Withdrawing or suspending from study

Exchange editorial team

Providing up-to-date information about our student finance products and services.

This post first published: 24 April 2017

Universities or colleges should let us know immediately if a student has suspended or withdrawn from study. We’ll work out how this affects the student’s entitlement and write to the student to let them know how this changes affects them and if there’s anything they need to do.

Contents

Suspending study

Withdrawing from study

Students with grants or bursaries

Tuition Fee liability

Future funding

Suspending study

For medical reasons

If the student can’t attend their course due to illness, we can extend their student finance to include an additional 60 days of funding.

We must have been notified of the students’ suspension due to illness by the university or college.

If the student notifies us instead of the university or college we will ask for medical evidence for example a letter from their doctor before we can offer and extension.

In some cases, we may be able to extend funding for more than 60 days if the student would be in financial hardship.

We can only pay a student through their full suspension period on these grounds and we’d require evidence of their medical circumstances, for example a letter from a medical professional.

We’d also require evidence of the student’s potential financial hardship, for example bank statements for the suspension period and evidence of any obligations the student is liable for during this period, for example tenancy or mortgage agreements or utility bills.

For non-medical reasons

If they suspend their studies for reasons other than illness, for example:

  • caring responsibilities
  • financial difficulties
  • bereavement
  • premature termination of a work placement

they may still be entitled to some of their student finance, depending on the circumstances. Each case will be assessed on an individual basis.

Students in these circumstances will be asked to provide evidence to support their reason for suspension, the types of acceptable evidence will depend on the individual circumstances but we’ll let them know what they can send.

Once a re-assessment has been carried out, the student will get a new entitlement letter showing how much they’ll get.

Withdrawing from study

If the student withdraws permanently from their course during the academic year, we’ll re-assess the amount of student finance they’re entitled to up to the date they left. The student will receive a letter showing their updated entitlement.

The student won’t be paid any student finance for subsequent terms.

If they’ve been overpaid as a result of withdrawing from their course we’ll contact them about repaying.

Students with grants or bursaries

If the student received a grant or bursary we will consider this and the financial hardship that could be caused by stopping some or all of their student finance for the term in which they withdrew.

Tuition Fee Loan liability

For new students, Tuition fee payments are made in three instalments:

  • 25% in term one
  • 25% in term two
  • 50% in term three

If a student withdraws from their course during a term they are liable for the fee charged for that term.

When they leave

Tuition Fee Loan they have to repay

Before they register for their course

Nothing

After they register, but before the end of term 1

25% of the total amount requested

Before the end of term 2

50% of the total amount requested

Before the end of term 3

100% of the total amount requested

As long as we’ve been notified, we’ll withhold any further Tuition Fee Loan payments after the date the student left.

Future Funding

Entitlement to funding

Students can usually only get student finance for their first higher education course. If the student has already studied a higher-education course in the UK, they might not get help for a second course. Students can only have a maximum of 16 years of part-time funding. Anything over this amount will have to be self-funded by the student.

Suspending or leaving due to compelling personal circumstances

If the student suspended or left because of compelling personal reasons, such as ill health or bereavement we’ll ask them to send evidence of this. We’ll look into each case individually and do what we can to help them get funding for future study.

Claiming benefits

If a student suspends or withdraws they may be able to claim benefits in certain circumstances, for example, if they become ill or take on caring responsibilities.

Students should be instructed to contact their local Jobcentre Plus for advice.

They can also visit www.gov.uk to find out about the benefits that might be available to them.