The Student Loans Company (SLC) has stopped all maintenance loan payments to students studying on courses where the teaching is on weekends only. This means that your SLC account may have been blocked and you will not receive your next maintenance loan payment. Tuition fee loans have not been affected.

The Department for Education (DfE) and the Student Loans Company (SLC) have confirmed that, under existing regulations, courses that require attendance only at weekends are classified as ‘distance learning’. Distance learning courses are not eligible for maintenance loans or targeted grants, except for Disabled Students’ Allowances. The SLC has reviewed the information previously submitted by the University and have stated that weekend‑only courses were not categorised correctly. This has been treated as an error in course classification, which has impacted how funding was calculated.

Existing funding policy had previously been interpreted in a way that allowed weekend only courses to attract maintenance loan funding. A more recent clarification of how the policy is being applied has led to this review.

No. There are about 20 institutions impacted by this decision. We are working closely with colleagues at these institutions. The national trades unions - National Union of Students and the Universities and Colleges Union - are also making representations to the DfE.

At this stage you are not required to take any action. We or your partner institution will write to you shortly to ask for your preferences about what teaching days you would like from the options available. We will then proceed to move you ASAP after we have received students' preferences. We will also notify SFE of your change of course.

You should continue to attend your classes as normal, as you current teaching has not yet changed. Not attending will impact your ability to submit assessments and potentially your ability to progress.

Please email us via weekend@bnu.ac.uk with information on what days you do study and since when. We will investigate this and get the transfer to weekdays verified.

Please be aware that changing teaching days does make you eligible for funding going forward, but it does not remove any previous overpayments. Any funding you received as a weekend student will still need to be repaid, and you won’t be able to receive any further payments until those overpayments have been cleared. 

Depending on where you study there may be some options for evening study, this may be alongside daytime study. We or your partner will advise what options will be available to you as soon as possible.

Step 1 – BNU/partner to confirm to students what alternative teaching options we can offer.

Step 2 – Students will be asked what teaching option they would like to move to and preferences will be collected.

Step 3 – BNU/franchise partner will confirm which teaching pattern students can move to for those requests which can be facilitated.

Step 4 – BNU will complete the SLC requirements to change student information on their database.

Step 5 – Teaching based on new teaching patterns starts.

Some of these steps will happen in tandem.

They don’t need to do anything if they want to continue studying on Saturday and Sunday. Please note that no maintenance funding will be available in the future.

We have been in ongoing contact with the Department for Education and Student Loans Company since December and were told by the SLC that clarity would be provided in January. We communicated with students on our weekend programmes to update them. BNU received formal notification from DfE on Monday 23 March when we wrote to students again and visited sites to meet learners on 28 March to answer initial questions.

We will email you to both your BNU and personal email address we have on file (your personal address may be your partner institution email address). These FAQs will be regularly updated to provide you with the latest information in one place.

Students are able to request a mitigating circumstance where necessary. We have previously provided blanket extensions where submission dates are very close to a change – we will consider this closer to submission dates. If you are concerned, please talk to your course leader.

Tuition fees are used to pay for teaching related costs; teaching staff, support staff, administration staff, facilities, resources, licences, etc.

As far as we are aware there has been no information provided on gov.uk. All information/communications are being provided via the SLC or individual universities.

It means that any students who have been identified as being weekend only students are currently having a block applied to their maintenance loan payments. This means you will not receive your next funding instalment. It also means that the SLC will consider that any funding received as a result of you being on a weekend only / distance learning course, as being awarded in error and is deemed an ‘overpayment’. The SLC will look to claim overpayments back. Where students become eligible for future payments (for example, if you move to a weekday alternative), overpayments will be deducted from any future payments.

It has been deemed that the payments already received have been made in error. Therefore, the SLC are able to request them back immediately.

The repayments are being managed by SFE/SLC (not BNU). Therefore, please contact the SLC to understand what is expected in terms of repayments. The SLC will work with you to come to an affordable repayment plan. Please contact SFE/SLC via 0300 100 0607 or see Contact Student Finance England - GOV.UK.

Yes. Tuition fee loans are not affected.

Yes, these grants have been deemed to have been paid in error, so these will form part of the overpayment and need to be repaid.

If you are in receipt of the Disabled Students’ Allowance, you are exempt from this change as students with a disability are eligible for a maintenance loan on a distance learning course. Therefore, you we are not required to pay back your maintenance loan or Disabled Students' Allowance.

You may become eligible for student maintenance funding when you switch to a programme with teaching on a weekday. However, because students may be in an overpayment situation, no further payments will be made until all overpayments have been recovered. Therefore, you will not receive your next instalment, and you may not receive future instalments. The amount of overpayment you have will depend on your year of study and personal circumstances. The SLC will be able to confirm this for you - they can be contacted via 0300 100 0607 or see Contact Student Finance England - GOV.UK.

Students who have been identified as being weekend only students are currently having a block applied to their maintenance loan payments. This means you will not receive your next funding instalment. It also means that the SLC will consider that any funding received as a result of you being on a weekend only / distance learning course, as being awarded in error and an ‘overpayment’.

The SLC will look to reclaim overpayments. Where students become eligible for future payments (for example, if you move to a weekday alternative), overpayments will be deducted from any future payments.  If you move to a weekday alternative, then the university will inform SLC of this and you will receive a new entitlement letter from SLC detailing what future payments you will be receiving. SLC will also inform you of any overpayments that will be deducted from this entitlement.

If you have never studied at weekends and your funding has been blocked, this suggests SFE/SLC have incorrectly applied the block, this may be due to an error on your record (this could be at BNU and/or the partner). Please email us at weekend@bnu.ac.uk confirming what days you are currently studying and how long you have been studying on these days. Please ensure you include your student ID number in your email. We will investigate this and get the transfer to weekdays verified.

The SLC has created a two-step Change of Circumstances (CoC) process and we are working to their timeline.
CoC 1 – BNU to confirm to SLC who is on a Weekend-Only course, sharing that information from 6 to 17 April.
CoC 2 – BNU will then submit CoC 2 to move students to the new course.

The SLC will then process this change of circumstances to reassess your eligibility. Please note, if you move to weekday provision (Monday to Friday) this does not mean that you are automatically eligible to receive payments. Overpayments that have been received will be taken out of any future payment for which SLC deem you to be eligible.

While you may not receive any future payments, your overpayments will be reduced.

Please speak to the Student Loans Company Repayments line as they will work with you to advise what repayment plan can be put in place and about any impact on your credit score. Please contact the SLC directly to understand what is expected in terms of repayment by phone: 0300 100 0607 or check here for other ways to get in touch: Contact Student Finance England - GOV.UK.

According to the Student Loans Company, an overpayment occurs when you are paid more student finance (loan or grant) than you are entitled to.

You will need to ask the SLC as all communications were issued directly by them.

The repayments are being managed by SFE/SLC and not BNU. We will continue to offer teaching to students.

You will be required to pay overpayments for the period you have been a weekend student.

Students may wish to interrupt (or withdraw) their studies but they would still need to pay back overpayments. If interrupting, you will need to check the programme will still be running when you plan to return. Please email weekend@bnu.ac.uk

At this stage you are not required to take any action. We or your partner institution will write to you shortly to ask your preferences for what teaching days you would like from the options available. We will then proceed to move you ASAP after we have received students' preferences. We will also notify SFE of your change of course. 

We will be writing to you shortly to let you know what options for teaching you have. We are currently collating timetabling information and will be in touch very soon. For BNU taught programmes, we are expecting to offer one weekday or two evenings alongside one of your existing weekend days. Alternatively, if there is a cohort available for you during the week (Mon/Tues or Wed/Thurs) you can replace both your weekend days with weekday attendance. Partners will advise what options they will have available. 

You will become eligible for student maintenance funding when you switch to a programme with teaching on a weekday. However, because students will be in an overpayment situation, no further payments will be made until all overpayments have been recovered. Therefore, you will not receive your next instalment, and you may not receive future instalments. The amount of overpayment you have will depending on your year of study and personal circumstances. The SLC will be able to confirm this for you.

We will be writing to students to ask their preferences for what change in teaching days they would prefer from the options available. We will then proceed to move you ASAP after we have received students' preferences.

However, blocks are being added to students funding records by SFE currently. This will mean that your next funding instalment will be stopped.

You can continue to study at weekends only. However, you will not be entitled to any further maintenance loan funding and will still be required to pay back the previous overpayments.

If you no longer wish to continue your studies, you have the option to formally withdraw from the course. To do this, you need to complete the Withdrawal Form and return it to weekend@bnu.ac.uk. 

If you withdraw and move to an eligible course, you will be technically eligible for student funding again. However, if you are still required to make an overpayment, you will not receive any further payments until the overpayment is recouped.

Yes, you will still be required to pay back overpayments.

Where students have accumulated enough credits for an award, they will receive an exit award. Awards will go through our standard Board of Examiners process and be awarded in due course. If you have a minimum of 120 credits, you will receive a Certificate in Higher Education. If you have a minimum 240 credits, you will receive a Diploma in Higher Education. If you have 300 (but less than 360) credits, you will receive an Ordinary (non-Honours) Degree. 

You can transfer to another university through our standard withdrawal process. However, you will still be required to pay back the overpayments, and any outstanding overpayments will be taken out of any future payments you are entitled to.

It should be noted students at other institutions who also have weekend-only provision are in the same position and will be required to return their overpayments as this is being applied across the sector. 

Yes, you will still be required to pay back the overpayments. 

Free, confidential wellbeing support is always available 24/7 from togetherall - just use your BNU email address to log on or register. The University's Student Hub is also here to help you - please email: weekend@bnu.ac.uk 

Questions can be sent to weekend@bnu.ac.uk. However, if you have any specific questions about repayments please speak directly to SFE/SLC via 0300 100 0607 or see Contact Student Finance England - GOV.UK.

Please send all your comments and concerns to the weekend@bnu.ac.uk email address and we will seek to respond ASAP. Please also keep checking back on the FAQs, as we will be updating them with new information. 

You can also contact the Students’ Union Welfare and Advice team - Advice Centre and/or your Student Representative.

The University will be launching an emergency fund to help provide some financial support to impacted students. Details will be shared shortly.

Free and confidential mental health and wellbeing support is available 24/7 from togetherall  – just use your BNU email address to log on or register.

If you need to talk to someone for emotional support, please use the following free 24/7 services: call Samaritans on 116 123; email Jo@samaritans.org; or text 85258 to reach SHOUT.

You can also contact the Students’ Union Welfare and Advice team - Advice Centre

You are entitled to raise concerns about your situation and about how the University is managing it. However, before a Stage 2 Formal Complaint can be accepted, the University must first be given the opportunity to address your concerns through Stage 1: Early Resolution. This helps us to understand your individual circumstances fully and to identify the most appropriate next steps as quickly as possible.

To begin this process, please email your concerns to weekend@bnu.ac.uk. A member of the team will review your message and work with you to explore the best approach, support options, or next steps.

If you have already contacted us with the intention of making a formal complaint, your email will automatically be reviewed under Stage 1: Early Resolution, and you will receive a response from the team or it will be passed to the relevant area for input.

Once Stage 1 has been completed and steps taken to address concerns, if you remain dissatisfied, you may then proceed to submit a Stage 2 Formal Complaint.

If you study at Nottingham, Oxford, High Wycombe or Uxbridge, please speak with the Student Hub team either on campus or by emailing weekend@bnu.ac.uk

You are entitled to seek independent legal advice at any point and to pursue legal action if you choose to do so. BNU cannot advise you on legal matters or the likelihood of any legal action succeeding, so you may wish to seek independent advice from a solicitor or the Citizens Advice Bureau.

No, you will retain any credits you have already achieved and any further you go on to study.

Assuming you have not already used your gift funding, the same funding eligibility will apply once you move to Monday to Friday provision.

Your course is validated for in-person delivery and this is the primary means through which your learning takes place. Therefore, you must continue to attend in person.

Your degree is not at risk if you continue with your studies. You will retain all credits already achieved and any further credits you achieve. Students can choose to withdraw with a Certificate in Higher Education if they have 120 credits, or a Diploma in Higher Education if they have 120 credits.

Yes, please continue to attend as normal. We are working to advise you what your options will be moving forwards. We will provide advice when you need to take any action and change days.

We will work closely with our academic teams to try and reduce disruption to teaching and assessment as much as possible. Where group work is impacted, we will work towards a resolution to support students through the transition. The transition may be required to move within a particular timescale, to try and reduce the disruption as much as possible.