Student Finance England explains what happens if you decide to suspend or withdraw from your studies
| This article has been written by the experts at Student Finance England (SFE), who regularly review and update the information here. |
In this article...
- What happens with student finance when you suspend your undergraduate studies
- Can you still get student finance during your suspension of undergraduate studies?
- What happens with student finance when you withdraw from your undergraduate course
- Repaying your undergraduate student loan after suspending or withdrawing from your studies
- If you return to undergraduate studies at university or college
- Repeating a year of postgraduate study
- If you’ve been paid too much postgraduate student finance
If you’re thinking about suspending or withdrawing from your studies, you need to speak to your uni or college. They’ll give you advice and help you make the best decision.
If you decide to suspend or withdraw from your studies, you should let Student Finance England (SFE) know. You can do this through Webchat in your online account (external link). You should also let your uni or college know your decision as soon as possible. This minimises the risk of you being overpaid.
What happens with student finance when you suspend your undergraduate studies
Once your uni or college tells SFE you have suspended, SFE will reassess your student finance based on the number of days you attended your course and send you a new Notification of Entitlement.
SFE will suspend any future payments to you or your university or college until you resume your studies. Depending on the date you paused your course and when your university or college informed SFE, you may have been overpaid.
Can you still get student finance during your suspension of undergraduate studies?
You may be able to get some student finance during your suspension period, for example, if you’re experiencing financial hardship or you suspended due to a caring responsibility or illness.
You would usually need to send SFE evidence, such as bank statements or a letter from your uni or college. Each case is assessed on an individual basis.
If you’ve suspended on health grounds, you’ll get full student finance for 60 days after you suspend. You don’t need to do anything as your uni or college should let SFE know.
What happens with student finance when you withdraw from your undergraduate course
Once your uni or college lets SFE know you’ve withdrawn, your student finance will be reassessed based on the number of days you attended your course.
SFE will stop any future payments to you and your uni or college and send you a new Notification of Entitlement.
Depending on the date you withdrew, and when your uni or college let SFE know, you may have been overpaid.
Repaying your undergraduate student loan after suspending or withdrawing from your studies
You’ll be responsible for repaying any Tuition Fee Loan SFE has paid to your uni or college and your Maintenance Loan. You’ll repay these as normal when you’re earning over the threshold, unless you were overpaid.
If you’ve been overpaid student finance
If you’ve been overpaid after suspending or withdrawing, SFE will contact you to let you know how to repay this amount.
You may need to repay this early and before you’re earning over the repayment threshold. Alternatively, SFE may reduce any future student finance payments if you return to study.
If you've been overpaid Childcare Grant from the 2019 to 2020 academic year onwards, SFE will not reduce any of your future payments. SFE will contact you again once you've finished or left your course to discuss affordable repayment options.
How much Tuition Fee Loan you’ll need to repay
The amount of Tuition Fee Loan you’ll need to repay will depend on the date you suspended or withdrew from your course. Your uni or college will have their own fee charging policy, so you should speak to them about this.
Your tuition fee is paid at the start of each term. The table shows how much of your tuition fee you’d normally have to repay depending on what date you suspend or withdraw.
| Date | Percentage of tuition fees you'll have to pay back |
| From the first day of term 1 | 25% |
| From the first day of term 2 | 50% |
| From the first day of term 3 | 100% |
If you return to university or college
If you suspended
If you suspended and return to your studies in the same academic year, your uni or college will let SFE know and it will reassess your student finance. If you return in a new academic year, you should reapply for student finance as normal.
If you withdrew
If you withdrew in your first year, you should be able to get full funding to study another course. If you left your course in your second year or later, you may have to cover some or all of the cost of your tuition fees yourself if you return to study.
Repeating a year of postgraduate study
You can’t usually get funding to repeat a year, unless you have compelling personal reasons.
If you’ve been paid too much postgraduate student finance
If you left your course early, this might mean you’ve been overpaid.
If you return to your course after suspending and you've been overpaid, your next Postgraduate Loan payment will be reduced.
If you’re not due any future payments, SFE will contact you about alternative ways to repay.
If you haven’t been overpaid, you’ll repay your loan as normal.
