Going back to uni or repeating a year
If you're going back to university after studying previously or you're repeating a year, this can affect your student finance.
- From:
- Student Loans Company
- Published
- 6 September 2019
- Last updated
-
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If you’ve studied before
You’ll normally only get student finance for your first degree or higher education qualification, even if you studied a long time ago or if the course was abroad.
The number of years that you can get a Tuition Fee Loan is normally calculated as:
Length of current course + 1 year - number of years of previous study
Even if you only attended a course for a short time, it will still count as a year of previous study.
Any years of Tuition Fee Loan you have available will be applied to the final years of your course.
Example
If you have 2 years of Tuition Fee Loan left, and you’re starting a new course which lasts 3 years, you’ll only be entitled to the Tuition Fee Loan in years 2 and 3.
Any Maintenance Loan and grants you qualify for should be available to you for the length of your course.
Extra year of tuition fee support
If you were unable to continue to the next year of your course or had to leave your course due to personal reasons, you could get an extra year of tuition fee support.
Common reasons for applying for an extra year include:
- mental health
- illness
- bereavement
- pregnancy
- a caring responsibility
This list does not include all acceptable reasons. We will review each application on an individual basis. However, applications cannot be based on:
- financial hardship
- not liking your course
- reasons within your control
How to apply
As soon as you’ve applied for student finance you should send evidence of your personal reasons for repeating a year of leaving your course.
It’s vital you send a cover letter that includes your customer reference number (CRN) and explains the situation and how it affected your studies
Examples of evidence you can send to prove these personal reasons include:
- a letter on headed paper from a professional person, such as a doctor or a social worker, who can confirm the situation
- a letter on headed paper from someone at your university or college who can confirm your situation and when you left the course
- photocopies of birth or death certificates
You should send your evidence to:
Student Finance England
PO Box 210
Darlington
DL1 9HJ
Unable to send standard evidence
If you do not have any of the evidence listed, you should send a cover letter explaining your situation in as much detail as possible along with any evidence you feel supports your application.
After you apply
It canwill take 64 to 8 weeks to review your evidence. Once we’ve made a decision we’ll contact you to let you know the outcome of your application.