Leaving your course (withdrawing)
The information on this page primarily relates to undergraduate students being funded by Student Finance England. If you are funded by an alternate provider (such as the NHS), or if you are a postgraduate student, we would recommend that you contact Student Finance and Welfare to discuss your individual circumstances.
If you are thinking of withdrawing from your studies you will need to let both the University and Student Finance England know as soon as possible.
If you withdraw permanently from your course during the academic year, Student Finance England will reassess the amount of student finance you are entitled to. You will receive a new notification letter showing the student finance now available to you, this will replace any earlier notification letters sent to you. If you were paid a grant or bursary, they will take into account the financial hardship that may be caused from stopping some or all of your student finance for the term you withdrew in. You will not be paid any student finance for subsequent terms. If you have been overpaid as a result of withdrawing from your course Student Finance England will contact you about repaying this.
Tuition fees
Once a term has started, you are liable for the full fee for that term even if you withdraw. The fees per term are proportioned as follows:
- Term 1 – 25%
- Term 2 – 25%
- Term 3 – 50%
If you withdraw part way through a term you will be liable for the whole fee for that term. If you are receiving a Tuition Fee Loan to pay your fees, then you will still be eligible for enough Tuition Fee Loan to cover the cost of your fees for the term you withdraw in.
Please also ensure you refer to the Tuition Fee Charging and Refunding Policy relating to your year of entry:
Maintenance loans and grants
Grants and loans for living costs are paid in termly instalments, to cover costs for the duration of that term. Where a student withdraws from their course part way through a term, Student Finance England will reassess these funds from the first day of the academic year until your ‘last date of attendance’ on the course. Any funds that you have received in excess of this reassessment will need repaying to Student Finance England. They will be in touch with you to arrange these repayments.
Repaying your loan
You will begin to repay your loan in the April after you leave your course, and only after you are earning over the income threshold. If you are an undergraduate student, you will repay 9% of anything you earn over this income threshold. If you are a postgradaute student, you will repay 6% of anything you earn over the income threshold. The amount you repay is based on your income, and not how much you have borrowed.
Interest is charged on your loan from the day the first payment is made until your loan is repaid in full or cancelled. The amount of interest you are charged does not impact the amount you repay each month.
The gov.uk website has further information on repayments and has up to date income threshold figures.
Returning to higher education in the future
If you withdraw from your studies, then your student funding stops with immediate effect.
If you want to return to higher education in the future, you can re-apply for student funding. However, any previous study you have done will be taken into account when calculating your funding entitlement.
Normally a student is entitled to funding for the duration of the course plus one extra year. However, Student Finance England will subtract from this entitlement any previous study already undertaken. If you withdraw part way through the year, then this will be treated as a full year taken from your entitlement. For example, if a student withdraws during the first year of a full-time higher education course, then decides to return to higher education at a later stage, they can expect to receive support for the duration of their new course.