Discretionary Payments SFE

Hi,

I've taken the hard decision to take an interruption from university effective from January 2020 to September 2020. This is due to severe health issues and was suggested by both my GP and the University. However, I would be in severe financial hardship if I was to lose my student loan. I've been told to apply for CPR or Discretionary payments. What evidence do I need to supply and would this allow myself to recieve my maintenance grant for the remainder of the interruption?

Thanks in advance.

Hi there,

I am sorry to hear you have been unwell. If you are suspending your studies and the university confirms this is due to health reasons then we will be able to award you with 60 days of funding passed the date you left your course. Other than that we cannot award you continuous funding unfortunately as you will no longer be a student at that point. It may be best to speak to the financial department at your university to confirm other funding available. In regards to CPR, this is to fund an additional year for the Tuition Fee Loan which you can certainly apply for if you may have to resit any other years in future, to apply you would send in a letter from your GP or university on headed paper which is signed and dated which confirms the reason you couldn't continue with your studies at that point.

Thanks, Erin

Hi Erin,

Thank you for getting back to me. I was informed by my university that I would still be considered a student and that I would be unable to claim any other mainstream benefits due to this. I'm now very confused and in an incredibly difficult position.

Also,

I recieved this direct message from SFE on twitter

'Hi Lauren, are you hoping to return to your course? In order to award support after 60 days or throughout the period of suspension we will need to see further evidence of:
The reasons for the suspension
Length of suspension
Financial Hardship
Until evidence is received we would treat you as a normal suspended student and not award any additional funding. Evidence we could accept would be medical evidence confirming details of your illness along with a letter from your HEP. Each case is reviewed on an individual basis by the team.'