2012/13 Tuition Fee Grant Reclaimed by SFE.
Hi,
I completed a part time BSc Top Up course and graduated in 2014 for which I had my tuition fees paid for by grant. I was unemployed and registered as a disabled student. In April I received an invoice from the uni charging me £700 for my tuition fees for the year 2012/13. After some digging I was informed that SFE had reclaimed the grant as the part time course intensity was said to have been 38% in year 2 and 35% in year 3. (I'm thinking I should be expecting another invoice next year).
Since the uni never called my back, which they said they would do if there was a problem, I wrongly assumed this had been resolved. Today I received a letter which stated they would not forward my marks to the award boards (I have my degree anyway) and refer my account to the legal team if I don't pay.
I have just spent an hour on the phone to SFE who couldn't provide any information as to what was on the application when they received it. He said that the more they looked at the claim the more confused they were and basically said, 'it is what it is so speak to your uni'.
I asked to be shown the relevant T&C which state that they can reclaim grants paid x amount of time after the event as this information doesn't seem to be freely available. I was sent to the slc.co.uk website which states that the grant is available for PT courses that last at least a year, lead to a HE qual, and takes no more than twice the time of equivalent FT course. For more info it redirects you to gov.uk (no info), here, facebook, twitter and youtube.
I explained that my course was 18 months full time and I completed it in 3 years and gained a BSc. That judging by the info they have provided I have satisfied all the criteria. He said that perhaps the criteria was different in 2012. I told him that since you are SFE, and the controlling company in all of this, then perhaps you can tell me.
So I asked for a copy of my original application which they said they could not find or did not have but the uni should have a copy. So it has been left with me having to contact the uni to try and sort this out.
Does anyone have any experience of grants being reclaimed and the student invoiced 3 years or more after the application has been approved? I am annoyed because if it had been refused at the time I would have at least had the option to not continue on the course. I feel that I have been scammed and after having 3 operations in the last 10 months I am not in the financial situation to just pay it and move on and even if I was I would still be unhappy about the way things have been handled.
TIA
I completed a part time BSc Top Up course and graduated in 2014 for which I had my tuition fees paid for by grant. I was unemployed and registered as a disabled student. In April I received an invoice from the uni charging me £700 for my tuition fees for the year 2012/13. After some digging I was informed that SFE had reclaimed the grant as the part time course intensity was said to have been 38% in year 2 and 35% in year 3. (I'm thinking I should be expecting another invoice next year).
Since the uni never called my back, which they said they would do if there was a problem, I wrongly assumed this had been resolved. Today I received a letter which stated they would not forward my marks to the award boards (I have my degree anyway) and refer my account to the legal team if I don't pay.
I have just spent an hour on the phone to SFE who couldn't provide any information as to what was on the application when they received it. He said that the more they looked at the claim the more confused they were and basically said, 'it is what it is so speak to your uni'.
I asked to be shown the relevant T&C which state that they can reclaim grants paid x amount of time after the event as this information doesn't seem to be freely available. I was sent to the slc.co.uk website which states that the grant is available for PT courses that last at least a year, lead to a HE qual, and takes no more than twice the time of equivalent FT course. For more info it redirects you to gov.uk (no info), here, facebook, twitter and youtube.
I explained that my course was 18 months full time and I completed it in 3 years and gained a BSc. That judging by the info they have provided I have satisfied all the criteria. He said that perhaps the criteria was different in 2012. I told him that since you are SFE, and the controlling company in all of this, then perhaps you can tell me.
So I asked for a copy of my original application which they said they could not find or did not have but the uni should have a copy. So it has been left with me having to contact the uni to try and sort this out.
Does anyone have any experience of grants being reclaimed and the student invoiced 3 years or more after the application has been approved? I am annoyed because if it had been refused at the time I would have at least had the option to not continue on the course. I feel that I have been scammed and after having 3 operations in the last 10 months I am not in the financial situation to just pay it and move on and even if I was I would still be unhappy about the way things have been handled.
TIA
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by GBarker
I explained that my course was 18 months full time and I completed it in 3 years and gained a BSc. That judging by the info they have provided I have satisfied all the criteria. He said that perhaps the criteria was different in 2012. I told him that since you are SFE, and the controlling company in all of this, then perhaps you can tell me.
I wouldn't expect one of the temps working at the SFE call centres in the peak months to know anything about the old part time grants system, they barely know about the new part time loans system.
It's the university that sends the information on course intensity to the Student Loans Company via their HEI portal. They do have the right to claim back any overpaid grants based on this information.
If the university have sent incorrect information about course intensity to the Student Loans Company, then the university needs to fix that from their end. Course intensity is determined on per-Academic Year basis.
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