Student Loan for OU but Studied Before

Hi

I'm considering studying with the OU (not sure which course yet), but I have questions around if I am eligible for a student loan and if so, how much.

I have previously studied before, a full year in 2001-2, and about six weeks into the start of the second year. At that time, maintainance grants were available, which our household qualified for, so my fees were paid that way, and I never took out a student loan. In fact, I never even contacted the Student Loans Company.

Now however, I'm confused as to whether I qualify for a student loan for OU study. The Government website states that generally funding is only available towards study for a first degree, which this OU degree would not be, even though I didn't complete the first one. That would seem to rule me out of any student finance.

On the other hand, I've seen plenty of information on-line stating that you are allowed four years worth of student finance, which in theory means I've used two out of the four with my previous study, so might have to self-fund a third of the course. That said, although I've studied before, as noted, I never took a student loan, so in theory, I've never benefitted from any student loan at all, so would that mean I could just make a normal application and get a full loan for the entire course?

As I understand the OU sign-up process, you start on the OU website, transfer to the Student Loans Company website to get your loan set-up, and then transfer back to the OU website to complete the sign-up. That means I'd have to already be committed with the OU before finding out whether I can get a loan. If the answer is no, then I can't self-fund the entire course (even one third would be difficult), and I'd have cancel the OU sign-up (if that's even possible), and it all becomes a bit of a mess. Therefore knowing if I'm likely to be eligible at all for finance before getting started would be useful.

Any clarification on the above would be most welcome.

Thanks.

Chris

Hi

I'm considering studying with the OU (not sure which course yet), but I have questions around if I am eligible for a student loan and if so, how much.

I have previously studied before, a full year in 2001-2, and about six weeks into the start of the second year. At that time, maintainance grants were available, which our household qualified for, so my fees were paid that way, and I never took out a student loan. In fact, I never even contacted the Student Loans Company.

Now however, I'm confused as to whether I qualify for a student loan for OU study. The Government website states that generally funding is only available towards study for a first degree, which this OU degree would not be, even though I didn't complete the first one. That would seem to rule me out of any student finance.

On the other hand, I've seen plenty of information on-line stating that you are allowed four years worth of student finance, which in theory means I've used two out of the four with my previous study, so might have to self-fund a third of the course. That said, although I've studied before, as noted, I never took a student loan, so in theory, I've never benefitted from any student loan at all, so would that mean I could just make a normal application and get a full loan for the entire course?

As I understand the OU sign-up process, you start on the OU website, transfer to the Student Loans Company website to get your loan set-up, and then transfer back to the OU website to complete the sign-up. That means I'd have to already be committed with the OU before finding out whether I can get a loan. If the answer is no, then I can't self-fund the entire course (even one third would be difficult), and I'd have cancel the OU sign-up (if that's even possible), and it all becomes a bit of a mess. Therefore knowing if I'm likely to be eligible at all for finance before getting started would be useful.

Any clarification on the above would be most welcome.

Thanks.

Chris

Hi

Thanks for your reply.There weren't any serious mitigating circumstances that led to me dropping out last time. It just wasn't right for me at the time, so if I'm being honest my heart wasn't in it. Struggling to balance lecture time, with personal study, and work commitments sort of pushed me over the edge to leave.

Edited to reply to the above post - Does the part-time loan criteria still apply if you decide to study the equivalent of full time, so over three years, rather than the more typical six years at the OU?

Chris.