The Student Room Group

SaaS to SFE

Hi SFE,

I stumbled across this feed as I have been facing a similar problem to the user above and I was wondering if you could help me clarify some of the issues I've been having?

I completed my undergraduate degree in Edinburgh in May 2023 and had planned on starting my MA Law Conversion Course at BPP Bristol this September. I had been awarded Scottish residency for my undergraduate due to one of my parents being born in Scotland and joining the Armed Forces in Scotland which granted me residency. Although having Scottish residency, I have been living in England since 2021 in military housing, previously having lived in Europe with the Armed Forces from 2017-2021. After a confusing summer of going back and forth between myself, SaaS and SFE due to being given conflicting information, SFE informed me on the day I had started my induction for the MA that I needed to take six months in between my undergraduate and postgraduate studies to be able to qualify for English residency status to demonstrate 'I was committed to living in England outside of my academic studies'. I had to withdraw from my course at BPP and apply to start in Jan 2024 at the University of Law Bristol, all of which I have done and I have accepted my place on the course and have sent off a new postgraduate funding application by post with SFE. I am a British National and I still reside at the same address in England that I moved into in 2021. My MA law conversion is only covered by SFE for funding, without the postgraduate loan I am unable to afford the course and will therefore be unable to pursue my dream career. Since I have received conflicting advice in the past, I was hoping you could confirm the six month rule that I was told about and let me know if there is anything else I can/need to do.

Thanks.
Original post by ogt.2000
Hi SFE,

I stumbled across this feed as I have been facing a similar problem to the user above and I was wondering if you could help me clarify some of the issues I've been having?

I completed my undergraduate degree in Edinburgh in May 2023 and had planned on starting my MA Law Conversion Course at BPP Bristol this September. I had been awarded Scottish residency for my undergraduate due to one of my parents being born in Scotland and joining the Armed Forces in Scotland which granted me residency. Although having Scottish residency, I have been living in England since 2021 in military housing, previously having lived in Europe with the Armed Forces from 2017-2021. After a confusing summer of going back and forth between myself, SaaS and SFE due to being given conflicting information, SFE informed me on the day I had started my induction for the MA that I needed to take six months in between my undergraduate and postgraduate studies to be able to qualify for English residency status to demonstrate 'I was committed to living in England outside of my academic studies'. I had to withdraw from my course at BPP and apply to start in Jan 2024 at the University of Law Bristol, all of which I have done and I have accepted my place on the course and have sent off a new postgraduate funding application by post with SFE. I am a British National and I still reside at the same address in England that I moved into in 2021. My MA law conversion is only covered by SFE for funding, without the postgraduate loan I am unable to afford the course and will therefore be unable to pursue my dream career. Since I have received conflicting advice in the past, I was hoping you could confirm the six month rule that I was told about and let me know if there is anything else I can/need to do.

Thanks.

Hi there, if you're ordinarily resident in England prior to the course starting then you should be accepted for the funding. If your course starts in January 2024 I'd advise to make your application so we can do our eligibility checks. You'd need to send some written residency over to us to cover a 3 year period prior to your course starting as well. Thanks, Ross

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