Student finance, is there any way past this for my DD? She's devastated (sensitive content)

[SliverOfSiIver]

I'll keep this as brief as I can and will not go into certain details.

DD started uni doing the course of her dreams in 2021. She did really well in her first year and was told she was on track for a first.

In her second year (22-23) she started seeing a student from the same course. I knew something wasn't right as she became withdrawn and unhappy and we saw/heard much less from her. Towards the end of her second year she broke up with him, had a huge MH crisis, and attempted suicide. There is medical evidence of this and her GP sent her uni a letter at the time. She failed her second year then agreed a plan with the uni to re-take the year and applied for a third year of student finance. She then moved into student housing, but failed to attend uni at all for the following year (23-24), and moved back home out of student housing without updating the uni or SFE. The uni kicked her out (or whatever the technical term is!) in February after she failed to attend a meeting with them, which she only found out about later due to the letters going to her student house. She'd been spending the student loan payments they'd sent her to pay the rent on the student house because she's locked into a contract but couldn't stay there due to her MH.

Just after Christmas, it emerged that another student who had been studying on the same course had made allegations of serious sexual assault and life threatening injuries against the same man who had been arrested as a result. DD heard about this, had another MH crisis, and then disclosed that the same happened to her whilst she was seeing him. She went to the police. We now know that at least 2 further victims, all from the same uni, have come forward. The man is currently on remand awaiting trial on multiple charges against multiple victims.

For obvious reasons DD has moved back home and won't be returning to the same uni. She is doing well and wants to try and go back to a different uni in September but it seems her chances are screwed as she has taken 3 years of student finance. She is also now in immediate debt due to dropping out mid-way through the year, which she can't repay as she is still pretty delicate MH wise and only working part time. She's heard about some sort of statement of compelling reasons to try and get an extra years finance but that won't be enough for her to actually do a degree.

Is there any way at all out of this financial mess? We have the emotional mess covered, she is getting support from multiple avenues now which is really helping. But the finances are her biggest worry as it seems she may never now be able to finish uni. I have zero money to help her, I'm a lone parent with a disabled younger child. I also never went to uni myself so don't know how any of this works 😔

@SliverOfSiIver
Please do look into the compensation. I posted the link above. The whole point is to help you after being the victim of a crime. If she can get it, that would really help. The guy doesn’t need to be convicted.

Ok we will do thanks. I didn't realise it would be possible without a conviction.

The calculation student finance use is

Length of current course + 1 year - number of years of previous study

As she has had 3 years of funding then looks like she could only get 1 further year.

Unless it’s stem or nhs degree then all of it can be funded.

Agree with pp her priority is to look after her mental health.

When she is ready she could look at open uni. Gain the credits she requires to get into final year. When it looks like funding should kick in.

Has the uni given her credits / qual for her first completed year eg a cert in HE?

Degree apprenticeships are competitive but if she has a job it may be possible to get her employer to agree to a degree apprenticeship.

What sort of field is she hoping to get into?

And look at claiming UC. They will be supportive.

Do you know at all if anyone had made any complaints about this man to the university before? If they knew about him, it could make them liable as well.

Just chipping in — I teach for the OU and yes, they would accept the credit from previously completed study.

You can transfer completed units to a different uni. It is a case by case basis. Just make contact with the admissions tutor for the course(s) that are similar or related. Have the documents from old uni to hand!

I transferred like this and it was easy peasy. Just talk to the admissions tutors and they will help you out.

I don't know anything about the financial aspects but I would think the student union at your daughters university would be able to advise her on finances and any options moving forward. The university careers office should be able to provide support too-they aren't just there for current students, they normally offer support for a number of years after leaving. They could suggest ways for her to pursue her goals.
Also, citizens advice may be able to direct your daughter to helpful organisations.

Approach her new uni and ask if there’s scholarship/ sponsorship options.

We don't know, DD says the specialist liaison officer she has been assigned is having a meeting with someone from the uni about it at some point. Unsure how much DD will be told about the outcome of that.

Your poor DD! I hope she continues to recover well.

Not all jobs require a degree or university study. My suggestion is that your DD looks into doing a course that won’t involve getting into further debt.

Sounds awful!
I think its surprising the uni dont take action earlier presumably there were assignments missed by dec 23 and knowing she failed previous year.
Obviously i know its her responsibility but they seem very lax.

They did. They were sending her communications but she wasn’t checking mail at her flag, didn’t change her address and I assume ignored all emails. What else could the uni do?

(I’m not blaming her OP, it’s clear why she cut the uni world out. Just saying the uni can’t be blamed for not trying to get in touch with her).

Ok there's a little bit to unpick here, and I'm not an expert on student finance but do work closely with people who are so I've picked up a bit.

The immediate thing to find out is what her last date of engagement is for 2023/24 that the uni has told SFE. You indicate it's February, but the fact that she has been asked to repay a maintenance loan over-payment suggests to me that the uni have backdated her last day to the end of 2022/23. Given she had no attendance in 2023/24 this is what I would expect. Over-payments of loans that students aren't technically entitled to aren't treated the same as repayment of a loan they are entitled to. And given she had no engagement in 2023/24 she was not entitled to the loan. Hence the request to pay it back.

SFE though should agree a repayment plan given that she has a low income, or they may suggest a reduction in maintenance loan for 2024/25. So that's the immediate thing to negotiate.

The flip side of this is that the fee loan will also have been withdrawn (the uni will have paid that back) which means that she effectively has not had any loans in 2023/24, only for the two years before, so she still has the basic two years of entitlement.

So the second thing is what next - she could either try and transfer to the second year of another uni - she has two years entitlement so that should be straightforward. Or she starts again, and argues Compelling Personal Reasons with SFE to get an extra years funding - she has evidence, and the bar to this is quite low so shouldn't be an issue.

I'm so sorry to hear of her experience

This is such a sad story and frustrating that your DD didn’t seek help when she was struggling in her second year.

English students can have 4 years funding via SFE so she has one year in reserve.

While the university she dropped out of may not offer help you could seek advice from the head body - the NUS - National Union of Students.

Have a look and see if they have a Welfare Support office. I’d also advise getting a timeline with documentation so it’s easy for people to understand what went wrong for your DD and when. Not too much detail but pinpoint the moments of severe ill-health and the consequences.

It sounds as though her relationship with a predatory abusive man had serious consequences - if she could do a victim statement at his criminal hearing she may also be able to claim compensation. Although it doesn’t sound like he’d have the money to pay it.

if she did well in her first year, it may be possible to transfer to another university straight into second year but this can be tricky. Different degrees, different curricula

Does she have to go to university straight away? Could she work for a bit, recover her sense of self, and confidence and go when she’s a little older? The pattern of her behaviour- denial, dropping out - under stress while quite understandable isn’t going to help her if the man who abused her is on trial. Even worse if she’s called as a witness

good luck!

If your daughter is in London or would like to move to London, you could look at Birkbeck, which is a college within the University of London and is primarily aimed at mature students who want to study part-time. Most of their teaching is in the evening and lots of their students work during the day or on the other evenings. It's very well-regarded, so it's a worthwhile option. (It's in Bloomsbury so very easy to get to from most areas.) Their pastoral support is excellent, if my daughter's experience a few years ago is anything to go by.

Birkbeck is a wonderful institution - top notch academics and teaching.

You can get finance for a second degree for healthcare courses. Not that I’d really recommend such a course for someone who’s already mentally fragile.

as she isn't signed off sick but also isn't well enough to work full time

She should get advice from CAB and apply for lcwra
Will need gp support to sign papers but should be fine given her trauma etc

Could she do something through open university and do it from home, that way she only has the course fees to find. She should have some credits from the first full year she did that she can use with OU.

Did she get any credits for her first year?

There will be something out there for her! I know that sounds like a lame thing to say but all my kids friends who dropped out of uni are all now doing something. Was she any good at maths?

My DD used her first year credits and changed university the following September. She only did a week of year two due to a sexual predator in her class. Lots of complaints but the uni brushed it under the carpet. Her mental health is not always great so she wanted to commute through the following years.
She did take a year off.
Th OU is great if you are self motivated.
Make ssure you ask lots of questions about support if your DD is going to be away from home. SEMH is a SEN if it is formally diagnosed.

I never went to uni and haven't a clue about how it all works, I might be telling you stuff that's not applicable to your situation but I hope it might help in some way. I'm a full time carer for my disabled dh so on UC etc my ds started a course at uni, received full maintenance loan and tuition loan. Unfortunately, part way in, he hated it and had a mental breakdown, packed it in and returned home. He took a temporary job at a local fast food outlet. He then got chased by student finance for approx 4k he'd received during the time he was at uni. He negotiated a very low monthly repayment plan with them. They were very understanding of his situation and the fact he wasn't earning much was taken into account. He then decided to pack in the job and go back to the same uni but do a different course and obtained full maintenance loan each year for the following 3 years. He also applied for and was awarded many bursaries and grants every year for the full 3 years. Each year when he applied for the following year's finance they awarded it then deducted the original 4k but then he had to appeal the decision each time and they always deferred it without fail and paid him the full year's maintenance loan. Now he's just finished uni and when he gets a job he'll have to start repaying the 4k, no matter how low his earnings are, but, again, he can negotiate a very low repayment plan (last time it was £50 per month). The rest of the student loan he won't have to start paying back until he hits the amount of earnings where they start deducting it for everybody (not sure what it is, sorry). The 4k from the first part year he did is obviously classed as something separate.

You need to speak to someone knowledgeable at Student Finance. It may be possible to the get extra funding if you have compelling personal reasons - which she certainly has. Obviously without knowing your full circumstances or the courses involved I can’t say for sure but as an example I have actually received a total of 6 and half years worth of funding

Can you ask to speak to someone at the University she went to - in exceptional circumstances they may reverse a years payment (fees) as she can show the impact (and i'm really sorry about what happened to her) and how this impacted her. I work for a Uni and we have done this under exceptional circumstances.) Its a long shot but you can also ask the Uni if they can help or give any advice? You can start with the Head of Student Services or the Dean

You could also look at studying online (Open University) where you DD could start to take modules towards the degree she wants - it might be easier to pay for it this way, as its not all in one go, she could stay at home, and then just pay the tuition.

New Uni your DD goes to can have scholarships or hardship funds that could help her. But most Uni's are in a bit of a crisis around finance so they are available but not sure how much they can allocate.