Hi My partner was offered a place on a degree course as a mature student and made an application to the Student Loan Company. In spite of making the application long in advance, they lost his information asked for him to resend the info. He made a number of calls to enquire about how it was progressing and they made a number of excuses from not being able to find paperwork to a backlog of work slowing applications down. As a result my partner started on his course and was there around five weeks when he received a letter from the SLC saying he was not entitled to anything as he had received financing twenty years earlier. As a result he had to withdraw from the course and the university is doggedly chasing him for fees. He is unable to pay anything as he receives no income whatsoever as I am supporting us both on my part time earnings while he looks for work. He is not eligable for JSA. This has been explained to the University and although they are sympathetic they are still pushing for payment. Surely the fault lies with the SLC losing the paperwork and the time they took processing. Where does he stand legally as he has no assetts whatsoever. Any advice would be appreciated

Hi My partner was offered a place on a degree course as a mature student and made an application to the Student Loan Company. In spite of making the application long in advance, they lost his information asked for him to resend the info. He made a number of calls to enquire about how it was progressing and they made a number of excuses from not being able to find paperwork to a backlog of work slowing applications down. As a result my partner started on his course and was there around five weeks when he received a letter from the SLC saying he was not entitled to anything as he had received financing twenty years earlier. As a result he had to withdraw from the course and the university is doggedly chasing him for fees. He is unable to pay anything as he receives no income whatsoever as I am supporting us both on my part time earnings while he looks for work. He is not eligable for JSA. This has been explained to the University and although they are sympathetic they are still pushing for payment. Surely the fault lies with the SLC losing the paperwork and the time they took processing. Where does he stand legally as he has no assetts whatsoever. Any advice would be appreciated

Hi all, I was studying Business at the University of South Bank in Elephant & Castle London in the year of 2008/09. I ended up finishing the year of but did not want to carry on because i did not enjoy the course. I was playing for the university basketball team at the time as well. In 2009/10 I went out to America just before September trying to get a scholarship for a university out there but it didn't end up happening so I ended up coming back to London but it was too late to enrol onto any course here in London so I started working. Couple of months go by and I get a message from the University demanding half a year of tuition fee. I called up and asked why this was and they said I had enrolled myself onto the same course as the year of 2008/09. I told them I didn't re enrol onto the any course let alone the course I didn't enjoy in my first year and all they said was they would get someone to call me back. No one called me back until recently I receive another letter from the University demanding the money or they would pass me on to a credit agency/solicitors. I don't understand how they got the information that I enrolled myself on to the same course for that year. I went to speak to them two days ago and they said I must of sent a letter back or went on-line and re enrolled. I know for a fact that I did not re enrol and I did not attend any lectures or seminars at the University. When I told them that and also asked them to check for attendance they did and realised I didn't attend any lectures or seminars but said I had swiped my card 6 times to get into the University so they assume I was still there. The reason it was swiped 6 times was because I would get invited back to train with the basketball team and I would go into the sports arena and train with them whenever I didn't have to go into work. I did not once attend any lessons/lectures/seminars. I kept telling the person at the finance department that I had not been at University that year at all to study and I did not re enrol. The person ended up giving me an email address to email and write my appeal for the £1680 the university is asking for. Any advice on this matter would be great. Many thanks

I began a full time PGCE at Sheffield Hallam Uni in Sept 2010 but was forced to withdraw in October. I had several issues about the course that fell on deaf ears a number of times and was forced into deferring because it was clear they would not be resolved. I was advised (wrongly) by a member of staff that I could defer to the following year, who then withdrew the statement once I had left. I have since been ordered to pay tuition fees, and repay all loans/grants for my time on the course and have been threatened with recovery action by both the university finance department and the SLC. I have lodged a formal complaint with the university but they are dragging their heels about resolving the issue and have not been in touch since before Christmas. I feel that it is totally unacceptable to be expected to pay the £2500 in total that they are asking for when I would still have been a student and well on my way to gaining the qualification I needed had the university not made a total mess of things. Where do I go for advice in such matters? Any advice would be appreciated. Regards Angry SHU student!