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SFE questions: changing courses and personal cirscumstances- please help asap!

Hi there,

!!please note I am a EU student.

Questions for SFE:
Can I leave my education and recommence my studies where I left off after several years? What would the max. amount of time off which would allow for this?(regarding an arts degree)

To start a new course, the funding a student is entitled to is funding for the new course length + one year - funding already received on the old course. Funding applies from the last year of the new course, so the first year (in my situation) needs to be personally funded, not by the government.

However,this is the case when the student left the course for other causes except for health issues or compelling circumstances. Please could you read below in my 'Personal Circumstances' section and tell me whether what I am going through comes under compelling circumstances? And if so, how could I provide evidence of my situation when I'll be asked and reassessed by the SFE, in case I choose to change my course.

Lastly, what do I need to do to suspend my year? As you'll read bellow, you'll find it's the only feasible option for me. I need an answer to this question ASAP as I haven't yet contacted the university nor the SFE services and my term starts on the 17th of September, date from which I am liable for the funding for my 3rd year.
P.S.: I have not re-enrolled with the University for 2018-2019 so I think they probably cannot confirm my attendance, which means no funding should go towards them under my name, but I'm not 100% sure. So please, a fast reply would save me a million worries.

Personal circumstances:
I have completed two years in an Arts related course at university, the first two units went well but I barely passed the last two due to several circumstances: stress at home (still living with my family as an EU student) which led to starting counseling sessions at uni, unable to get myself organised due to an overwhelming amount of work.
I could not work at home and got bad grades even though I was staying until 8pm Mon to Friday at uni just to be able to get some work done, away from stress. I even got two jobs just to make sure I would spend as much time away from home as I could.

Now I am at the brim of starting my third year of uni and I have no idea to what I should do.
My circumstances got even more drastic.

The stressful situation was created by a family member which now left (but might be coming back) which is a good thing but that leaves me and my full-time working mother to care for my siblings.
I am to care for my two younger brothers (one in secondary school and one in kindergarten) when my parent is working which includes preparing them for school in the morning and helping with schoolwork when they return.

Later during this year my parent is also thinking of taking the exam for British citizenship. Prior to that, she needs to acquire the status of Permanent Residency which requires passing a language test. Her spoken language is not too bad but helping her with her writing skills is essential if we can hope for her to pass the test. I also need to get my driving license sorted as I am constantly being reminded by my parent. All of these on top of my jobs (which I am not taking to escape my home anymore, but rather to provide some income so that I don't have to rely on my mother for money since she already has a mortgage to worry about) and mental health recovery. I honestly think this is too much to take on together with the 3rd year of a degree, which represents 80% of my degree outcome at my current university.

I fear that if I take the risk, I will only end up wasting time and money and degrading my health even more. Therefore, I was thinking I should suspend my studies for one year to accommodate myself with this busy lifestyle and see what time I will have for myself to actually work on my degree, maybe even improve my skills whilst my siblings are at school.

Thank you for your time and apologies for the long read.

Reply 1

Gerard SFE

Official Rep

Hi,

If you have a gap in study for 2 year or more you will be classed as a new student. Any previous study you have we will take this into consideration when you apply for a new course.

If you have left the course due to ill health you can apply for Compelling personal reason which you can then provide medical evidence and that would give you 1 extra year of funding.

You will need to make the decision if you are going to leave your course. Also you will have to advise your University you will not be attending 2018/2019.

Thanks

Gerard

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