Adult Student Funding Options

My sister has been accepted onto a Nursing Degree, however she has already spent 2 years of student finance. This was 10 years ago when she was unsure of where she wanted to be in life. Now in her mid 30s, she's looking to explore nursing as an option to change her life but has been denied the funding. She will need to save 10k for the first year if she is to study.

Is there any way to get further help considering this is a change that is much needed in her life and give her the push she needs to enter a career after many years of health problems?

What reason was she given for not being eligible? Nursing is an exception course so previous study and qualifications are disregarded.

Due to doing 2 years on a media course about 10 years ago, student finance stated that they would not be able to fund her for a nursing degree. She would need to pay for the first year and then she would have two years of student finance to finish the course.

The problem truly is that this was going to be life changing for her and a real movement in her life after struggling with mental health and many issues since her last time in university. I was just wondering if there was any way to bypass this student finance system or have additional benefits to cover the missing year.

Just checking - is this with Student Finance England or one of the other funding bodies? If it is SFE, I think she has been advised incorrectly. If she is not already a registered nurse, then a nursing degree is an exception course and previous study is disregarded. She should receive both tuition fee and maintenance loans for all years of the course. Applications are open now, so I would recommend she submits an application to see what the outcome is.

This is with Student Finance England. Can I ask how we should proceed considering they've stated that due to 2 years of study, she would not be eligible for Student Finance?

She's looking to enter Mental Health Nursing at The University of Chester.

Who has stated that she wouldn't be eligible? Was it from a call/email to the SFE helpline or has she actually submitted an application?

She submitted an application online to SFE and they called her stating that they would be unable to fund the course. Would this possibly be due to trying to do an extended degree (4yrs with 2 degrees at the end) and would the situation change if she simply went for just the Mental Health Nursing Degree (3 years)