Refused maintenance loan - at risk of losing ability to defer.

Hi girls and guys.

My name's Nick and I've spent the last year working full time and completing an access to HE course in Brighton with flying colours - with a lot of hard work!!

I managed to get myself into my first choice degree - University of Sussex International Business - only to find that unbeknown to me my application for student finance had been withdrawn.

The issue lies with the fact that I hadn't previously resided in the UK and have only been in the country for a total period of a year prior to starting my degree.
I do however have a British Passport, British Nationality, a National Insurance Number and all the trimmings.

I've been through two applications over the course of the last few months and have had to send supporting evidence multiple times - be it for the Migrant Worker Application or the Home Student application. I've been misinformed for months chasing funding that I can't possibly have access too.

A week and a half ago - after a series of bad experiences with Student Finance - I decided to record my conversation with the EU Team - somewhere my application had been passed on to without my knowledge. In this conversation, a member of staff had confirmed that I was applicable for full Home student funding despite the fact that I hadn't lived here for three years as I met all the other criteria. Up until today, I was expecting a confirmation on my online account for this. Having not seen any indication of this, I called up Student Finance only to find my application had been completely deleted.

I am now in danger of losing my place in university as it may be too late to go through deferral and to be honest I am completely distraught as everything I've worked towards this past year is in danger of falling to pieces.

My only option now is to re-apply as an EU National in order to cover my tuition fees. I've already signed a contract with the university for accommodation - set to be paid in 3 instalments. I know that I cannot get through the year without a Maintenance Loan so I'm forced to consider deferral but I'm facing quite a few difficulties - aside from the sheer disappointment.

Would any of you happen to be able to provide me with some advice regarding my predicament? Would it be wise to seek legal advice?

Thank you all in advance,

Looking forward to your replies,

Nick xx