SFE says I suspended when I didn’t – now overpayment + reduced funding
Hi, I’m really hoping someone from Student Finance / SLC can clear this up because I’ve not been able to get proper answers from my uni.
I’m a part-time student studying 60 credits per year. I started my first year in September 2025 and here’s what happened in my first year after submitting and passing my first semester and modules.
• March (Year 1): Submitted mitigating circumstances/extension request for my Semester 2 30-credit module (before the March deadline).
• May: Only one email from my course leader, advising me to apply for mitigating circumstances (which I’d already done).
• June: Results released – I passed 30 credits in Semester 1 and failed the 30-credit module in Semester 2. I was waiting to hear about a resit.
• 10th June: My uni told Student Finance I had “suspended due to illness.” I never suspended, never agreed to suspend, and there’s nothing on my student record to show that I did.
• July–Aug: I chased the uni several times by email to find out about resits and how it would affect Year 2, but got no response.
• Late Aug: I saw the letter from SFE (dated 10th June) saying my studies were suspended.
Because of this, my SFE record now says that the Semester 2 payments were an overpayment, and my funding for this new academic year has been cut by 50% to recover it.
This is worrying because:
• I didn’t suspend – I completed Semester 1, submitted mitigating circumstances in Semester 2, and was waiting on the uni.
• I never had any communication about suspension.
• I’m now being treated as if I owe money back, and my current funding has been halved.
For this year I’m enrolled for 60 credits again (50% intensity), but the delivery is uneven:
• Semester 1: 40 credits
• Semester 2: 20 credits
For each 20-credit block, I’ll actually be attending uni full time (around 14 hours a week) instead of the usual part-time 7 hours. The uni has told me that after I complete my credits each year, I’ll need to be reported as “suspended” until the following year. In 2025–26 this means suspending in Semester 2 after my 20 credits are done; in 2026–27 it will be the reverse (suspending in Semester 1 until I resume full-time in Semester 2).
My concern is that these “suspended” periods will again be flagged by SFE as overpayments, causing either my tuition/maintenance payments to stop mid-year, or future funding to be reduced to recover them. But I’ll still be completing the full 60 credits required for the year, and my uni is still charging the full annual fee. Whether I complete the 60 credits evenly over the year or in a block shouldn’t matter.
My questions are:
1. Can my record for last year be corrected so it doesn’t show a suspension I never made, and can the overpayment/funding reduction be reversed?
2. Will studying 40 credits in Semester 1 and 20 credits in Semester 2 still count as 50% intensity overall, so my funding continues across the year?
3. Is there a way my uni should report my enrolment/attendance differently to SFE to stop this happening again?
Thanks in advance – I just want to make sure my record is accurate and my funding runs properly, as this has caused a lot of confusion.
I’m a part-time student studying 60 credits per year. I started my first year in September 2025 and here’s what happened in my first year after submitting and passing my first semester and modules.
• March (Year 1): Submitted mitigating circumstances/extension request for my Semester 2 30-credit module (before the March deadline).
• May: Only one email from my course leader, advising me to apply for mitigating circumstances (which I’d already done).
• June: Results released – I passed 30 credits in Semester 1 and failed the 30-credit module in Semester 2. I was waiting to hear about a resit.
• 10th June: My uni told Student Finance I had “suspended due to illness.” I never suspended, never agreed to suspend, and there’s nothing on my student record to show that I did.
• July–Aug: I chased the uni several times by email to find out about resits and how it would affect Year 2, but got no response.
• Late Aug: I saw the letter from SFE (dated 10th June) saying my studies were suspended.
Because of this, my SFE record now says that the Semester 2 payments were an overpayment, and my funding for this new academic year has been cut by 50% to recover it.
This is worrying because:
• I didn’t suspend – I completed Semester 1, submitted mitigating circumstances in Semester 2, and was waiting on the uni.
• I never had any communication about suspension.
• I’m now being treated as if I owe money back, and my current funding has been halved.
For this year I’m enrolled for 60 credits again (50% intensity), but the delivery is uneven:
• Semester 1: 40 credits
• Semester 2: 20 credits
For each 20-credit block, I’ll actually be attending uni full time (around 14 hours a week) instead of the usual part-time 7 hours. The uni has told me that after I complete my credits each year, I’ll need to be reported as “suspended” until the following year. In 2025–26 this means suspending in Semester 2 after my 20 credits are done; in 2026–27 it will be the reverse (suspending in Semester 1 until I resume full-time in Semester 2).
My concern is that these “suspended” periods will again be flagged by SFE as overpayments, causing either my tuition/maintenance payments to stop mid-year, or future funding to be reduced to recover them. But I’ll still be completing the full 60 credits required for the year, and my uni is still charging the full annual fee. Whether I complete the 60 credits evenly over the year or in a block shouldn’t matter.
My questions are:
1. Can my record for last year be corrected so it doesn’t show a suspension I never made, and can the overpayment/funding reduction be reversed?
2. Will studying 40 credits in Semester 1 and 20 credits in Semester 2 still count as 50% intensity overall, so my funding continues across the year?
3. Is there a way my uni should report my enrolment/attendance differently to SFE to stop this happening again?
Thanks in advance – I just want to make sure my record is accurate and my funding runs properly, as this has caused a lot of confusion.
Reply 1
Hi there, thank you for explaining your situation. All information in relation to your course received to Student Finance England comes from your university. If you had never suspended, then this would need to be corrected from your university, this correction would then allow a reassessment of the overpayment mentioned. As to the study intensity, this would remain at 50% over the year, unless any update is later received to advise of a change (again from the university).
Universities should only submit notifications to Student Finance England when an event has taken place in relation to a students studies (suspension, resumption, withdrawal, change of course etc..) I would be asking for concise clarification as to why the university submitted the suspension, as if you are in attendance, and have not requested this, this requires clarification as if this has been submitted incorrectly, your university can submit updates / corrections to us to allow the application to be reviewed again, but this can only come from your university. Stephen
Universities should only submit notifications to Student Finance England when an event has taken place in relation to a students studies (suspension, resumption, withdrawal, change of course etc..) I would be asking for concise clarification as to why the university submitted the suspension, as if you are in attendance, and have not requested this, this requires clarification as if this has been submitted incorrectly, your university can submit updates / corrections to us to allow the application to be reviewed again, but this can only come from your university. Stephen
Quick Reply
Related discussions
- Learner support fund nhs adult nurse
- Maintenance loan after Leave of Absence from PGCE?
- Maintenance loan after previous year of study.
- Student finance and maternity leave mid course
- Sfe funding
- Financial hardship fund query
- SFE Maintenance Loan / Withdrew from PGCE
- SFE Funding if Moving Universities After First Year
- SFE funding for Allied Health Courses
- If I take a break from studying for a year, how will that affect my student loan?
- SFE not received my university electronic withdrawal notification
- SFE Masters funding and previous overpayment debt
- Suspending studies
- i was overpaid maintenance loan last year will i be able to get it again this year
- overpaid maintenance loan after dropping out but wanting to apply same year
- Can I change AHP degrees mid way through the first year at the same university?
- Suspending/withdrawing from a course
- Hardship form
- Will SFE fund a 2nd AHP degree after withdrawing from 1st AHP degree
- So I have been withdrawn from uni last week| SFE question
Latest
Trending
Last reply 3 months ago
Freaking out - student finance application says 'withdrawn', due to start September!Last reply 3 months ago
Student Finance has given me an incorrect entitlement.Last reply 7 months ago
student finance hasn't requested my household incomeLast reply 7 months ago
how do i make a change to my student finance application?Last reply 7 months ago
When is the deadline for Student Finance England 2025/2026 for returning students?Last reply 8 months ago
Confused About Maintenance Loan Amount – Can Anyone Help?Articles for you
How The Student Room is moderated
To keep The Student Room safe for everyone, we moderate posts that are added to the site.
