Monday 03-09-2018 - 12:05

Sometimes, things don’t quite go to plan, and you might feel a bit overwhelmed. If you’re a little stuck and need some help, the Advice Centre offers free, confidential and student-centred advice from trained and experienced staff.

We chatted with Meg, your lovely Advice Centre Manager, to hear all about how she and the team can help you.

“For new students starting here at Man Met, I would recommend coming to see us if they need help with practical issues. We can help with are issues to do with funding – so if you have any problem with your loan being paid late or if you’ve not received the correct amount then we can help resolve those types of issues. We can also advise on housing issues, so if you are looking for accommodation or if you’ve moved in somewhere and are having problems, then come to us and we’ll recommend next steps to take. We can help students if they’ve previously been on welfare benefits – so if you have children or perhaps have a disability, it’s important to make sure you get the right funding whilst at university.

Hopefully when you first start at Manchester Met everything will be going OK! But if for any reason they aren’t, so if maybe someone is thinking about changing course or they are finding problems with lectures or tutorials – come and talk to us! Coming to university is a very different situation to any other – you get your student funding paid three times a year. There’s no other places where you would go and do a job and only get paid that way! We can make sure you manage your money as well as you can and help you set up a budget. The first term can be quite tough with those initial set-up costs, so it’s making sure you’ve got the tools in place to succeed and see you through to the next payment in January.

We can also advise on any extra money people may be entitled to. The University have the Day to Day fund, and there are other charities and grants. If you are having any concerns with physical or mental health, we’ll direct you to the Counselling, Health and Wellbeing service. Here at the Advice Centre we tend to give practical advice on issues, and the Counselling service can give a bit more one-to-one support for any worries or issues you might have.”

 

Top tips from the team:

“Shop around for student bank accounts – the market is competitive and you can often bag yourself a great deal! Compare the overdraft deal they offer you as well as the freebies!” – Glenda

“Remember that your Student Finance does not come through until the University has confirmed your attendance so try to ensure you have some money for your first few days.” – Alex

 “Make sure you register with a GP so you can access the right support when you need it. Find your nearest GP using the NHS’s website.” – Meg