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Michael Gumbrell

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What is going on with student finance england?

I am now on my second week of trying to apply for my next student loan.

Will the SFE website ever work again???

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Me in a rare cheerful mood

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Is this a current statement, or merely an archived one from any of the years since SFE was formed?

For me this year, they've rejected one of the three passwords that has been working, told me the course I'm enrolled on does not exist and have written demanding documentation that I have already provided online.

It is what you get when an organisation has lots of authority, no responsibility and is swimming in money: total incompetence.

Still, the woes when studying are nothing compared to those of people who have paid off their loan.  The payments keep being deducted and they send out demand letters to people whose payments have stopped because they have paid it off.  When that happens it is *your* problem to prove to them how much you have had deducted from your payslips and P60s.  They seem not to know how much people owe.  But then, there is no advantage to them keeping accurate records, so why bother?

After study, the thing to do is tell them you've left the country permanently.  Go overseas, don't pay them and they appear to write off the debt.  And why not, chasing payment costs them money but they do not benefit, so why should they?

I do wonder what happens to people who work there: what do they put on their CV for the period at SFE?  Do they lie about who they worked for, say they were unemployed or just say they were in prison?  I know I wouldn't take them on.

Me in a rare cheerful mood

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OMIGOD!  They're tracking me!

A few minutes ago I got a text from SFE - first time ever.  It starts "If you're continuing…"

I thought: 'They've seen me slag them off and they're after me!'

Not at all.  It says:

"If you're continuing part time study in academic year 2018/19, you'll already have an account.  Log in and apply now at www.gov.uk/studentfinance"

which is silly since that is not where one logs in to SFE.  And I don't remember telling them they could text me.

And it is also silly because they have already approved my Postgraduate Degree loan.

Michael Gumbrell

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I got the same text Simon... and when i go on the website it will not let me click through to the 2018/19 part time loan section.

Been broken for a couple of weeks now, i might have to summon the strength and phone them....

Michael Gumbrell

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The trouble is... i spend 9 hours a day at work... putting up with people of, shall we say, a diverse ability level... when i get home i want to grab a sandwich and watch the world cup..  i don't really want to spend another hour on the phone to Student Finecrap England trying to get someone else, shall we say, with yet more diverse ability levels to find out what is going on... 

Michael Gumbrell

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And i would add that i had to borrow £2900 to study A222-Philosophy... and the cruel fact of the matter is they should have had to pay me to take that awful module.. not the other way round!!!

#bloodya222

Least Famous 'Influencer' Ever

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They are evil. I paid with my own money for my MA - with my blood.

I've only just got them to write off my debt from 1993-7 - even though they've known I've had an incurable illness for the past decade. No way will I ever be in debt to these nasty gits again.

Simon is correct though. A friend of mine left the country in 1998 and fled to Russia and then, later, to China. They didn't bother to follow him up. wide eyes


Michael Gumbrell

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Hi Matt,

I would consider fleeing the country to escape the debt..  however the wife and my three kids might have something to say about that as a plan. Also having just finished studying political philosophy... i might be ignoring my social contract and political obligations if i just fled the country.. 

My oldest son will be taking a loan in September, when he starts uni... that will mean of a 5 person household... 3 of us will have sold our souls to Student Finecrap England.

I think my soul will be safe, having studied David Hume, souls don't exist, i am just a bundle of sensation, memory and experience.... however my wife and eldest son did not study philosophy, so i fear for the safety of their souls.