Student Finance England has misled me, is there anything I can do?

A question about : Student Finance England has misled me, is there anything I can do?

Hello people

I want to go to university to do a four-year BA (Hons) degree. I have been unwell for many years so it was not possible for me to do A levels or attend a local college. The university I want to go to recommended I do an Open University Cert.HE and use that qualification to gain admission.

I phoned Student Finance England and asked if I'd still get a full-loan for a BA (Hons) degree even if I took out a loan for a part-time Cert.HE first. They said yes. I must have phoned them at least 5 times to double and triple check that they were sure. I was told repeatedly that it was fine, that I'd get full funding, that in effect I could use my 'gift year' to make up for the lost year of funding. This was the calculation they quoted me: Course length (4 years) - 1 year (Cert.HE) + 1 Gift Year = 4 years.

It now appears that none of this is true and I can't use the 'gift year' in such a way. I am so angry because I gave them every opportunity to tell me the truth, but they didn't. Surely I have grounds for an appeal if they don't award me full funding? I could really use some expert advice, what on Earth should I do?

Best answers:

• I have had exactly the same problem. Try to get in touch with something called 'Tier two processing' they deal with 'complex' claims such as ours! If you use the complaints link on the SFE site your claim will probably be forwarded to them. Don't forget to include your CRN in any correspondence.
  I don't believe you can use your gift year like this, but there is a hazy area over the equivalency of OU Cert HE's and first year of 'real' university.
  Your problem will be that you technically didn't have the 5 years (4 years + gift year) when you started the Cert HE, even though you were told this was the case. BUT as mentioned above there will also be a debate over whether the OU Cert HE is equivalent to the first year of the degree you're applying for which I imagine is the actual source of your problem (it has been for me, even though I've been told other things were the problem).
  What I would do is contact your university and get them to categorically state, in writing, that your OU Cert HE is not equivalent to the first year of your new degree. Send this to SFE, sadly you'll have to phone to get the address and hopefully then you'll be referred to this 'specialist team' to assess your claim.
  How long did you take to complete your Cert HE? This is my next problem because SFE are now saying that though there isn't a quibble over equivalency anymore because I took 2 years studying for my PART TIME Cert HE I have 'used up' two years of full time funding i.e. my 3rd year and my gift year.
  Do it ASAP before SFE get too busy. Also don't believe a word the telephone operators tell you, a lot are just plain wrong and in future get them to put it in writing to you.
  I even have everything in writing and they're still disputing it, but at least I can send all my evidence in and they can't dispute the SLC headed letter or the email from @slc.co.uk
  Good luck, I feel for you I'm in exactly the same situation. Please post back because I would be really interested to hear the outcome, it seems to be some rules for one and other rules for others.