Grant Over-Payment following Break From Study

Jennifer_Holmes

Hi all

My circumstances are that in April 2016 I had to break from study due to not being able to cope with my studies following a bereavement. This was right at the end of my third and final year of University and I withdrew from my course only about 6 weeks before it finished. I had been to all the lectures and seminars for the year and simply needed to complete my Dissertation and outstanding coursework. In February 2017 I returned to complete my coursework and have now graduated.

Student Finance England have been in contact stating I have a grant over-payment of £786.00 due to breaking from study in April 2016. Student Finance were not notified by University that I had completed my course and so, I had University send over all the information required. Nevertheless, the £786 over-payment has stuck plus, I have had varied advice and feedback from Student Finance England; some of which stating I owe £1000 and even that the over-payment would hopefully be cleared once University had notified Student Finance that I had completed my course.

I completely understand that there was an over-payment in 2016 however, I then returned and completed my course so I do not understand why the over-payment cannot be cleared. I have only now been told that when returning from my break I should have applied for funding for the 2017 academic year. This way the grant over-payment would have been deducted from my further entitlement yet, I was not aware that I should have done this - I simply wanted to succeed in completing my degree. Nevertheless, I have since been told that I would not have been eligible for further funding as I was deemed an external student.

Any advice would be much appreciated as I really do feel that because I was in such a poor state of mind when I decided to take a break and have had no advice or support on what to do regrading Student Finances; I have been exploited. I have been told I should have sought advice when wanting to take a break but I simply did not have the mental capacity to do so. I really wish I had had more support back in 2016 and when returning so I fully understood the consequences of taking a break and what I needed to do. This has caused so much stress and upset when I am trying to move on with my life, rather than continuously revisit my reasons for taking a break.

Thanks,
Jennifer

silvercar

The overpayment should have been calculated based on the exact date you withdrew from university in 2016. That last terms maintenance loan would have been expected to last the whole term, so they can calculate the proportion that should be repaid based on the exact date you withdrew.

Then you could have applied for maintenance loan for the time you returned to your studies. Whether you would be successful may depend on the exact terms you agreed with the university.

The important thing is that now you have graduated.:T

You can dispute the over payment, that will at least give you more time. You can then also agree a repayment schedule.