Is Student Finance for 3 years, or 4? (England)

[NigellasGuest]

Hi, I have a feeling you only get funding for three years but can someone confirm this for me please? It would be great if they do give you it for four years, as DD is considering doing another year post degree!

[lastnightiwenttomanderley]

It's normally only for your first degree - I did a five year degree so had the option of funding for the whole thing. If I'd done a 3yr degree and then signed up for another year or two it would only be the first one that's covered.

[titchy]

It's four years for an undergraduate degree. So if year 1 goes tits up you can repeat. Or you can do a four year degree. You CANNOT do a three year degree and then another undergraduate course for a year. You can however get a £10k loan for a postgrad course.

[thisagain]

If your course is a 4 year masters (first degree followed by masters) then you will get funding for 4 years, so can be either 3 (for batchelors) or 4 if course is a masters.

[NigellasGuest]

ah well she's doing a 3 year BA, and considering a 4th year somewhere else just for an extra year rather than a full course again. £10K loan for a postgrad course presumably means you have to do the full thing, plus it would have to be higher qualification than the degree I suppose?

[rightsaidfrederickII]

I'm afraid that lastnight and titchy are incorrect, and thisagain is incomplete...

You receive student finance for the full length of your first undergraduate course. This could be anything from three years (most courses) to seven years (e.g. medicine with an integrated foundation year and intercalation), depending on the course. Integrated masters (e.g. MPhys) are covered, but if you do a masters and then a separate, standalone masters, then you will not receive undergraduate-style student finance for the masters.

There is also on 'gift' year, which can be used only if you (a) drop out and then restart your degree elsewhere, or (b) fail a year and have to repeat it.

I cannot fathom why she would want to do a random year of a degree and then plan to drop out after first year. This is on the grounds that (a) if she has already got a degree elsewhere, she would have to pay for it herself, (b) it's a waste of time and (c) it's going to look very odd on a CV. Has she stated a reason why she would want to do this?

A much better plan would be to do a degree which she has researched properly in advance, which with luck will mean that she gets what she expected, is happy, and has no reason to drop out. After that, she could do a masters - this would typically take one year, and can be (part or fully) funded by the new £10,000 postgrad loans that the government has brought in.

[Foginthehills]

If she wants to do a further year of a BA simply for interest, why not an MA? Or is she facing the (usual/typical) scared to graduate & leave the security of university?

[NigellasGuest]

I will look into Masters.
It's tricky because she's only 17 although now in second year of BA. That's because it's a performance related course at a vocational dance school . She's all for looking for jobs post BA but I feel she will still be young enough to take another year honing her technique.

[voilets]

Another question about student finance loan. Do you have to reapply each year or do they carry on paying for 3 or 4 years?

[Natkingcole9]

You have to reapply, however it gets easier year 2/3 as they don't ask for as much proof assuming your parents circumstances have not changed. violets