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 if you continue to study solely at weekends. 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.

As of 20 April, the DfE has announced that the Students Loan Company (SLC) will not be seeking immediate repayment of maintenance loan funding previously received by students. Instead these funds will be repaid through the usual student finance process. The SLC is expected to confirm and clarify this position shortly.

If you switch to weekday teaching, then you will be able to continue to apply for maintenance loan funding. Any maintenance loan payments that you received whilst on weekend teaching will still be classed as overpayments as these courses are not eligible for maintenance loan funding. This is because weekend only provision is classed as distance learning. However, these overpayments will now not need to be paid back immediately but will be collected through the normal SLC repayment process.  

If you wish to remain on weekend only teaching, then you will not be eligible to apply for a maintenance loan. However, any overpayments that you received previously will now not need to be repaid immediately, They will also be collected through the normal SLC repayment process.

Any overpaid maintenance loans will now need to be repaid through the normal student finance repayment process, rather than students having to set up a re-payment plan immediately.  

This usually means that you would only need to repay your student loan once your income is over the threshold amount for your repayment plan. You can find out which repayment plan you are on here: https://www.gov.uk/repaying-your-student-loan/when-you-start-repaying 

Usually, the earliest you’ll start repaying is: 

• the April after you leave your course 
• the April 4 years after the course started if you’re studying part-time and your course is longer than 4 years 
• April 2026 if you’re on Plan 5 

Usually, your repayments automatically stop if either: 

• you stop working 
• your income goes below the threshold 

Please note that we are still waiting for confirmation on this from the SLC. The SLC will be reaching out to students to explain the repayment process in more detail. 

We are waiting for further information from the Students Loan Company. They are expected to update students soon.

According to the Student Loans Company (SLC) and the Department for Education (DfE), the regulations that set eligibility for maintenance loans state that a course is classified as distance learning if it does not require regular in-person attendance at a specific place during the “working week” (Monday to Friday), even if the course requires regular attendance at the weekend. As a result of this, the SLC is stating that students who attend classes at weekends-only are distance learning students and therefore ineligible for maintenance loans. 

The position adopted by the Student Loans Company (SLC) and Department for Education (DfE) is that courses that require attendance only at the weekend have always been distance-learning under the regulations. The University’s position is that the guidance issued by the SLC to explain the regulations was changed earlier this year.  BNU and other universities are seeking to dispute the approach being taken by the SLC/DfE.  

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.

BNU taught students at High Wycombe, Uxbridge and Nottingham will now have received a Study Day Preference form by email, students should complete the form by the required timeline.  

BNU taught students at Oxford will be communicated with by phone/email to book a meeting to discuss the next steps.  

Partner students (LSST, IQualify and Oakswood) will receive communications directly from the partner institution about teaching days.  

We will also working towards updating your SFE/SLC account with details of your change of course as advised by the SLC. 

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.

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

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

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 – in progress.  

Step 5 – Teaching based on new teaching patterns starts. 

Some of these steps will happen simultaneously.

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.

The Department for Education has announced that students who have been identified as being weekend-only students won't need to immediately pay back any 'overpaid' maintenance loan payments. Instead, the Students Loan Company (SLC) will collect them through normal student finance repayments. The SLC will be contacting students to explain what this means for them and to advise on the next steps. They will be able to advise students on eligibility and entitlement and confirm the repayment process. 
 

Yes. Tuition fee loans are not affected.

The Department for Education has announced that repayments of grants will be paused until “at least” September.

If you are in receipt of the Disabled Students’ Allowance, then you may be exempt from this change. Students that have a disability which prevents them from attending their course in person can apply for a maintenance loan if they are enrolled on a distance learning course. Please contact student finance directly to discuss your individual circumstances.

The Department for Education has announced that previous maintenance loan payments won't now be required to be paid back immediately, but rather through the usual Students Loan Company (SLC) repayment process. The SLC will be contacting students to advise on the next steps. 

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. This SLC process will ensure that each student's account is correctly updated for all years of their course.

CoC 1 – BNU to confirm to SLC who is on a Weekend-Only course. This will be done via the first transfer CoCs. Students will be transferred to the distance learning version of their course. These first CoCs will be submitted from 13 April. These initial transfer CoCs will need to be submitted for each year that the student has been enrolled with BNU. This is regardless of whether or not the student was attending at the weekend, or during the week, for each of those academic years. The effective date for each of these transfer CoCs will be backdated to the start of the academic year. Once submitted, then BNU must wait for these first CoCs to be processed and completed by the SLC for all relevant years before taking any further action. The SLC will inform BNU once they have processed these CoCs and the students’ SLC accounts have been updated. BNU can then move on to CoC 2.

CoC 2 – Students who switch to weekday teaching will then have a second CoC submitted to the SLC. This transfer CoC will move the student to an in-attendance version of their course. The transfer date on the CoC will be the date that the student changed to weekday teaching, which may be part way through the academic year. A second transfer CoC will also be submitted for any previous academic years that the student was on weekday provision so that the student is moved back to an in-attendance course where necessary. These second CoCs can only be submitted once the SLC confirm that they have finished processing the first transfer CoCs. If the first transfer CoCs are delayed, then this will also delay the second transfer CoC being submitted by BNU.

You can speak to the Student Loans Company Repayments line on 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.

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

BNU taught students at High Wycombe, Uxbridge and Nottingham will now have received a Study Day Preference form by email which outlines the teaching patterns available. Students who have given their preferences are being allocated to their teaching groups and will have this confirmed to them later this week/early next week.  
  
BNU taught students at Oxford have been communicated with by phone/email to book a meeting to discuss the next steps and will have their teaching dates confirmed to them later this week/early next week.  

Partner students (LSST, IQualify and Oakswood) will receive communications directly from the partner institution about teaching days.

Teaching times will vary depending on location.
At Nottingham, teaching will remain 10am-5pm in the week, in line with current delivery.   
 
At High Wycombe and Uxbridge, we will be able to offer teaching between 1pm and 8pm (first teaching session will be 1pm-4pm and the second from 5pm-8pm). It will also be possible for students to attend two evenings a week.  

We will be contacting Oxford students separately to discuss options available to them.    

Partner students will be advised by the partner on what time teaching can take place.  

BNU taught students have been asked to inform us of their teaching pattern preferences by Sunday 19 April (11.59pm). We will then work on collating requests and allocating students to teaching groups. We will move to the new teaching pattern from Monday 4 May. 

You can continue to study at weekends only. However, you will not be entitled to receive maintenance loan funding. You can still apply for tuition fee loan support. 

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 weekday course, you would be able to apply for a maintenance loan. However, the overpayments that you received whilst on weekend only provision will still need to be paid back to the SLC through the normal SLC repayment process. 

Yes, but through the normal student finance repayment process.

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 through the normal SLC repayment process.  

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 through the standard repayment process 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 has launched an emergency fund to help provide some financial support to impacted BNU taught students. You can apply to the hardship fund here - Weekend Financial Support | Blackbullion

Partner students will be conatcted by their institution with details of hardship support available. 

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 the situation and about how the University is handling this. Please do so using the weekend@bnu.ac.uk email address or the relevant partner email address below.  

Before a formal complaint can be accepted or progressed, your concerns must first be considered under Stage 1: Early Resolution. This enables us to fully understand your individual circumstances and identify the most appropriate next steps. At this stage, the University is unable to consider or address the wider impact on students through Stage 2: Formal Investigation while the current loan issues remain ongoing and unresolved. 

The University believes this is a fair and proportionate temporary change whilst we await clarity from the Department for Education and the SLC/SFE. This will allow us to ensure that all students’ concerns are considered consistently and with full regard to the evolving external context and any material disadvantage. Therefore, at this time, all student concerns, queries and complaints will remain at Stage 1. 

Once Stage 1 has been completed, and if you remain dissatisfied, you may submit a Stage 2 Formal Complaint. However, as stated above, please be aware that no Stage 2 complaints from impacted students can be progressed at this time and will be paused. We understand that this may feel frustrating, but this approach is necessary to ensure matters are handled fairly and consistently for all affected students. 

Students who submit a Stage 2 complaint, as well as those who have already contacted the University or have previously submitted a complaint, will be contacted directly when it is appropriate for Stage 2 complaints to proceed and will be advised of the relevant timescales at that point. 

If you are studying with a partner institution, the partner institution is responsible for managing both Stage 1 and Stage 2 complaints. 

The email addresses for partner students to use to raise concerns or submit complaints are below: 

• Oakswood College: support@oakswoodgroup.co.uk 
• London School of Science and Technology (LSST): registry@lsst.ac 
• IQualify UK: info@iquk.ac.uk 

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 on Saturday and Sunday. We will change to the new pattern of teaching from Monday 4 May.  

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.