra years, usually that will mean getting UEA to write a letter saying you could not have gone directly onto year 1 of biochem without the foundation year first; if you don't do that it will be classed as transferring to a new course and the foundation year will be counted as the 'extra year'; so if you ever had to repeat a year, then you'd have to pay upfront...only if you don't send the letter though.

So what you're saying, for example, is that as long as I am put into the '4 year biology degree program' that has a foundation year, take the foundation year, and then "transfer" to the '3 year biochem degree' there shouldn't be an issue with a continuous flow of financial support in regards to tuition and maintenance?

Reply 4

PJNolen

OP

13

Original post by PQ

Uea won't write a letter. They'll automatically update the details with the SLC. Depending on how they do this will determine whether the foundation is counted as a gift year or an integral part of the course.

Are you saying that it's absolutely critical how UEA defines that foundation year to determine if I have access to financial support?

Reply 5

Original post by PJNolen

Are you saying that it's absolutely critical how UEA defines that foundation year to determine if I have access to financial support?

I'm saying that how UEA class the course you switch onto will determine whether you will have used your gift year on your foundation or not. Either way you'll get 4 years of funding - if they class the new course with SLC as a 4 year (including foundation yr) course then you'll still have your gift year if you end up needing to repeat a year.

Speak to UEA and ask them whether once you progress onto the Biochem course if they'll class that as "with foundation year" for SFE/SLC purposes. If things go well it wont matter either way but if things don't go to plan then if they do it right you'll still have a years funding as a safety net.

Reply 6

PJNolen

OP

13

Original post by PQ

I'm saying that how UEA class the course you switch onto will determine whether you will have used your gift year on your foundation or not. Either way you'll get 4 years of funding - if they class the new course with SLC as a 4 year (including foundation yr) course then you'll still have your gift year if you end up needing to repeat a year.

Speak to UEA and ask them whether once you progress onto the Biochem course if they'll class that as "with foundation year" for SFE/SLC purposes. If things go well it wont matter either way but if things don't go to plan then if they do it right you'll still have a years funding as a safety net.

I'll email them and see if they can clear it up. I was told by a 'friend of a friend' that he was halfway through his first year (of a 3 year degree) when he was told that there was an administrative mistake. He was put into the 3 year program when he did not actually qualify for it because he had no GCSE scores. But was told that he had to leave the degree program now, and go back to school in September for the foundation year but he would have to pay for that foundation year out of pocket. I can't afford that cost so I all but panicked thinking that foundation years aren't part of the degree and you have to pay for them separately. But I guess it all depends on if it's part of the degree as some are.

Reply 7

Original post by PQ

Uea won't write a letter. They'll automatically update the details with the SLC. Depending on how they do this will determine whether the foundation is counted as a gift year or an integral part of the course.

No, they will. Because it is exactly what I had to do when I was in a similar (slightly worse off) situation. SF will see it as transferring onto a new course since you are starting in year 1 of a new track. They wouldn't have funded me if I hadn't gotten a letter from the uni to tell them I wouldn't have been allowed direct entry to year 1 without the year 0.

Reply 8

Original post by Et Tu, Brute?

No, they will. Because it is exactly what I had to do when I was in a similar (slightly worse off) situation. SF will see it as transferring onto a new course since you are starting in year 1 of a new track. They wouldn't have funded me if I hadn't gotten a letter from the uni to tell them I wouldn't have been allowed direct entry to year 1 without the year 0.

I send through change of course notifications to SLC all the time (and automatically when students change course or progress from foundation onto their substantive course). They might ask for extra information if the change is unusual but normally they'll ask us (the university) for that directly. It's unusual for them to ask a student to go to the university for a letter - we can message them directly and they message us all the time if there's queries (via their systems, via email and via phone calls).

Reply 9

Original post by PJNolen

So what you're saying, for example, is that as long as I am put into the '4 year biology degree program' that has a foundation year, take the foundation year, and then "transfer" to the '3 year biochem degree' there shouldn't be an issue with a continuous flow of financial support in regards to tuition and maintenance?

You'll get funded for all 4 years yes, that won't be an issue. The only issue you might have is if they count it as a gift year or not, which will be a problem if you ever have to repeat a year (you never know what might happen). As PQ said, that will depend on how it is classed by UEA. Chances are they will transfer you onto year 1 of biochem, a new 3 year course. In which case SF will class the year 0 as a gift year. Therefore it would be a good idea for you to make sure SF don't count it as such, and you can do that by getting UEA to write a letter saying the year 0 was needed in order to progress to year 1, direct entry was not possible, and send that to SF. It is an internal transfer, and UEA class will class you as a second year student (for example you'll be subject to bursary/tutition fees based on the year you joined, not the year you began year 1 of biochem.)

I remember somewhere on paper my course was listed as a BSc with a foundation year, elsewhere it is not however, I am thinking I had to request for this when I asked for the letter. I certainly remember they changed it to that, whether that was an exception or the rule I can't say for sure, but at the time I seem to remember it wasn't something they did for everyone. The course you are on now used to be Science with Foundation year, and nobody had issues with funding (unless they had too many years prior), so you'll be fine regarding SF since you've not had previous funding.

Reply 10

janet.george

2

It means you have to finish your degree in 4 years (foundation year + 3 years BSc) otherwise you'll have to pay extra for any extra years

Reply 11

Original post by PQ

I send through change of course notifications to SLC all the time (and automatically when students change course or progress from foundation onto their substantive course). They might ask for extra information if the change is unusual but normally they'll ask us (the university) for that directly. It's unusual for them to ask a student to go to the university for a letter - we can message them directly and they message us all the time if there's queries (via their systems, via email and via phone calls).

Well in my experience SFNI told me they needed a letter to explain the situation and the university didn't seem to protest much about giving it to me. That said, it is SFNI, the worst of all the SFs.

Reply 12