Youngster misses out on uni over loan ‘mess’
ATEENAGER from Somerset has missed out on a place at university following a “huge mess” with his student loan.
Bartosz Osowski grew up in Radstock with his mother, Anna, before moving back to Poland, aged 13, to care for his father. He intended to return to the UK to do his A-levels, but found himself trapped abroad during the pandemic.
He went on to finish school in Poland before moving back to Radstock to live with his mum. In April, Anna rang the Student Loans Company to see if Bartosz, who has settled status in the UK, could apply for a loan.
The mum-of-two said: “We called the Student Loans Company in April and explained all Bartosz’s situation to them, and the fact he had settled status, to ask if there was any chance he might be able to get a student loan.
“They said ‘yes’, there was an option there, but they didn’t tell us that he had to be living here for the last three years to be able to get student finance as a UK resident.”
Anna and Bartosz applied for a student loan in July after “very good” A-level results saw him secure a place at the University College of Football Business in London to study Sports Law.
However, they were told that because he had been living in Poland until recently he could not receive a loan as a resident student.
“They didn’t accept the application and they said to try the EU resident route, so I called them and spent three days on the phone with them to see if there was some advice they could give me.
“Bartosz went on to apply through the EU route, but they rejected that application because he had settled status in the UK. I thought that was strange because on the Student Loans Company website it says that you can apply for an EU student loan even if you have settled or pre-settled status,” Anna said.
By this time, Bartosz did not know whether he would be able to get a student loan or not, but the clock was ticking on finding somewhere to live in London before his course started, so the 19-year-old booked a room in student accommodation.
However, by October, he still had not had his loan approved. In the end, Bartosz had to ask UCFB to defer his place until next year because his finance remained up in the air. He also had to cancel his accommodation.
Anna said: “In mid-October, I called SLC again because they hadn’t closed our account and we needed confirmation that Bartosz didn’t get any finance so we could send it as proof to the accommodation provider.
“I spoke to a man at the company who said that Bartosz was eligible for a student loan, and possibly maintenance as well. However, by then it was too late to get it sorted out in time for this year and he had already deferred his place.
“It’s just a huge, huge mess. Bartosz did his best and it was just the money that stopped him. I have been crying for about a week, I was just so depressed.”
However, Anna and her son are determined to make the most of this year, before he hopefully starts his course next autumn. He has been trained in graphic design by a family friend and has set up a workshop in his mother’s laundry room.
Now, he can produce stickers, banners and logos from home and has already taken on his first clients.
“It is really interesting,” said Anna. “Even I am interested in learning how to do it because it is so creative and you can really use your imagination.”
Bartosz will try again to secure his student finance when applications open in March. In the meantime, you can follow his progress with Buzz Decals at https://buzzdecals.co.uk/.
A spokesman for the Student Loans Company said: “Following a review of Mr Osowski’s account, we found that an error was made during his initial assessment for student finance.
“We apologise to Mr Osowski for this and any inconvenience that may have been caused as a result.”