Impossible and punitive invoice after withdrawing
Hello, I am worried about this situation and would appreciate some clarification of my position.
I withdrew from a funded postgraduate course for personal reasons. My tutor agreed with my decision and I was assured there would be no adverse consequences. The fees for the course were paid from a bursary which was synchronised with the fees - it was clearly intended that the fees should be paid from the bursary.
Some time after withdrawing, I received an invoice for over £2000. This was totally unexpected. The university is saying that the fees were calculated to the end of the term when I withdrew. In effect, they have used different dates to calculate the fees and the bursary.
I have asked for clarification from the university and have received only a vague and general statement that I "would have" accepted their terms and conditions when I applied (I doubt this, as I applied through some branch of UCAS). They have neither quoted the terms and conditions that apply, nor stated at what point I agreed to them.
I would appreciate some advice. Thank you.
I withdrew from a funded postgraduate course for personal reasons. My tutor agreed with my decision and I was assured there would be no adverse consequences. The fees for the course were paid from a bursary which was synchronised with the fees - it was clearly intended that the fees should be paid from the bursary.
Some time after withdrawing, I received an invoice for over £2000. This was totally unexpected. The university is saying that the fees were calculated to the end of the term when I withdrew. In effect, they have used different dates to calculate the fees and the bursary.
I have asked for clarification from the university and have received only a vague and general statement that I "would have" accepted their terms and conditions when I applied (I doubt this, as I applied through some branch of UCAS). They have neither quoted the terms and conditions that apply, nor stated at what point I agreed to them.
I would appreciate some advice. Thank you.
it is impossible give any meaningful advice without more information. in particular, 'doubting' that you accepted the university's terms and conditions doesn't mean that you didn't. do you have any record of your application? details of the terms of the bursary? you can write to the uni and tell them that you don't think you accepted the terms, but they may come back showing exactly how you did so doing some research on your own first is a good idea.
The difficulty with bursaries is that one of the conditions of it may have been to successfully complete the course, or the uni reserves the right to bill you. I'd ask for the terms in writing within 5 working days, and read them carefully to see where you and the uni stand.
Email the uni department which sent you the invoice and ask them for a copy of the terms and conditions which state that you are liable to pay the £2,000. You might have agreed to them even by clicking a link on their application web site, however once you know what the rules are you will be in a better position to argue your case. Even if you are technically liable there might be a way out of it if you are in financial difficulties, or if you plan to return to the university at some point. It's a good idea to get some legal advice when you have the T&Cs. If you are still a student then the SU can probably help, or try your trade union or citizens advice bureau.
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When you enrol on the course, you accept the uni's terms and conditions. That's standard. Somewhere in the small print will be the repayment implications of withdrawing from a funded course.
You can ask the uni to provide you with a copy of the small print under which they're imposing this repayment. However, in all likelihood they're within their rights to do it. I'd agree with the above poster that they should be open to negotiating a repayment plan. Even £5 a week would be better than nothing.
You can ask the uni to provide you with a copy of the small print under which they're imposing this repayment. However, in all likelihood they're within their rights to do it. I'd agree with the above poster that they should be open to negotiating a repayment plan. Even £5 a week would be better than nothing.
Original post by thismango
Hello, I am worried about this situation and would appreciate some clarification of my position.
I withdrew from a funded postgraduate course for personal reasons. My tutor agreed with my decision and I was assured there would be no adverse consequences. The fees for the course were paid from a bursary which was synchronised with the fees - it was clearly intended that the fees should be paid from the bursary.
Some time after withdrawing, I received an invoice for over £2000. This was totally unexpected. The university is saying that the fees were calculated to the end of the term when I withdrew. In effect, they have used different dates to calculate the fees and the bursary.
I have asked for clarification from the university and have received only a vague and general statement that I "would have" accepted their terms and conditions when I applied (I doubt this, as I applied through some branch of UCAS). They have neither quoted the terms and conditions that apply, nor stated at what point I agreed to them.
I would appreciate some advice. Thank you.
I withdrew from a funded postgraduate course for personal reasons. My tutor agreed with my decision and I was assured there would be no adverse consequences. The fees for the course were paid from a bursary which was synchronised with the fees - it was clearly intended that the fees should be paid from the bursary.
Some time after withdrawing, I received an invoice for over £2000. This was totally unexpected. The university is saying that the fees were calculated to the end of the term when I withdrew. In effect, they have used different dates to calculate the fees and the bursary.
I have asked for clarification from the university and have received only a vague and general statement that I "would have" accepted their terms and conditions when I applied (I doubt this, as I applied through some branch of UCAS). They have neither quoted the terms and conditions that apply, nor stated at what point I agreed to them.
I would appreciate some advice. Thank you.
i'd avise posting this somewhere else, either a postgrad area or the law one. regardless of any contractual agreements, the assurances made by your tutor would almost certainly count for something. in fact even if it hadn't been explicitly stated, i'd be surprised if the implicit understanding that bursaries = fees didn't go in your favour.
as you say this is most likely administrative differences, and those involved probably just need a good shove to sort it out
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