Student finance overpayment

Hi, so basically I started doing my masters degree in September 2022, however I decided to intermit my studies and asked for an intermission from my university in December 2022. The university said I still have to pay some of my fees, £2,500’s. I asked if I could have some time to pay this back. I now wish to resume my studies and have contacted my university. They have stated that I can resume my studies in March 2024, as long as the fee liability is paid by December 2024. That is not a problem, however will I have to pay student finance for the payments that I have had from September 2022 to now? I have called up student finance and they said once I resume my studies I will only be allowed my next two payments and then I will have to self fund the rest of my masters degree. Again, that is okay but will I need to pay student finance back as I probably have been overpaid in their eyes even though I requested the intermission in December 2022 but the intermission is not going to happen until this December, December 2023? It is over 7k.

Hi there,

If you have been suspended and will resume in 2024, then you wont have been overpaid as you would be attending the duration of the course when you return to it. If you have been paid, you will just receive the remainder of the entitlement once you return to study.

Thanks, Clare

I haven’t been suspended. I intermitted and restart my course from the beginning in March 2024.

Thank you

Hi there. If you started your course then took a break/pause, this would be classed as a suspension.

Are you restarting the course from the beginning? Student finance do not fund repeat years for postgraduate study, so the repeat period would not be funded if this was the case. Your finance would resume once your repeat period has finished and the university have confirmed this with us.

Thanks, Leah.

Hi, yes I am going to be starting the course from the beginning. But do I have to pay back the loan I have already received as I requested a withdrawal December 2022 and did not attend university from then how we still received my loan.

Thank you