Jan

At the University of North London we operate an appeal 
system based upon the students right to question the 
decision of the Access Fund Committee. 

If we reject an application on the issue of eligibility, 
the appeal can be and is often groundless. If the student 
fails to qualify under the eligibility criteria we informed 
of this fact and asked them to complete a new application 
when they are able to assert their eligibility. 

If the appeal concerns the actual amount awarded we 
recommend that the applicant provides additional 
information, other than that they already submitted  
pertaining to their financial position. 

However, as the Fund is unable to provide adequate 
amounts of support for one application per student, we 
regretfully reject appeals due to lack of funds. When we 
are in a position to offer additional support we do so only 
up to £200. Thankfully, we only receive  5 to 10 appeals a 
year and the majority of those failed to qualify under the 
current eligibility criteria. The most common issue 
this year was not applying for the maximum loan 
entitlement.

Incidentally, this year we have so far seen an 59% increase 
in application forms submitted. The additional amount from 
HEFCE prevented us from reducing the support we would 
normally give to those on low incomes, mature and lone 
parent students.

At this point in time we do not produce bursaries, mainly 
due to lack of funds. However, we have no choice but to 
offer bursaries under the proposed guidelines. As yet we 
have not decided upon an amount.

I hope this helps.

George H Law
Secretary to the Access Fund Committee
University of North London
Tel 020 7753 7050


On Wed, 05 Apr 2000 11:20:04 +0100 Jan Turnbull 
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Can anyone tell me what procedures they have in place for dealing 
> with students who are appealing against a decision <bold>not</bold> to award 
> them with any funds from their Access Fund, or are appealing 
> against the level of award they have been given?
> 
> We currently only allow appeals for those students who have been 
> denied funding on the basis of their eligibility. For example, they 
> are part time students but are not studying towards 60 credit points 
> or 50% of a full time course or are not eligible due to their 
> residency status.
> 
> However, we are thinking of opening up the students right to appeal 
> to allow applicants a 2nd chance. The student could then provide 
> more detail regarding their level of hardship. Detail that may not 
> have been provided in their original application.
> 
> 
> Can I also ask. Are any institutions providing bursaries from the 
> Access Fund. If so what form do they take?
> 
> 
> Any comments that you may have would be welcome.
> 
> <nofill>
> J N Turnbull ([log in to unmask])
> Student Finance and Data Protection Compliance Officer
> Chester College of Higher Education
> The views expressed are those of the
> individual and not necessarily those
> of the college, unless stated otherwise.

----------------------
George Hardie Law
[log in to unmask]



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