help from students please

[Ezteq]

wotcha,

decided to go back to school full time for a course later in the year that will hopefully get me in to uni (gulp). This is probably something only peeps who study in the UK can help me with as it is about how i set out to get student loans/funding etc as i will have to leave work to do a full time course.

Also I'm 26 (27 this year) so if there are any old duffers... i mean mature students out there (or you know one) could you please help me out by telling me how i apply for funding and who i have to contact please?

many thanks if your able to help, if not don't worry i just like probing FH'ers

Ez
xxx


/probe

 

[old.Tohtori]

I don't know hwat about notting of those loans things, but i did notice you're 5months older then me almost to the date

And i want to be in every thread.

 

[Ezteq]

rofl aww ok seel i'll be sure to leave a "make room for seel" in every thread i make from now on

 

[tris-]

first you need to apply through ucas for the course, then you get ya ucas number.
then goto the student loans company website and apply for the loan through there.
afairemember, they also dealt with the local education authority to see how much i should pay for fees.

easiest way, as it may be different in your area, apply through ucas for the course THEN speak to the local education authority about how you get the student loan company loan and how you work out the money you will pay for fees.

 

[Gamah]

studentisam is overrated

 

[tris-]

yes it is when you have to do actuall work.

the rest of the time its free money, alcohol and what ever the fuck else you want

 

[Ezteq]

god i feel so old and useless

thanks for the help sveetie :wub:

 

[leviathane]

speak to your LEA, local education authority or something, and see if you can apply for a student loan, may be a bit harder due to being a mature student so loan mebbe alot less if you get one. Think they give you a form to fill out etc.

 

[old.Tohtori]

what ever the fuck else you want

or whoever else you want to f*ck

 

[Tilda]

Tris pretty much covered it.
Once you do your course then you just apply to a uni through UCAS. However you'll be classed as a mature student, so they'll expect you to be able to show that you're as good as a student fresh out of school, so examples of recent study etc.
After you apply to your 6 or so uni choices you'll get a UCAS number, and I believe you get your loan through your LEA.

The loan is basicly split into 2 bits, a part that everybody gets no matter how much their parents earn and then the other part which is income assesed on that of your parents (nb if you've not been living at home for a while, I think it goes on your previous earnings, which can be handy) income. So if your parents earn £10k a year in total or something, then you'll probably get the "full" loan, whereas if your parents both earn £80k then you'll probably only get the non-assessed bit.
Theres also a £1000 grant that its possible to apply for I think, although I dont know what requirements it has.
Best advice for loans is apply really early, as they take fucking ages to process and if you miss the deadline you end up starting the term with no money

What course is it you want to do? </curious>

 

[Ezteq]

first you need to apply through ucas for the course, then you get ya ucas number.
.

i filled in an enrollment form that was in the course guide from my college, so do i do this ucas thing too and apply twice?

ooh and btw im planning college this year to do an access course so that i can go to university after the college course which will take about a year so i need funding for college 1st i think then hopefully i can find a distance learning uni course (because the only uni that does the course i need is brighton which is too far away)

so i ukas for college or just uni?

(btw thanks everso much for the help guys i was really starting to get panickey)

 

[Tilda]

i filled in an enrollment form that was in the course guide from my college, so do i do this ucas thing too and apply twice?

Was the enrolement form for your college course, ie Alevel history or something, or was it an application form for a Uni?

 

[Ezteq]

its just for college, i have to do a year long access course first so that i can get in to college

(good news i've found that the university of aberistwith (sp?) does a distance learning course in what i need \o/)

 

[Chronictank]

Go speak to your local educational advisor, they will prod you in the right direction on whats the most up to date and relevant stuff for you

 

[tris-]

end of the day, just go through UCAS. in the end i think you have to no matter what. plus they sort out everything for you AND you need the UCAS number for the student loan thingymabob. also for a student bank account you need a UCAS number sometimes.

 

[Ezteq]

ok well i joined ucas, but it doesnt say anything about the college i want to go to in the list of choices so maybe its just for uni which is cool cos i shall need it after the college thing is done.

*stares in dismay at random bits of paper littering the desk*

jeese no wonder students get so drunk, just trying to get in is stressful enough lol

 

[tris-]

hmm, i always thought colleges used ucas.

well if its college, maybe you wont need to pay fees for the course? i dunno, im not old and decrepid like you.

 

[Ezteq]

rofl buggerenzee offenzee well the course fee's i think i can cope with because they don't sound too steep (but then i was only given a rough idea and they did say it could be changed) so atm im just looking for funding for books, bills and day to day boring stuff.

though i am wondering if anyone could loan me a child cos you get butt loads of help if you got a sprog (yay) but i dont (boo) so need to hire one, unless i can pass the guinea pigs off as small freakish babies.

 

[tris-]

just get the student loan for the hell of it. buy all ya books and every 3 months when you get an installment, go crazy on booze and packets of rolling tobacco. i only get £850 every 3 months, plus i gotta pay fees. still with the net, you might not even need books. and if you have a library you can loan them. ive lasted since sept just using the internet instead of books. just make sure the site seems reliable.

BUT you dont pay the loan back untill you earn over £14k or some crap. even then you only pay £5 a week.

so the moral of the post is - get the loan and go crazy.

 

[Tilda]

I dont think you use UCAS to apply for college courses.
UCAS is the University Careers Admissions Service.
So you dont need to think about loans or UCAS until you've nearly finished your college course. Once thats almost finished (so your tutor or someone can give you a predicted grade) then you apply to UCAS with whatever grades/results etc.

 

[tris-]

there is another route rather than taking the course you are on about aswell.

i only had GCSEs, no a levels etc. i went straight to uni to do a foundation year then you imediatley progress onto your degree course when you finished.

saves having to goto colllege, you can be a uni student and you get a uni student loan!

depends if your uni does it though i suppose, luckily mine does.

 

[Cozak]

Im having same problems as Ez Took 2 years out of school and im doing my uni application atm for september, personal statements etc ><
If I apply for a student loan between now and mid feb whats the chances of getting it for starting in sept.?

 

[Mikah75]

omg so confused going to uni in september... ive applied and got conformation from 2 uni's offering me a spot if i get the grades

need to get my sister home to help me with all the loans, accomodation etc, so damn confusing

 

[tris-]

Im having same problems as Ez Took 2 years out of school and im doing my uni application atm for september, personal statements etc ><
If I apply for a student loan between now and mid feb whats the chances of getting it for starting in sept.?

very likely, i applyed for mine in july or something and got it when i should of.

 

[Mey]

UCAS IS FOR UNI's Not COLLEGE!

 

[Ormorof]

Im having same problems as Ez Took 2 years out of school and im doing my uni application atm for september, personal statements etc ><
If I apply for a student loan between now and mid feb whats the chances of getting it for starting in sept.?

easy, i applied for mine in late april and got mine for september

 

[Ezteq]

aye i spoke to a chap on an online IM info thingy at www.studentfinancedirect.co.uk and he recommended i look at www.direct.gov.uk/studentfinance and apply for the loan mid april as they dont release the applications till then.

however seeing as there appears to be a few of us in the same boat here how about we trade info etc? i mean i could use all the help i can get and i'm happy to share what i find with everyone else, so i mean if i find any other stuff i'll post here (or someone could make a dedicated thread if they like? *hint*) and you do the same?

just an idea but as the saying goes 2 heads are better than one and 3 take up too much space in the deep freeze.

 

[Cozak]

aye i spoke to a chap on an online IM info thingy at www.studentfinancedirect.co.uk and he recommended i look at www.direct.gov.uk/studentfinance and apply for the loan mid april as they dont release the applications till then.

however seeing as there appears to be a few of us in the same boat here how about we trade info etc? i mean i could use all the help i can get and i'm happy to share what i find with everyone else, so i mean if i find any other stuff i'll post here (or someone could make a dedicated thread if they like? *hint*) and you do the same?

just an idea but as the saying goes 2 heads are better than one and 3 take up too much space in the deep freeze.

Sounds like a plan Ez, and thanks for the replies on the loans guys, put my mind at ease some what.. everyone keeps telling me how horribly late my uni application is and its worrying me

Does anyone have a sort of guide line or basis on how a personal statement should be written? Taken 2 years out worked for the first year and travelled alot in the 2nd year with them oney I earned so i figured I would tell them all about that, why I wanted to do the course, why I wanted to go to that uni, what I see myself doing in the future and a little about myself.
Anything else I should be looking to include or maybe take out?

 

[Ormorof]

in my personal statement i wrote: what course i was intrested in, why i was intrested in it, what part of it was most intresting, what kind of experience i had, then wrote about what my interests, what i enjoyed doing etc, anything "lifechanging" (ie moving country ) and that kind of stuff... got told to avoid using words like "outgoing" and "sociable" as uni's apparently think it = lazy

also dont use words like difficult, hard, tough etc, but challenging and interesting

 

[Vladamir]

easy, i applied for mine in late april and got mine for september

Got quite lucky then i think

Sent my application off around 20th of December then got a load of acknowledgements through. Though yesterday i got my first acceptance at Portsmouth on a conditional offer

Best get it off as soon as possible though, i know for exclusive courses like medicine you need to send them off before the end of september