Hello,
I am wondering if in my position, I would still get student finance for the remainder of my course or if I will have to look at attempting to fund this myself, or possibly giving it up all together (which is a daunting prospect.) I am in my second year of university, but I would have been in my third and graduating now if I had passed last year. I have now failed my re sit of the second year (not due to bad grades, due to non attempts.) I have read somewhere that student finance only fund your course duration (plus an additional year which I already had this year in my resit) but can "write out" a year of finance if there are compelling enough reasons (which I believe I have) therefore, giving you an extra year entitlement back. If you are wondering what my circumstances are then I will detail them bellow, but my main question and concern is above.
At the start of my second year, I found out I was pregnant with my first child. I had an awful pregnancy and I was hospitalised for the majority of it meaning I was unable to attend lectures and did not complete some assignments. In March (when the resits where due) I gave birth 16 weeks early to my daughter who was extremely pre-term and ill and in a specialist hospital 80 miles away from my home. I was also very sick as I had pre-eclampsia and lost a lot of blood. I could not complete these resits due to this. In the June resits I worked tirelessly to sit all my exams and redo all the assignments. However, I failed two units because I had done the original question opposed to the resit title which was heartbreaking and I prepared to resit the year.
2016/17 and the resit of the year has been nothing but a mess. My daughter was discharged in November but she has a variety of serious health conditions including being on continuous home oxygen. I have struggled to find childcare because of her conditions and no one wanting to provide it because of these, I have been relying on family to watch her so I haven't been attending as much as I should. In around March I gave up all together and was in a bad mental state. I was diagnosed with PTSD from my daughters birth as well as bipolar. I started acting like uni didn't exist, I stopped doing assignments and going to lectures all together.
I now realise how important university is for not just me, but my daughters future. I already have a job lined up for when I graduate with a family member, which obviously without a degree will not happen. I have been set on this career choice from a young age and I don't want this experience and my mental health to jeopardise that. I am now taking medication and in therapy, come September I feel my health would have improved even further to the point I feel I can attend and thrive at uni again. But before considering going back in September, I want to ensure this is financially an option before getting my hopes up.