22,000 England students told to repay loans after course rules dispute

Thousands of students in England are facing sudden repayment demands after the government reclassified weekend-only courses and decided the maintenance support they received should not have been paid. About 22,000 students have been told they must repay money they were given for living costs, with the total affected funding reported at about £190 million.

The letters, sent by the Student Loans Company to students at 15 universities and colleges, have triggered immediate alarm across the sector. Some students who received the maximum maintenance loan and childcare grant could be asked to repay almost £30,000. Many of those affected are mature learners who chose weekend study because they were working, caring for children or trying to fit higher education around other responsibilities.

The dispute turns on how the courses were classified. The Department for Education now says weekend-only courses should have been treated as distance learning, which makes them ineligible for full maintenance support under current rules. Government guidance says distance-learning students can only receive a Maintenance Loan in limited circumstances, such as when they cannot attend in person because of a disability.

Universities say the decision landed without warning and has left students exposed. At least one affected institution said the Department for Education told it on 23 March 2026 that weekend-only courses did not qualify as “in-attendance” for student finance purposes. Nine universities have now begun legal action and issued a pre-action letter against the Department for Education and the Student Loans Company over the withdrawal of the loans.

London Metropolitan University, Bath Spa University, Leeds Trinity University, Southampton Solent University and Oxford Brookes University are among the institutions named in the dispute. The National Union of Students has urged the government to stop the immediate clawback, while universities involved say they are seeking legal advice as repayments begin to land.

Martin Lewis, the founder of MoneySavingExpert, called the situation an “almighty pig’s ear”, arguing that it shows the student loan system is broken. For now, students have been pushed into the middle of a fight between government and universities over who approved the support, who should bear the loss, and whether any meaningful relief will come before repayment demands deepen the damage.