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Hi I need help as I don’t understand this . I have a derivative residence card which I got a week ago but I’m looking to go back to school and the student finance said I’m not eligible but I thought I am eligible because on my residence card it says I can exercise eu rights and I haven’t got “no recourse to public fund” on it. Can someone pls help explain to me why I’m not eligible for funds when it wasn’t written on my residence card. Thanks

Can you clarify what you applied to student finance for? Did you apply for a student loan or are you inquiring about having to pay Home Fees as opposed to Overseas fees?

Access to student loans has got nothing to do with access to public funds, which is a narrow list and governed by different rules.

To apply for a student loan, you generally need to have been resident in the UK for a certain period of time (generally three to five years). How long have you been resident in the UK for?

Student finance - Eligibility wrote:Your nationality or residency status
You can apply if all of the following apply:

• you’re a UK national or have ‘settled status’ (no restrictions on how long you can stay)
  you normally live in England
  you’ve been living in the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man for 3 years before starting your course

Non-UK nationals must have settled status on the first day of the first academic year of the course - which could be 1 September, 1 January, 1 April or 1 July.
You may also be eligible if your residency status is one of the following:

• refugee
  humanitarian protection
  EEA migrant worker
  child of a Swiss national
  child of a Turkish worker
  a stateless person (including family members) and you’re a new student starting on or after 1 August 2018

You may also be eligible if you’re not a UK national and are either:

• from an EU country
  under 18 and have lived in the UK for at least 7 years
  18 or over and have lived in the UK for at least 20 years (or at least half of your life)

EU Nationals and Student Finance in England wrote:These eligibility criteria set out that for students beginning study from August 2017, EU nationals must have been resident in the UK for at least five years or be EEA migrant workers in order to apply for a maintenance loan.

As you have been issued a Zambrano derivative card, that indicates that your child is a British citizen, not an EEA citizen, even though that card is issued under the EEA Regulations.