One small obstacle you should be aware of.(posted 7999 days ago)A statutory demand is a demand before bankruptcy - bankruptcy can only be issued if the debt is over £750.
If you go before the court on WEdnesday or whatever, you are likely to be asked by the District Judge how much of the debt you are disputing. If for example, you dispute £3000 of it - that still leaves £2000, well above the level for which a Bankruptcy Petition can be issued for, so the DJ is unlikely to set it aside.
You say you are a student, if you have no tangible assets like a house, or other substantial property or savings, it might be in your interest to go bankrupt, effectively wiping this and other debt out.
Think about this before you act - if you are hell bent on applying for the set aside, be aware that the other side will want costs, and also that they may have evidence that they can put before the DJ to show you are properly indebted - then all you have done is add more costs and they will go ahead and issue the BP.
Other route is to try and secure for the debt (but this has to be to the other side's satisfaction). If all these avenues fail, you are looking at a BP issued within 21 days and served within the following 4 weeks or so and a Bankruptcy Order on the hearing unless you can persuade the DJ to agree to an IVA for which you will have to see an insolvency pratitioner.
Final route is to give your creditor an honest appraisal of your finances in the hope that they will see you are not fat enough to take their pound of flesh off, or to relent and just cut smallish lumps off monthly!!!!!
Good luck with it.