Tuition loan - returning to university after dropping out?
I dropped out of university in late 2016, a couple of months into my third year of a four year degree. I'm considering returning to university as a mature student in the next few years, ideally to study Veterinary Medicine (gotta dream big!), or if I can't get onto that then maybe Veterinary Nursing or another animal-related course.
Is there any definitive way of finding out how much funding, if any, I would be eligible for? I'd need to do a couple more A Levels and some work experience to do what I want to do, but the work experience would need to be timed to be not too early before I could start the course, so I need to have an understanding of my likely financial situation to know how soon I could afford to apply.
Is there any definitive way of finding out how much funding, if any, I would be eligible for? I'd need to do a couple more A Levels and some work experience to do what I want to do, but the work experience would need to be timed to be not too early before I could start the course, so I need to have an understanding of my likely financial situation to know how soon I could afford to apply.
Reply 1
they usually cover 4 years of tuition and maintenance. did u pay the remainder of the third year or did sudent finance stop paying the uni/you?
why dont u ask them?
why dont u ask them?
Reply 2
rjgrover
OP
2
Original post
by sophieee789they usually cover 4 years of tuition and maintenance. did u pay the remainder of the third year or did sudent finance stop paying the uni/you?
why dont u ask them?
why dont u ask them?
Ah okay that does line up with what I thought. From what I remember I think I got just the first instalment of my third year maintenance loan, but they most likely paid the full year's tuition, I'm not really sure on that one and it's the tuition that I'm more concerned about as it would be nearly £50,000 for a Vet Med degree. I'll get in touch with them on Monday, just can't right now with it being the weekend and wondered if anyone on here had done something similar. Govt website isn't completely clear unfortunately. Thank you for your help
Reply 3
rjgrover
OP
2
Just found my statements from SLC, looks like I got the first two year's tuition fees plus a few hundred pounds for the third year, so hopefully should be able to get Tuition Loan for about two years of a new degree
Reply 4
Just an FYI - perhaps look into the Access to HE courses rather than doing A levels… I am off to vet school this September as a mature student, I have no A levels… so I completed an Access to HE course in Veterinary Science - I did it in 6mths from home whilst working full time. Worth looking into perhaps?
Reply 5
20
Original post
by rjgroverJust found my statements from SLC, looks like I got the first two year's tuition fees plus a few hundred pounds for the third year, so hopefully should be able to get Tuition Loan for about two years of a new degree
Even if you received student finance for part of a year, it counts as a full year. So when calculating your eligibility, you will be considered to have three years of previous study. The formula for funding a new degree is:
Length of new course + 1 year - previous study
If your vet course is 5 years, then the calc would be: 5 +1 - 3 = 3 years of funding. If you withdrew from your first course due to ill health, bereavement, etc. you could file a compelling personal reasons claim for an additional year of funding if you have evidence to support the claim.
Reply 6
rjgrover
OP
2
Original post
by normawEven if you received student finance for part of a year, it counts as a full year. So when calculating your eligibility, you will be considered to have three years of previous study. The formula for funding a new degree is:
Length of new course + 1 year - previous study
If your vet course is 5 years, then the calc would be: 5 +1 - 3 = 3 years of funding. If you withdrew from your first course due to ill health, bereavement, etc. you could file a compelling personal reasons claim for an additional year of funding if you have evidence to support the claim.
Length of new course + 1 year - previous study
If your vet course is 5 years, then the calc would be: 5 +1 - 3 = 3 years of funding. If you withdrew from your first course due to ill health, bereavement, etc. you could file a compelling personal reasons claim for an additional year of funding if you have evidence to support the claim.
Ah okay that sucks but thank you! I did drop out for health reasons but have quite limited evidence, probably have a small note on my medical record but didn't seek any treatment.
As normaw said by my reckoning you would get 3 years of funding for the course in question. Note however such funding is calculated backwards from the end of the degree, so if you would need to self fund any years these would be the first year(s) of the course where you don't have full funding for it.
You should be able to get maintenance loan funding for the whole course I believe though. If you are able to otherwise cover your living costs and can come to an agreement with the university for a payment plan for the tuition fees corresponding to your maintenance loan disbursements you could explore the option of using your maintenance loan to pay the tuition fees up to the point where you get full funding again. This is going to be very dependent on your individual financial situation though, and while most universities in my experience are happy to agree to payment plans this is at the discretion of the university.
As a side note - part-time funding is a separate model and previous full time study won't impact your entitlement to (full - maintenance and tuition fee) funding for a part-time degree. Granted there are no part-time vet med degrees I know of.
You should be able to get maintenance loan funding for the whole course I believe though. If you are able to otherwise cover your living costs and can come to an agreement with the university for a payment plan for the tuition fees corresponding to your maintenance loan disbursements you could explore the option of using your maintenance loan to pay the tuition fees up to the point where you get full funding again. This is going to be very dependent on your individual financial situation though, and while most universities in my experience are happy to agree to payment plans this is at the discretion of the university.
As a side note - part-time funding is a separate model and previous full time study won't impact your entitlement to (full - maintenance and tuition fee) funding for a part-time degree. Granted there are no part-time vet med degrees I know of.
Reply 8
rjgrover
OP
2
Original post
by artful_loungerAs normaw said by my reckoning you would get 3 years of funding for the course in question. Note however such funding is calculated backwards from the end of the degree, so if you would need to self fund any years these would be the first year(s) of the course where you don't have full funding for it.
You should be able to get maintenance loan funding for the whole course I believe though. If you are able to otherwise cover your living costs and can come to an agreement with the university for a payment plan for the tuition fees corresponding to your maintenance loan disbursements you could explore the option of using your maintenance loan to pay the tuition fees up to the point where you get full funding again. This is going to be very dependent on your individual financial situation though, and while most universities in my experience are happy to agree to payment plans this is at the discretion of the university.
As a side note - part-time funding is a separate model and previous full time study won't impact your entitlement to (full - maintenance and tuition fee) funding for a part-time degree. Granted there are no part-time vet med degrees I know of.
You should be able to get maintenance loan funding for the whole course I believe though. If you are able to otherwise cover your living costs and can come to an agreement with the university for a payment plan for the tuition fees corresponding to your maintenance loan disbursements you could explore the option of using your maintenance loan to pay the tuition fees up to the point where you get full funding again. This is going to be very dependent on your individual financial situation though, and while most universities in my experience are happy to agree to payment plans this is at the discretion of the university.
As a side note - part-time funding is a separate model and previous full time study won't impact your entitlement to (full - maintenance and tuition fee) funding for a part-time degree. Granted there are no part-time vet med degrees I know of.
Thank you so much for your help 🙂 Three years' funding (potentially four if I can get extra funding for having dropped out for health reasons) is actually better than I thought now that I think about it, and to be honest I don't mind so much having to fund the first years. I could take some money out of my business to fund some of it, might be able to turn to family for help or, worst case scenario, could get a personal loan to cover any shortfall and pay it back over the course of my studies. I'd still plan to have an income from my business, plus my partner would have an income, just that I'd need to rely much more heavily on my team to run things but as they are becoming more experienced that worries me less, plus if I do an in-person Access to HE course (now my preferred route) that would help give a taste of how things can run without me here all the time before I go full-blown full time HE.
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