Thousands of students on weekend-only courses face relief after being wrongly told to repay tens of thousands in loans and grants immediately. The government has stepped in to pause aggressive repayment demands, easing financial strain on around 22,000 students caught in a bureaucratic dispute.
Student Loans Crisis Hits Weekend Learners
Vlad Iordan, a 32-year-old business management student at London Metropolitan University, was blindsided by a demand to repay nearly £18,000 while still studying. Attending classes only on weekends made him ineligible for maintenance loans and grants under existing rules, yet he had received the funds.
“I can’t sleep at night. It’s a struggle, you know. I’m in debt at the moment anyway, but that money helped me to be exactly on the water. Now, actually, I’m sunk,” Vlad shared before the government reversed course.
Government Intervention Eases Student Burden
In a decisive move last week, the government instructed the Student Loans Company (SLC) to stop demanding immediate repayment. Instead, overpayments will be recovered gradually through standard loan repayments once students’ income surpasses the earnings threshold. Additionally, the recovery of grant overpayments is suspended until at least September.
“This will alleviate the pressure off students who are not at fault here,” the government confirmed in Parliament.
What Triggered the Overpayment Controversy?
The dispute stems from how weekend-only attendance courses are classified. Since 2011, courses labeled as distance learning are ineligible for maintenance loans and grants. The SLC asserts that many weekend-only courses were mistakenly registered as “in attendance” rather than distance learning, leading to unentitled financial support.
Franchised providers, which deliver courses on behalf of universities, often misclassify these courses, sparking the issue.
Universities Push Back Against the Government
London Metropolitan University and eight other institutions reject the SLC’s blame, accusing the Department for Education (DfE) and SLC of an abrupt policy shift lacking consultation. They argue they followed existing guidelines correctly for years and that recent inconsistent changes caused the confusion.
“The group are appalled that the DfE and SLC are characterising this change in policy as an error by universities when classifying their courses,” the university stated. They emphasize their primary goal remains supporting affected students and have launched legal action to challenge the government’s stance.
The Impact on Students Like Vlad
Despite the repayment pause, affected students face uncertainty. Vlad’s university offered him two choices: continue his weekend course without further maintenance loans or switch to a weekly study schedule that might restore eligibility for financial support.
As a logistics manager balancing work and study, Vlad recognized how vital the funding was. “You put it on expenses like petrol, food, and time when you do the assignment, and it’s quite important,” he explained.
Government Directives to Universities
The Department for Education has instructed universities and colleges to provide financial hardship support and to urgently recategorize courses accurately. This will allow students to be reassessed for eligibility under the correct regulations.
Where students remain eligible, the SLC will continue loan and grant payments. Should eligibility no longer apply, payments will cease in line with regulations.
