University Finance, dropping out & reapplying

[BennyC]

My other half is in a bit of a dilemma with where her life is going. She dropped out in her first year of university just over two years ago (I think) to care for her mother who unfortunately passed away.

She's currently employed but does not enjoy her area of work as it is not where she wants her life or career to end up.

She's thinking of reapplying to uni but is adament she is only entitled to two more years funding at the lower rate when she initially applied. For example course fees were around £3k when she was last studying and they are now in most cases much higher.

I've had a quick look in to this taken from The Studen Room:

How will this affect my future student finance applications?
You must also bear in mind that any student finance you have received already will affect the finance you can receive for future years of study. No matter when you drop out of your course, be it after two weeks or two weeks short of the end of the year, it counts as an entire year in terms of funding entitlement. The amount of future funds you are eligible to receive is worked out by a simple mathematical process.

Work our how much more funding you are entitled to
In order to work out how much funding you are entitled to, follow this simple process.

Work out how many years your next course lasts.
Add one.
Subtract from this the number of years you have already received funding for.
The number you are left with is how many years worth of funding you are eligible to receive.
Algorithm:

Number of years of next course = A. Length of time already in study (years) = B. Number of years worth of funding you are entitled to = C.

(A+1) - B = C.

Example:

You intend to start a course in 2010 that last for 3 years.
3 plus one = 4 (Nice and simple)
You previously studied at university to your second year before dropping out, this means you have received finance for two years.
4 minus 2 = 2 (Again, nice simple maths)
This means you are eligble to receive two years` worth of finances.
Because entitlement is worked from third year backwards, this would mean you'd have to fund your first year for yourself.

As she dropped out halfway through her first year would by those sums mean she is entitled to 3 years funding?

If anybody here has any first hand experience or knowledge of a similar situation any input would be very much appreciated

Thanks,

BennyC

 

[Ahleckz]

They provide funding for one undergraduate degree, so 3 or 4 years of funding normally. If you drop out then you loose one of these years of funding and you'd then have to pay that year if you redid a year.

Where it differs if you dropped out for health or personal reasons that couldn't be helped. Then, the funding body may choose to fund you for another year. I had to remove myself from my studies for a bit after falling ill and SASS were happy to fund a repeated year after seeing the medical evidence and a letter written by myself.

She needs to contact the funding body applicable to her, and explain the situation which meant she had to drop out. Because of the death of her mother it is likely they'll accept there were significant outside pressures and they'll provide her with the funding due to compassionate reasons. There's little point asking on here, when it could be resolved in 15 minutes with a phonecall to the relevant funding body.

 

[BennyC]

They provide funding for one undergraduate degree, so 3 or 4 years of funding normally. If you drop out then you loose one of these years of funding and you'd then have to pay that year if you redid a year.

Where it differs if you dropped out for health or personal reasons that couldn't be helped. Then, the funding body may choose to fund you for another year. I had to remove myself from my studies for a bit after falling ill and SASS were happy to fund a repeated year after seeing the medical evidence and a letter written by myself.

She needs to contact the funding body applicable to her, and explain the situation which meant she had to drop out. Because of the death of her mother it is likely they'll accept there were significant outside pressures and they'll provide her with the funding due to compassionate reasons. There's little point asking on here, when it could be resolved in 15 minutes with a phonecall to the relevant funding body.

Thanks, I do know that she didn't enjoy the course or university she previously attended and that her mother falling ill confirmed for her dropping out was the right thing. I'll have to check with her to see what grounds she gave the University for leaving previously.

I appreciate that these forums are not the SLC but am interested to hear of similar experiences. Thanks for you input.

 

[Flibbles]

I'm pretty sure she is entitled to the full 3 years funding as she dropped out in the first year.

I've had to drop out of my first year as well and I believe I'm still entitled to full funding as they provide you with "length of course + 1 year".

 

[BennyC]

I'm pretty sure she is entitled to the full 3 years funding as she dropped out in the first year.

I've had to drop out of my first year as well and I believe I'm still entitled to full funding as they provide you with "length of course + 1 year".

Having just called the SLC I can confirm. I'm not sure why or where she got the info from but she believed she was entitled to two years at the previous value applied for.

Should put a smile on her face

 

[Tute]

I did a year at 18 and dropped out, went back at 24 to start again.

They paid for 3 of my 4 years on the second course, but for one of the years I only got my fees paid for me - the actual living costs part of the loan was zero.

 

[MrMoonX]

its very simple, length of course +1 year, so she can get 3 years more funding

 

[Brookert]

its very simple, length of course +1 year, so she can get 3 years more funding