‘I can’t sleep at night’: London Met student asked to repay £18,000 over funding error

A London Metropolitan student is having to repay £18,000 after being issued a university maintenance loan in error.

Vlad Loran, a second year business management student, studies at the weekend whilst working full time during the week as a logistics manager.

Speaking to Sky News, the 32-year-old explained that he was given £17,739.78 over two years but received an email on 23rd March telling him his final payment had been blocked and that he will have to pay all the money back.

The issue is said to have been caused by universities incorrectly categorising distance learning courses as full time courses.

Around 22,ooo other UK university students are believed to have been given maintenance loans and grants they weren’t eligible for due to this error.

He said: “I can’t sleep at night. It’s a struggle, you know. I’m in debt at the moment anyway, but that money helped me to be exactly on the water. Now, actually, I’m sunk.”

He also shared how he had to take a £300 monthly drop in his salary in order to study part-time.

The students were initially told they would have to pay back all their grants immediately.

via Wikimedia Commons

However, on Monday the government announced in the Commons that it had asked the Student Loans Company to collect overpayments through normal student finance repayments, and to pause recoveries of overpaid grants until at least September.

Vlad has now been told by the university that he has a week to decide whether to continue his current course with no further maintenance loan, or move to a weekly study pattern, which may allow him access to further maintenance support in future.

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He said: “At the moment, I’m just working to pay the bills. Now, because they have said to us that we’re not entitled to the loan and we have to pay it back, I am thinking about doing a second job.”

“My wage is not great, and if I didn’t have my wife, I couldn’t stand to support my house… I said to her that if it comes to it, we may actually need to sell the house.”

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “I have long been clear about our commitment to crack down on university franchising arrangements that do not deliver for their students and abuse the system. I will always prioritise protecting students and safeguarding taxpayers’ money.

“This is not students’ fault. Too many organisations have let their students down, through either incompetence or abuse of the system. Many of these organisations lack the necessary governance and oversight to properly implement clear guidance. Others have used this loophole as another opportunity to abuse public money. Either way, this is not the standard I expect from our world-class university sector.

“Universities must take immediate action to support students who will face financial difficulties as a result.”

A spokesperson for SLC said: “The Student Loans Company (SLC) has received instruction from Department for Education (DfE) to ensure impacted students repay any overpayment of maintenance loans through income contingent recovery, following a small number of providers incorrectly categorising courses as distance learning.

“We will be writing to students to explain what this means for them and what the next steps are, including their eligibility and entitlement, as well as confirming the repayment process. We are also continuing to work with providers who are in the process of correctly classifying courses.”

London Metropolitan University has been contacted for comment.

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