Incorrect tuition fees?

harry279

Hey,

Been using this site/forum for ages now but have never taken the time to register as of yet so here I am

Wanted to get some advice on my student loan, in particular the level of tuition fees I am paying. I started my course in 2009 but didn't like the University I was attending so completed the first year and left. I had originally planned to return to my course at another institution the following year but this break ended up being two years in length due to work/other commitments.

Prior to applying to my current University, I contacted both Student Finance England and the University itself who both confirmed to me that when I start at my new institution I would continue to pay my original fees. According to my payment schedule this was the case as my two payments in 2012/13 went through at the lower rate, however when I checked back for the status of my third payment, the original payments had been reversed and the higher band payments had instead been taken without providing me with any sort of notice.

On contacting Student Finance, they confirmed that 'Transitional Protection' only applied for those who hadn't taken any time out between institutions despite having previously told me otherwise. When I contacted my University, they simply provided me with a generic complaints email address to contact and said that unless I had 'proof' that the University told me otherwise there isn't a lot that they can do.

I wanted to know whether I had any grounds to launch some sort of complaint? Have been putting this off for a while because I wasn't confident anything would come of it, but over the course of the two years it's going to put me in £12,000 more debt than I had originally planned for. I have copies of all the letters I have received from Student Finance confirming the lower amount is to be paid to my University; I just have nothing in the way of proof that my University had told me prior to enrolling that I would be on the lower fees.

Apologies for the length of the post - thought it best to outline the situation in full!

Any advice would be much appreciated :T

Taiko

I think any complaint is likely to be directed at the university, not SFE.

What seems to have happened is that, on your application, you ticked for the maximum amount of fee loan. Later in the year, the university have sent a notice to SFE that the fee they are charging is £9000. SFE then have to amend the account, and if a student has asked for the maximum, it will just pay the extra out.

I believe you should have been on the higher fees, and the university have incorrectly advised you. The hard job now is proving it.

brendon

Did you get anything in writing from the University?

nimbo

The big step year was the first year that SFE had specifically said they would not hold fees for students who chose to defer... (However I saw this on the SFE webpage, and the finance team at a local college running Access courses did not know this, so I suspect that the information was not well publicized)...

Have you changed university, and if you did was it university 1, or university 2 that said the fees would be on the lower level? I have a feeling that if university 1 said it, it may have been a discretionary thing, rather than a hard and fast rule.

The bad news is about SFE is that in the small print is states that of they assess you wrong, they will adjust the amounts they give you/ you owe them accordingly...

harry279

brendon wrote: »

Did you get anything in writing from the University?

Other than to confirm their acceptance of me onto my course, no. All correspondence regarding the level of tuition fees I would be paying was done over the phone, through someone in the admissions office

harry279

And in reply to your question, nimbo, it was my 2nd university that said I would be on the lower fees and so the one I was to be joining. Just so annoying I have nothing in writing from them that states this. Thinking I may have to just bite the bullet and accept it was a mistake on my part for not looking into it in more depth

Voyager2002

harry279 wrote: »

Other than to confirm their acceptance of me onto my course, no. All correspondence regarding the level of tuition fees I would be paying was done over the phone, through someone in the admissions office

Do you know the person's name, or anything about them? Do you have a record of the dates and times you called them?

Your students' union should be able to contact the admissions office, perhaps identify the person or at least dig out any records of these telephone conversations. That might be enough.