Eligibility

The request was partially successful.

Dear Student Loans Company Limited

I need help in understanding this particular situation in which I'm facing.

I have been living in the country with my dad who is an EEA National for over 4yrs and in a couple of months I'll have my indefinite leave to remain in the UK. At present I'm being treated as an EU full time student which does not qualify me for Maintenance Grant/Loan.
My question is this, can i change over to being a UK full time student when I get my indefinite leave as this is my first year or till end of my degree I have to remain as an EU student?

Yours faithfully,
Jeffrey Usman

FOI Publication Scheme, Student Loans Company Limited

Dear Mr Usman

Thank you for your email dated 22/05/2015. Your email/request has been
allocated reference 79-15.

Please note that the information you have requested does not constitute a
request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 ("FOIA")
as you are asking us to explain your personal eligibility to student
finance.

Under the FOIA, we would be able to provide you with general information,
that would be applicable to any individual, not solely yourself. If you
wish to proceed with your request, on the basis that we can provide general
information only, then we would also need to know which UK domicile you
currently reside in and which funding authority you would be applying to
for student finance - Student Finance England, Student Finance Wales,
Student Finance Northern Ireland, or the Student Awards Agency of Scotland
- as eligibility rules differ depending on domicile.

Yours sincerely

Louise Chapman
Legal Executive
Student Loans Company Limited
100 Bothwell Street
Glasgow
G2 7JD

Tel: 0141 243 3062 (ext 33062)

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Dear FOI Publication
Thank you very much for your reply which was surprisingly fast I sincerely appreciate your timely response.
The funding Authority I will be applying to is the Student Finance England and I would appreciate if you can provide with the general information in regards to my initial request if Possible.

Yours sincerely,

Jeffrey Usman

FOI Publication Scheme, Student Loans Company Limited

Dear Mr Usman

I refer to your email dated 22/05/2015 which you clarified on 28/05/2015
requesting the following information under the Freedom of Information Act
2000 (“FOIA”):

“I need help in understanding this particular situation in which I'm
facing.

I have been living in the country with my dad who is an EEA National for
over 4yrs and in a couple of months I'll have my indefinite leave to remain
in the UK. At present I'm being treated as an EU full time student which
does not qualify me for Maintenance Grant/Loan.
My question is this, can I change over to being a UK full time student when
I get my indefinite leave as this is my first year or till end of my degree
I have to remain as an EU student?”

Clarification of your request was sought by email dated 26/05/2015, and by
email dated 28/05/2015 you confirmed that you wished to receive general
information for applications made to Student Finance England.

Response

I can confirm that the information you have requested in regards to persons
who do not have indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom but will
gain this during their course is held by the Student Loans Company Limited
(“SLC”).

Please note that this response is being issued in general terms only, and
not relating to your specific circumstances. Your own personal entitlement
to student finance is exempt from disclosure under section 40(1) of the
FOIA, as this is personal information relating to you.

General eligibility information is technically exempt from disclosure under
section 21(1) of the FOIA, as it is reasonably accessible to you by other
means. I would refer to you the Assessing Eligibility Guidance Chapter for
academic year 2015/16 which is published on the policy information page of
Practitioners’ section of our corporate website (
http://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/polic...
) at the following internet link:

http://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/media...

Hypothetically, a student finance applicant who is granted indefinite leave
to remain before commencing university in academic year 2015/16 may or may
not be eligible for student finance – it entirely depends on the
applicant’s individual circumstances and when they commence their course.
Even if an individual was ineligible for student finance due to their own
immigration status, they may be eligible for some level of support due to
the status of their family members, albeit this may be limited to tuition
fee loan only support.

More information regarding term dates and eligibility can be found at the
following link:

http://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/media...

By way of providing advice and assistance a student finance applicant who
does not have indefinite leave to remain before the first day of their
first academic year cannot change how they have been assessed once
indefinite leave to remain has been granted. For example, if a student
finance applicant was granted indefinite leave to remain on 2 September
2015 but their course started in the autumn term they would not be eligible
as a UK domiciled student and this could not be changed for their second
year of study. They may, however, be eligible to receive tuition fee loan
only support, if they are the family member of an EEA national.

I would draw your attention to paragraphs 51 to 52 of the Assessing
Eligibility Guidance Chapter, which details the requirements for
eligibility for an applicant with the residency you have described under
paragraph 2 of Part 2 of Schedule 1 to the Education (Student Support)
Regulations 2011 (as amended) which can be found at the following link:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2011/...

However other eligibility requirements would also have to be established,
including course eligibility and other personal eligibility requirements.

Before the eligibility of any student finance applicant can be confirmed,
we require a fully completed application form to be submitted, and any
requested documentation/information to be provided.

Internal review process

I trust that my answer to you is satisfactory; however, if you are unhappy
with the decisions made by me in relation to your freedom of information
request, you may ask SLC for an internal review.

Any such review would be conducted by John Brown, Company Secretary, 100
Bothwell Street, Glasgow, G2 7JD. You may request a review by writing to
John Brown or by emailing the FOI Office
([SLC request email]). In the event that John Brown took part
in the original decision, then David Wallace, Deputy Chief Executive, will
conduct the review. SLC will only consider requests for internal reviews
which are made within 3 months of the date of our original response (except
in exceptional circumstances).

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision.
The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Yours sincerely

Dona Marie Steele
Legal Executive

Student Loans Company Limited
100 Bothwell Street
Glasgow
G2 7JD

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