Help! How do I transfer from both my course and uni?

Hi, I’m currently a psychology student at UOY and I hate it. It’s not what I want to do at all, the course isn’t interesting to me, the uni life is too big and overwhelming for me and I can’t find the motivation to go to lectures most days. I want to transfer to do illustration at YSJ as this has been a passion of mine for most of my life and I could actually see myself in an art career.
I have no idea how to start the process of switching both my course and uni! I don’t want to drop out of my current course until the end of the year as I need my student finance payments to continue. I don’t know how to apply for the new course through UCAS or where I can get a reference from since I’ve been out of college for two years. How will student finance work since I’ve already been at uni for 2 years? Will I get maintenance loan for the full 3 years of the new course? Do I have to reapply for student finance when I leave my current course? How and when do I even leave my current course? I have so many worries bubbling around my head I feel quite overwhelmed with it all, but I know the new course is the right choice for me.
Any help would be much appreciated, thanks.

(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 1

Scotland Yard

Volunteer Team, Clearing and Applications Advisor

Original post by charliesm77

Hi, I’m currently a psychology student at UOY and I hate it. It’s not what I want to do at all, the course isn’t interesting to me, the uni life is too big and overwhelming for me and I can’t find the motivation to go to lectures most days. I want to transfer to do fine art at YSJ as this has been a passion of mine for most of my life and I could actually see myself in an art career.
I have no idea how to start the process of switching both my course and uni! I don’t want to drop out of my current course until the end of the year as I need my student finance payments to continue. I don’t know how to apply for the new course through UCAS or where I can get a reference from since I’ve been out of college for two years. How will student finance work since I’ve already been at uni for 2 years? Will I get maintenance loan for the full 3 years of the new course? Do I have to reapply for student finance when I leave my current course? How and when do I even leave my current course? I have so many worries bubbling around my head I feel quite overwhelmed with it all, but I know the new course is the right choice for me.
Any help would be much appreciated, thanks.

Hi there,

I'm afraid transferring is not a possibility for you anymore - you can drop out and apply to UCAS again, much like you did at school. This time though, your reference will be provided by your current university. It'll be written by your academic advisor / personal tutor, whom you should also inform that you're intending to drop out at the end of the year. Your academic advisor will also hopefully be able to give you guidance on the process of dropping out of university. You'll also need to list your current degree in the UCAS education section.

The UCAS equal considerations deadline is 31st of January, 6:00PM, which leaves you an impossibly little time to mount an application. However, it is possible (but not guaranteed) that Fine Art at York St John University will still be accepting applications even after this date, but I'd double-check with their admissions team (and any other university you want to apply to) after the deadline to make sure they're still accepting applications for Fine Art. If not, try clearing, if not, take a year out and apply during your gap year. Also make sure you meet the requirements - I'm speaking majorly outside of my comfort zone here but I vaguely recall something about art portfolios for art degrees? So double-check if you need one so you can start building a portfolio.

In terms of funding, you're better off reading the official guidelines on who qualifies for student finance or asking here in TSR on the Ask Student Finance forum, but as far as I understand, you'll only get student finance for two years out of the three years of your new degree. And yes, you'd have to reapply.

Hope this helps,
SY

Reply 2

gjd800

An application is definitely possible in a week but you'd need your referee to be very on the ball.

Reply 3

YSJstudents

Official Rep

Hi Charlie,

You can email the admissions team for advice on applying for this course, as the UCAS deadline has now passed. Their email is: [email protected]. Their phone number is 01904 876 598.

Suzan
Student Ambassador