The Student Room Group

Trouble Applying as an Independent Student

I have been having trouble applying for finance as an independent student and would like a conclusive answer.

I have lived away from my parents since September 2011 and have been living independently for over 5 years. I moved to study a college course in Bristol (an extended diploma). This lasted from September 2011 to July 2013 and the course fees were fully covered by the college (me being 18 at the time).

During this time, I was also pursuing a small business that I had started with a friend of mine in Nov 2010 and is still active to this day. However, I have never been employed by the company nor have I made any money from it as of yet (it has only lost me money).

Up until when I started my first paid job, 14th Sept 2014, my parents had been covering me for my living expenses. Ever since that first job, I have been fully supporting myself financially.

I am now 23 (24 in 2 weeks) and am planning to start a course in London on 18th September this year.

“If you have supported yourself financially for a total of thirty-six months prior to the start of your course, you can apply to be assessed as an independent student on the grounds of self-support. These months do not have to be consecutive, but you must show you have been earning a sufficient amount to be financially independent.”

From this and every other reference I can find, I should be able to classed as an independent student, although only just.

Here's a summary of how I have been supporting myself to date, split by the last 3 tax years:

04/14 to 04/15
Job 1 (part-time) = 14th Sept 2014 - 3rd Jan 2015 = £3,590
Housing Benefit [Part1] = 4th Jan 2015 - 5th April 2015 = £800
Jobseekers [Part1] = 12th Feb 2015 - 5th April = £370
Total: £4,760

04/15 to 04/16
Housing Benefit [Part2] = 6th April 2015 - 5th April 2016 = £2,190
Jobseekers [Part2] = 6th April - 18th August = £1,200
Job 2 (part-time) [Part1] = 19 August 2015 to 5th April 2016 = £4,950
Total: £8,350

04/16 to 04/17
Job 2 (part-time) [Part2; last pay slip] = 6th April 2016 to 23rd April 2016 = £1,100
Housing Benefit [Part3] = 6th April 2016 - present = £1,020
Job 3 (part-time) = 20 May 2016 to present = £6,360
Total: £8,480

Course start date = 18th September 2017

14th Sept 2014 to 18 Sept 2017 > 36 months/3 years

I am having trouble getting an answer on how I should proceed. I have not yet had a conclusive answer—it simply isn’t clear. I have had some say that I shouldn’t have a problem and others have said the opposite.

Every source that I can find (like the above quote) states that I would be classed as an independent student—supporting myself financially for 3 years prior to the start of my course, not the start of the academic year—that I have otherwise been told (also restricting my online application).

Why should I have any trouble being considered an independent student? Please tell me. How should I proceed? If I’m not classed as an independent student and, instead, my parents’ income is taken into account, the amount of finance I’ll get for my maintenance loan would seem to be reduced from £11,002 (living in London) to around £9,000.

If this is because, instead of 3 years prior to the start of my course (which is stated everywhere!), it is 3 years prior the start of the academic year, then I find this all a bit ridiculous. This means 13 days have lost me £2,000 from my maintenance loan when, technically, I’ll have been supporting myself for 3 years prior to starting my course (what you should be counting). This just doesn’t seem right. What can you suggest?

Many thanks.
Original post by mairuzu
I have been having trouble applying for finance as an independent student and would like a conclusive answer.

I have lived away from my parents since September 2011 and have been living independently for over 5 years. I moved to study a college course in Bristol (an extended diploma). This lasted from September 2011 to July 2013 and the course fees were fully covered by the college (me being 18 at the time).

During this time, I was also pursuing a small business that I had started with a friend of mine in Nov 2010 and is still active to this day. However, I have never been employed by the company nor have I made any money from it as of yet (it has only lost me money).

Up until when I started my first paid job, 14th Sept 2014, my parents had been covering me for my living expenses. Ever since that first job, I have been fully supporting myself financially.

I am now 23 (24 in 2 weeks) and am planning to start a course in London on 18th September this year.

“If you have supported yourself financially for a total of thirty-six months prior to the start of your course, you can apply to be assessed as an independent student on the grounds of self-support. These months do not have to be consecutive, but you must show you have been earning a sufficient amount to be financially independent.”

From this and every other reference I can find, I should be able to classed as an independent student, although only just.

Here's a summary of how I have been supporting myself to date, split by the last 3 tax years:

04/14 to 04/15
Job 1 (part-time) = 14th Sept 2014 - 3rd Jan 2015 = £3,590
Housing Benefit [Part1] = 4th Jan 2015 - 5th April 2015 = £800
Jobseekers [Part1] = 12th Feb 2015 - 5th April = £370
Total: £4,760

04/15 to 04/16
Housing Benefit [Part2] = 6th April 2015 - 5th April 2016 = £2,190
Jobseekers [Part2] = 6th April - 18th August = £1,200
Job 2 (part-time) [Part1] = 19 August 2015 to 5th April 2016 = £4,950
Total: £8,350

04/16 to 04/17
Job 2 (part-time) [Part2; last pay slip] = 6th April 2016 to 23rd April 2016 = £1,100
Housing Benefit [Part3] = 6th April 2016 - present = £1,020
Job 3 (part-time) = 20 May 2016 to present = £6,360
Total: £8,480

Course start date = 18th September 2017

14th Sept 2014 to 18 Sept 2017 > 36 months/3 years

I am having trouble getting an answer on how I should proceed. I have not yet had a conclusive answer—it simply isn’t clear. I have had some say that I shouldn’t have a problem and others have said the opposite.

Every source that I can find (like the above quote) states that I would be classed as an independent student—supporting myself financially for 3 years prior to the start of my course, not the start of the academic year—that I have otherwise been told (also restricting my online application).

Why should I have any trouble being considered an independent student? Please tell me. How should I proceed? If I’m not classed as an independent student and, instead, my parents’ income is taken into account, the amount of finance I’ll get for my maintenance loan would seem to be reduced from £11,002 (living in London) to around £9,000.

If this is because, instead of 3 years prior to the start of my course (which is stated everywhere!), it is 3 years prior the start of the academic year, then I find this all a bit ridiculous. This means 13 days have lost me £2,000 from my maintenance loan when, technically, I’ll have been supporting myself for 3 years prior to starting my course (what you should be counting). This just doesn’t seem right. What can you suggest?

Many thanks.

Have you actually applied for finance and sent through the information/evidence that they've requested? If not then get your application in ASAP.

From my understanding the assessment considers 36 months in the 5 years prior to the "start of your course" - which for the purposes of a course starting on the 14 September will be 1 September 2017 (SFE have 3 standard dates they use - if your course starts in the autumn then they'll look at your position up until the 1st September of that year).

This is NOT based on tax years and so using tax years isn't a good idea and is likely to confuse the issue. You would be better looking at your bank statements showing JSA and payslips for the periods concerned to show income for each monthly period. If you had a summer job or claimed JSA prior to 2014 then that could add to your count towards 36 months self supporting. It seems from what you've said that you can only prove 30 months independence atm and this will only reach 35 months at the start of your course. Unfortunately although you've been living away from home your parents were paying your living costs and so you're not classed as independent for those years.

I'm afraid the best advice might be to take a gap year - you'll then be 25 at the start of your course and automatically classed as independent.
Reply 2
I have been unable to submit my application online because it only allows me to add dates up to the 31st August. I referenced my income that way because that's how SFE said they would look at my income when initially evaluating my application (p60s as evidence). I'm unsure whether or not they would class what living off of as 'enough' or if any of the dates would warrant any concern besides my main point. There's apparently so many guidelines and regulations that aren't made clear anywhere I can find.

I'm not sure if SFE would consider my application as an independent student if I fill in the forms and send them by post, nor if there's another way I could approach it. The alternative means that 13 days have made the difference by a technicality that goes against what they promote online. I would like to make absolutely certain if this is the case—£2,000 is a big deal... SFE should make it more obvious what they deem the "start date of the course", then there wouldn't be any confusion. I wouldn't have an issue if it was clearly stated in the first place—I would go "oh, well...that sucks" and see what I could do about it. Instead, I'm uncertain how I should proceed.

In any case, I'm not going to delay the start date of my course—I am definitely going to start this year, no matter what—I'm not waiting around. I at least know that I'll be covered for my 2nd and 3rd years but, for the 1st year, it would make such of a difference if I would be considered independent. This is why I need a conclusive answer.

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