ACCESS TO LEARNING FUND 2015/16 – PART TIME SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES
PART 1 – BEFORE YOU APPLY
Please note this is Part 1 of 3 of the supplementary notes explaining the Access to Learning Fund for
part time students. Parts 2 and 3 are available online at http://www.mmu.ac.uk/studentfinance.
Alternatively you can contact us on 0161 247 1045 to request a copy of the notes.
This part will cover:
1a. The Aim of the Access to Learning Fund .................................................................................page 1
1b. Who can apply (eligibility)? ………………………………………………………………………………………………..page 2
1c. Who cannot apply? …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….page 3
1d. Closing dates for applications .................................................................................................page 3
1e. Detailed guidance on how to complete your form ………………………………………………………………page 3
1f. How to check your application form ..………………………………………………………………………………….page 5
1g. Where to submit your application form ..................................................................................page 5
1h. How long will it take to receive a decision? ............................................................................page 5
1a.
THE AIM OF THE ACCESS TO LEARNING FUND
The Access to Learning Fund is a discretionary and cash limited fund administered by the university to
support students who experience financial difficulty whilst at university. The aim of the fund is to
provide financial assistance to those students who are experiencing financial hardship and students
who are at risk of leaving university due to financial difficulties. Awards from the Access to Learning
Fund do not need to be repaid.
Whilst the Access to Learning Fund can award discretionary grant payments, there is no guarantee that
an award can be made for every application. The fund has a limited amount of money to cover the full
academic year. It should not be viewed as a reliable source of income to support your studies. For
part-time students, the Access to Learning Fund is only able to assist with course related costs. The
fund is not intended to assist with living costs for any part-time student.
The following groups are priority for the fund:
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Care leavers
Disabled students
Estranged students
Final year students
Lone parents
Students from low income backgrounds
Students who are providing care to another individual e.g. parent
If you do not fall into one of the above priority groups, you can still apply to the Access to
Learning Fund if you are able to demonstrate that you are experiencing financial hardship,
exceptional costs or an unexpected situation.
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ACCESS TO LEARNING FUND 2015/16 – PART TIME SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES
If you do fall into one of the above priority groups, this does not guarantee that you will receive an
award from the Access to Learning Fund. Applications will still be considered on a case-by-case
basis, and awards will be granted depending on your personal circumstances.
IMPORTANT
The Access to Learning Fund cannot be used to meet the cost of tuition fees for any student. It is
expected that students eligible for a tuition fee loan have applied for the maximum amount before
applying to the fund.
Undergraduate students who enrolled on their course before 1st September 2012 may be eligible to
apply to the University’s Additional Fee Support Scheme (AFSS) if they have also received a Fee and
Course grant. If you fall into this category, please email studentfinance@mmu.ac.uk and ask to be
considered for an AFSS award.
Postgraduate students must have made ‘adequate provision’ to cover the total cost of their tuition
fees before starting their course. This means that we expect postgraduate students to have enough
money in place to cover the total cost of their tuition fees and course related costs before starting on
their course. This may be through a Professional Career Development Loan, sponsorship,
scholarships, savings, part-time work or other available funding.
1b.
WHO CAN APPLY (ELIGIBILITY)
All part-time students must meet the following eligibility criteria to apply:
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You should be a ‘Home’ student paying the ‘home’ rate of tuition fees*
You should be enrolled on a part-time course which is at least 50% of an equivalent full time
course (or 25% if you are a disabled student)
*EU students will either need to demonstrate that they have been resident in the UK for 3 years
prior to the start of their course (other than for purposes of education), or will need to demonstrate
that they were in receipt of a maintenance loan from Student Finance during their undergraduate
degree (postgraduates only).
The following table outlines further eligibility criteria depending on the group of student:
Undergraduate students
who enrolled before 1st
September 2012
Undergraduate students
who enrolled after 1st
September 2012
Postgraduate students
You must be in receipt of the maximum amount of fee and course grant
that is available to you.
You must have a UK student support number.
You must be in receipt of the maximum amount of tuition fee loan that is
available to you.
You must have a UK student support number.
You must have made ‘adequate provision’ to fund your tuition fees and
course related costs before embarking on your course.
This means that we expect you to have enough money in place to cover
the total cost of your tuition fees and course costs before starting on
your course. This may be through a Professional Career Development
Loan, sponsorship, savings, part-time work or other funding.
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ACCESS TO LEARNING FUND 2015/16 – PART TIME SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES
IMPORTANT
For all of the above groups of students, if you are eligible to receive benefits you are also expected to
have applied for all statutory support to which you are entitled, particularly Tax Credits and Social
Security Benefits, before you apply.
If you have an outstanding Emergency Hardship Loan, including any loans to pay for an Educational
Psychologist Assessment (from any academic year), you must repay this in full before you can apply to
the ALF.
1c.
WHO CANNOT APPLY?
The following groups of students are not eligible to apply:
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1d.
International students
Full time undergraduate students who are repeating a year of their course with a part-time
mode of attendance. Students who fall into this category should apply to the fund as fulltime student
Intercalating Students – If you have suspended your studies for any reason, you should not
have any course costs to cover and therefore are not eligible to apply
CLOSING DATES FOR APPLICATIONS
Application forms will be available on the 21st September 2015. You can apply up until the closing
dates below. No applications can be accepted after the closing date.
Closing Dates for Applications
Final Years and Postgraduates
Friday 18th March 2016
Continuing Years
Friday 20th May 2016
1e.
DETAILED GUIDANCE ON HOW TO COMPLETE YOUR FORM
This section outlines how to complete your application form. Please read this section carefully as
application forms that are not completed correctly will be rejected.
Section A – Personal Details
Please complete all of the relevant boxes with your personal details, ensuring your correspondence
address is correct as your supporting documents will be returned to this address. You should also
list all of your child and adult dependents if you have any children or adults who are financially
dependent on you.
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ACCESS TO LEARNING FUND 2015/16 – PART TIME SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES
Section B – Course Details
Please provide your course details and tick boxes in the grid to indicate the number of hours per
week you attend compulsory sessions e.g. lectures or tutorials. You should then take your form to
your course leader/tutor who should confirm the number of units and credits that you are enrolled
on and sign and date the form to confirm that the course details you have provided are correct.
Application forms that are not signed by your course leader or tutor will not be accepted.
Section C – Student Funding
You should indicate the amounts of Student Funding that you will receive in 2015/16.
EVIDENCE: You will need to provide evidence of all of the income listed in this section. Please refer to
the right hand column of the table for guidance on the evidence that is required.
Section D – Income Threshold Assessment
You do not need to complete this section if you are in receipt of a fee and course grant (pre-2012
students).
All other students should list ALL of the income that you and your partner (if applicable) have in
addition to your student funding. This may include wages, contributions from family members and
any additional state benefits that you receive.
EVIDENCE: You will need to provide evidence of all of the income that you list in this section. Please
refer to the right hand column of the table for guidance on the evidence that is required.
Section E – Course Related Expenditure
You should list the relevant course related costs that you will incur as a result of being a student in
2015/16. You should only list costs that are referred to in this table. You should not include the cost
of tuition fees in this table as the fund can only consider a contribution towards the cost of attending
your course, not your tuition fees. You should also not include things like books, course materials or
other course specific equipment as we use a fixed amount for general course costs for all part-time
students. For more information on this fixed amount, please refer to Part 2b of these
supplementary notes.
Regular living costs such as rent, food, household bills, clothes and entertainment should not be
included in this section, or anywhere in your application, as these costs are not considered for part
time students.
EVIDENCE: You will need to provide evidence for any costs that you list in this table.
SECTION F: BANK DETAILS
Please provide bank details for the account you wish your award to be paid into if your application is
successful. All awards are paid directly into student’s nominated accounts, so please ensure that
this section is completed correctly.
Section I – Student Declaration
In this section, you should read each of the statements in the declaration carefully and then tick the
appropriate boxes to confirm that you agree to the relevant statements. You should then sign and
date the declaration. Applications that are signed electronically (i.e. typed) will not be accepted.
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ACCESS TO LEARNING FUND 2015/16 – PART TIME SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES
1f.
HOW TO CHECK YOUR APPLICATION FORM
Evidence checkpoints are placed throughout the application form to help you include all of the correct
supporting evidence (see example below). There is also a final evidence checkpoint on the last page
of the application form which should be used as a check list before submitting your application.
EVIDENCE CHECKPOINT 1
If you cannot answer YES to these questions, your application may not be accepted
Have you provided evidence of your student funding?
YES/NO
If you have answered yes to all of the above questions, you can proceed to section A.
Remember, applications without all necessary supporting evidence cannot be processed so please
ensure you refer to all of the evidence checkpoints before submitting your application form.
1g.
WHERE TO SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION FORM
Completed application forms, together with all supporting evidence, should be sent to the Student
Financial Support Team.
In person, to the Student Hub, Business School, Manchester Campus
(Please ask for a receipt when submitting your form.)
By post, to the following address:
Student Financial Support
Room 2.01, Business School and Student Hub
Manchester Metropolitan University
Oxford Road
Manchester
M15 6BH
Please note: If you are posting your application form, please ensure you take it to the Post Office to
ensure it is weighed and the correct postage is paid. It is your responsibility to ensure that your
application arrives by the closing date. Applications received after the closing date due to an
insufficient postage payment will not be accepted.
1h.
HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE TO RECEIVE A DECISION?
The time in which you will receive a decision will depend on the complexity of your application.
However, all applications should reach stage 3 (decision) within four working weeks of submission,
provided the application form is completed correctly and the appropriate documentary evidence has
been supplied. If your application is incomplete, or if we ask you to provide additional information at
any stage throughout the assessment process, your application will be delayed and may take longer
than four working weeks to process.
The volume of applications received may vary at times. If we expect a delay in assessing your
application due to this, we will notify you via your MMU student email account.
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