Degree nightmare - student finance advice needed

Hi, I was studying a four year programme including a year abroad. I repeated my first year and completed 2.5 years of the programme, including half a year abroad, meaning I’ve used 3.5 years of funding.

During my year abroad I interrupted the year due to health issues, and an abusive situation with another student which the university is aware of. I’ve also had many issues with my degree resulting from my memory problems and autism - I get firsts and 2:1s in everything apart from the language aspect, which I’ve failed and would be due to retake. The combination of issues means this degree is not an option for me going forward. My plan had been to drop out this January, when I’m due to go back.

I was under the impression that my degree was pretty much lost. However after discussing with the university I’ve recently been considering a transfer to their Sociology course, which would likely be to the first or second years. The problem is I had the full student loan before, and there’s no way I could self-fund.

It’s a complex situation, and I don’t want to get myself into a transfer and then not have the funding to complete it. I was wondering if there is any leeway with student finance to fund a second degree/transfer in this way - given the health issues, lack of ability for the current course to accommodate my needs, and abusive situation with the other student. I could provide evidence for everything including proof of living at a refuge, the report to the university’s system, health reports, etc. but I’m stuck on what my practical next steps are and if this is even possible.

Reply 1

Claire SFE

Official Rep

Original post

by miserablegoose

Hi, I was studying a four year programme including a year abroad. I repeated my first year and completed 2.5 years of the programme, including half a year abroad, meaning I’ve used 3.5 years of funding.
During my year abroad I interrupted the year due to health issues, and an abusive situation with another student which the university is aware of. I’ve also had many issues with my degree resulting from my memory problems and autism - I get firsts and 2:1s in everything apart from the language aspect, which I’ve failed and would be due to retake. The combination of issues means this degree is not an option for me going forward. My plan had been to drop out this January, when I’m due to go back.
I was under the impression that my degree was pretty much lost. However after discussing with the university I’ve recently been considering a transfer to their Sociology course, which would likely be to the first or second years. The problem is I had the full student loan before, and there’s no way I could self-fund.
It’s a complex situation, and I don’t want to get myself into a transfer and then not have the funding to complete it. I was wondering if there is any leeway with student finance to fund a second degree/transfer in this way - given the health issues, lack of ability for the current course to accommodate my needs, and abusive situation with the other student. I could provide evidence for everything including proof of living at a refuge, the report to the university’s system, health reports, etc. but I’m stuck on what my practical next steps are and if this is even possible.

Hi there,

Every student is entitled to funding for the length of their course plus one additional year, minus any previous study. Do you know what course you wish to study now? Would this be full time also or part time?

if you have Compelling Personal Reasons evidence (CPR) and can provide this it may be possible to get an additional year of finance. The evidence would be a letter on headed paper signed/stamped and dated from someone in profession i.e. Doctor/lecturer who knows the CPR. They must know how it affected your studies and the dates it affected you. Once received it will be up to the assessor if this will be accepted or not.

Thanks,
Claire

Reply 2

miserablegoose

Original post

by Claire SFE

Hi there,
Every student is entitled to funding for the length of their course plus one additional year, minus any previous study. Do you know what course you wish to study now? Would this be full time also or part time?
if you have Compelling Personal Reasons evidence (CPR) and can provide this it may be possible to get an additional year of finance. The evidence would be a letter on headed paper signed/stamped and dated from someone in profession i.e. Doctor/lecturer who knows the CPR. They must know how it affected your studies and the dates it affected you. Once received it will be up to the assessor if this will be accepted or not.
Thanks,
Claire

Hi, yes it would be full time but it would be multiple years. Is it always only one year of additional funding, or is there possibility for a second degree or additional years with CPR requests? Thanks for your reply

Reply 3

Leah SLC

Official Rep

Hi there. This is a guidance about this information here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/going-back-to-uni-or-repeating-a-year

For example, if your new course is 3 years long, your calculation would be 3+1-4 = 0 years remaining.

The 3.5 years you studied previously would count as 4 years of previous study.

The additional year is given to all students, but you would have used this in your first repeat of the first course already, so any years you need to apply for to fund the new course would need to be done by Compelling Personal Reasons (CPR).

This means your evidence would need to cover 3 or 4 years, depending on how long your new course will be.

It's only the Tuition Fee loan which is affected by your previous study, if you don't already hold a degree then you would still be entitled to a Maintenance Loan (ML) for the full length of the course. Thanks, Leah.