Funding implications for students with resits and repeat years

This 20/21 academic year has been challenging to say the least!

As a result of this, many of you may be in a situation where you will be having to re- sit or re submit work at the end of the summer, or, in some cases repeating the year in the 21/22 academic year.

You will probably want to know how this is going to affect you financially…….

 

Firstly, if you have not done so already, you should re-apply for your funding for 21/22 urgently to ensure you receive your Maintenance Loan at the beginning of term. You should have been sent a link or reminder email/text from Student Finance or you can log in to your online account and reapply from there.

If you’re worried about taking resits or resubmitting work, as long as you have an application ‘live’ in the system, we can help you change any details like year of study nearer to the start of term.

If you will be repeating your final year you may not be able to do this using your online account as Student Finance may think you have finished your course. In this instance you should apply using this PR1 form which you will need to download and print and complete manually. When you send the form in the post, make sure you have it weighed and you pay the correct postage. Please use recorded delivery wherever possible.

Repeating the whole year 

Please don’t panic, contact us here at the Student Advice Service – studentadvice@brighton.ac.uk and we can explain how your funding will be affected.

Maintenance Loan

You are still eligible for your Maintenance Loan if you have to repeat all or part of an academic year, even if you’ve repeated years of your course previously. If you are only officially in attendance for part of the year – for example for one semester – then you will only receive a pro-rata amount of maintenance loan. This also applies to additional allowances – such as the Parents’ Learning Allowance, Childcare Grant and Disabled Students’ Allowances.

Tuition Fee Loan

You are automatically entitled to a Tuition Fee Loan for up to 1 year of repeat study, but you can only benefit from this once. This means that if you have already got a year of previous study – perhaps on another course or because you have already repeated a year of your current course then you will not be automatically entitled to a Tuition Fee Loan.

Compelling Personal Reasons – CPR

If you are not automatically entitled to a Tuition Fee Loan then it may still be possible to receive one if you can demonstrate to Student Finance England that you have “Compelling Personal Reasons” (SFE terminology) why you have to repeat all or part of the year. “Compelling Personal Reasons” are similar to the University’s “mitigating circumstances” – for example health issues, which can be physical or mental, disability or traumatic personal events. We can help you apply for a Tuition Fee Loan on the grounds of “Compelling Personal Reasons.” You have to write to Student Finance, explain your CPR and how they affected you throughout the academic year, Student Finance also require evidence from a health or other professional to back this up.

Mitigating Circumstances – Mit circs

If you have to repeat all or part of a year and your mitigating circumstances have been accepted by the University then the usual policy is that the University will not charge you tuition fees for these repeat modules – so you may not actually need a tuition fee loan for this repeat study. Your Student Support and Guidance Tutor, SSGT will be able to explain what the Exam Board outcome means.

Not repeating the whole year

Unless you have actually transferred to a properly part-time version of your full-time course then you should apply for student funding (if you haven’t done so already) as a full-time student.

If you are not repeating the whole year then it is likely that the University will record you as being a ‘part-time student’. This can be confusing but please note that you are still viewed as a full-time student for the purposes of Council Tax, student funding and DWP welfare benefits.

Delayed Graduation Date

If you are repeating a year of your course then your graduation date will be delayed by a year. You will therefore need to ensure that your local authority’s Council Tax department are aware your course end date has changed so that you don’t start to get charged Council Tax before your course has ended.

You can get a new Council Tax letter from any Student Information Desk or Student Centre or by emailing – studentadministration@brighton.ac.uk. If you live in Brighton and Hove you can do this online

This is a lot of information and we are well aware that not everyone will fit neatly into all of these boxes. If you have any questions at all please don’t hesitate to contact us – studentadvice@brighton.ac.uk

Please don’t feel embarrassed, ashamed or uncomfortable talking about repeating the year. There is financial provision available for precisely these scenarios and the Student Advisers are here to help you.

Student Advice Service