Dental hygiene exemption course and childcare issues

I have been accepted to do dental hygiene at TEESSIDE in Jan 2026. I applied for a student loan but it have been offered tuition fees for year 2 and 3 because I started a psychology and law course in 2016 but had to stop less than a year in, due to mental health issues as I had 3 family members die in 1 year. I was under the impression that Dental hygiene is exempt from this rule. Is this correct?

And I made an error in my application as I will be in temporary student accommodation for a few days in the week and return home for weekends but I permanently live in Cambridge with my 3 year old daughter. Due to the lack of options in the answers it now seems as though I don't live with or financially support my daughter which is not the case as I am divorced and the sole provider for my daughter and she lives with me full time. I pay the full amount of childcare each month which is partly funded by universal credit but as I won't be a working parent for the next 3 years, they won't fund this. I don't know how I can correct this on my application and have it reviewed - phone call service leads back to the website and the virtual assistant can't help me, there is no email option either. I have sent documents that prove this but I don't know if I can show that I'm in need of the childcare grant as that will have a huge impact on my attendance. Can anyone help! As this is stressing me out

Reply 1

Graeme SFE

Official Rep

Original post

by Carrieanne45

I have been accepted to do dental hygiene at TEESSIDE in Jan 2026. I applied for a student loan but it have been offered tuition fees for year 2 and 3 because I started a psychology and law course in 2016 but had to stop less than a year in, due to mental health issues as I had 3 family members die in 1 year. I was under the impression that Dental hygiene is exempt from this rule. Is this correct?
And I made an error in my application as I will be in temporary student accommodation for a few days in the week and return home for weekends but I permanently live in Cambridge with my 3 year old daughter. Due to the lack of options in the answers it now seems as though I don't live with or financially support my daughter which is not the case as I am divorced and the sole provider for my daughter and she lives with me full time. I pay the full amount of childcare each month which is partly funded by universal credit but as I won't be a working parent for the next 3 years, they won't fund this. I don't know how I can correct this on my application and have it reviewed - phone call service leads back to the website and the virtual assistant can't help me, there is no email option either. I have sent documents that prove this but I don't know if I can show that I'm in need of the childcare grant as that will have a huge impact on my attendance. Can anyone help! As this is stressing me out

Hi Carrieanne,

We still take into account your previous study, even for Dental Hygiene courses, so based on what you've told us here your entitlement sounds correct.

About the documents you mentioned, can you please tell us when you uploaded them, or posted them?

Thanks, Graeme

Reply 2

Carrieanne45

https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7620805
I had read this thread above where a student had a similar situation as me, I dropped out of the course as well. So from my understanding, I thought dental hygiene was exempt.

I had attached the birth certificate, UC entitlement, nursery invoice in my name and plenty others in the initial application. I have been asked to submit the same documents again to prove my daughter lives with me and I uploaded them 2 days ago. Bur I read that the review will take another 4 weeks

Reply 3

Drew SLC

Official Rep

Hi Carrieanne,

I have looked up the course details that you have provided and I do think this course would be an exception course and we should not take your previous study into consideration when we assess your eligibility. If we have assessed your application and have said that your Tuition Fee Loan would be blocked for the 1st academic year then I would advise you to contact us as we would need to look into this for you. To access our live chat service select undergraduate and then ‘contact us’. From here you will be able to use our live chat service when it is available. Alternatively, you can contact us on 0300 100 0607 for further assistance. Our opening hours are stated on our ‘contact us’ page.

In regards to the other evidence you have provided a few days ago this can take approximately 17 working days to process.

Thanks, Drew

Reply 4

Carrieanne45

That's great, thank you Drew. I have tried to call but the phone number provided only leads me back to the website and I can never get to speak to anyone. The virtual assistant also gives me limited options not specific to this issue, hence why I've had to reach out this way

Reply 5

SFE Clare

Official Rep

Hi Carrieanne45,

If you select option 2, option 3, option 1 - or you can press option 2 and then if you wait and don't press anything it should get you through to an adviser.

0300 100 0607

Thanks, Clare

Reply 6

Carrieanne45

Original post

by SFE Clare

Hi Carrieanne45,
If you select option 2, option 3, option 1 - or you can press option 2 and then if you wait and don't press anything it should get you through to an adviser.
0300 100 0607
Thanks, Clare

Hello Clare
Thank you, I will try that

Reply 7

Graeme SFE

Official Rep

Original post

by Carrieanne45

Hello Clare
Thank you, I will try that

That's great, thanks - let us know how you get on.

Thanks, Graeme

Reply 8

Carrieanne45

Original post

by Graeme SFE

That's great, thanks - let us know how you get on.
Thanks, Graeme

I called and spoke to someone who said any previous study is disregarded but we couldn't continue the conversation as I had to pick up my daughter from nursery.. he suggested I call again today and someone will rectify this. I have done this but another person said because I have a level 4 qualification. I will not be getting the first year funding. I am finding this disheartening as I was informed that dental hygiene is an exception by at least 3 representatives and one of the officers on the phone. And he said otherwise. There seems to be a lot of conflicting information here.

(edited 4 months ago)

Reply 9

Carrieanne45

*UPDATE* I have spoken to a different lady and she has sent my application to be reassessed and will be 10 working days. But I still don't understand why there is so much conflicting information from within the same company especially when there is a list of courses with this exception on gov.uk and dental hygiene is definitely one of them.

Reply 10

Leah SLC

Official Rep

Hi there. I understand receiving conflicting information on this is frustrating. Dental Hygiene is under the exception course list, so now the referral has been done to reassess this, you will receive the update via your online account once this is processed. Thanks, Leah.