Misleading/wrong information on fee entitlement given to me by SLC - what can I do?

Marmotta_2

I left my full-time job in London last September to return to university in Exeter (which I have no prior links to) on the basis of a letter I received from Student Finance England last April which stated:

"...you will not be eligible to receive any fee support for the 2012/13 academic year. You will however, be eligible for fee support during the remaining years of your course".

Having dropped out a couple of times in the distant past, I was expecting the first sentence, so saved up/borrowed enough money to pay for my first year of tuition. When I recently went online to apply for my second year, the system told me that I would not be eligible for tuition fees for my second year. Puzzled, I called SLC and was told that because of the number of years I'd done beforehand, I would only be able to receive one year of tuition fee support and that could only be in the final year of my degree.

The issue here is that the information given to me originally was not , I believe, in any way ambiguous - it clearly implies that I would be able to receive tuition fee support for the upcoming academic year. In fact, the guy I spoke to over the phone stated that what was written in the letter "shouldn't have been put in there", but could only apologise, as he basically had no authority to do anything and just suggested I made up some bull faeces compelling personal reasons for why I dropped out of my previous courses ("do you feel the course just wasn't for you").

The issue here, aside from the fact that I simply do not have the money to pay for another year of tuition at £9,000, is that I left my full-time job in London and moved to Exeter (where, is I said, I have no connections other than to the university) on the basis of the information given to me by the SLC. I have sent an email to the complaints department, asking it to be escalated to the Head of Service automatically if my demands are not met, but what can I do if they reply to me stating that essentially "computer says no" and their hands are tied?

Who would I need to go to above the SLC to appeal? Would any body higher up be able to reverse the SLC's decision or would they simply be reprimanded? Can I get monetary compensation from a government body?

Would I be able to make a justified claim for loss of earnings? If I had the information I've been given last April, I would have stayed in London and saved up for another year (and would have been promoted to Assistant Manager at my job).

Lokolo

I agree that they made a mistake with the letter but I don't see what you can do about it, rules are rules.

And although I do blame SFE for 90% of this, you could have been more proactive before and found out the rules yourself and worked out whether you are eligible (again, not saying its your fault at all, but confirmation from multiple sources is usually a good idea!).

I don't see why you would be entitled to any sort of compensation or claim for loss of earnings.

Your best bet is to get a full time job for the upcoming summer and save as much as you can. Then work part time during the year. But whislt doing that, plead to them to give you finance.

Marmotta_2

I've already put summer holiday plans on hold and I'm looking into working full-time from mid-May to September and have worked out that I would need to work around 22 hours a week once I'm back in Exeter. It's just a pain, as I've already spent quite a bit of time working in my first year and was hoping it wouldn't be necessary in my second year. Exeter University are also not very understanding when it comes to alternative payment plans for tuition fees.

I have heard some stories of people getting compensation from the SLC, although I'm not sure of the details. I'm hoping I can at least get something towards fees.

Taiko

SLC have never paid compensation, so don't believe the urban myth.

You've no recourse to any action by the sound of it, and if I'd witnessed that person giving the advice on CPR that you claim, they'd be given a nice P45 at the end of their shift. It's not as easy as you seem to think it is.