This information is for UK/Home undergraduate students who meet the eligibility rules to receive Student Finance England funding and are repeating a year of their course/repeating modules.
This information also applies but only for the fee loan, as you do not receive a Maintenance Loan, Maintenance Grant, Special Support Grant or any additional grants. You must contact the SFE EU Team to apply for repeat funding.
If you receive a Tuition Fee Loan, Maintenance Loan, Maintenance Grant and/or Special Support Grant from Student Finance England (SFE) or the Tuition Fee Loan only from the EU Team, you may be eligible for full funding to repeat a year or part year of study.
All SFE/EU-funded full-time students are eligible for one extra year of funding during their full-time undergraduate studies. SFE term this a ‘Gift Year’. If this is the first time you are repeating a year, and if you have never previously studied a full-time higher education course before starting on your current course, you will normally be eligible for full funding to repeat a year. This applies even if you are repeating your full-time degree on a part-time basis and if you are still enrolled and attending timetabled lectures in one or both semesters. Assessment Only students are not eligible for repeat funding.
If you have already used up your ‘Gift Year’, either because you have already repeated a year (either at this university or a previous university) or because you have studied on another Higher Education course in the past, and received SFE funding, you will only be eligible for Tuition Fee Loan and the Maintenance Grant or Special Support Grant for this repeat year if you had evidence of mitigating circumstances or ‘compelling personal reasons’ which affected your studies in 2023–24 or in an earlier year of study.
If you did not have mitigating circumstances or ‘compelling personal reasons’ for needing to repeat, or if you do not have independent evidence of your circumstances, you will be required to pay your own fees for the repeat year. If you are funded by SFE, you will not receive get the Maintenance Grant or the Special Support Grant (if you normally receive these). You will however be eligible for the Maintenance Loan and any additional grants, such as Disabled Students’ Allowance, the Parent Learning Allowance, and the Childcare Grant. If you are funded by the Student Finance EU Team, you will not receive any funding for the repeat year in this situation.
If you had personal or medical problems which affected your performance during 2023–24 (or relevant previous year) and if you have independent evidence of these (e.g. a doctor’s letter), you can ask SFE for repeat funding on the grounds of ‘compelling personal reasons’ (CPR). SFE or the SFE EU Team can award you an extra year’s funding on CPR grounds if they accept your evidence.
If you did not have CPR 2023–24 (or relevant year), but you did leave a previous course for ‘compelling personal reasons’ or had such reasons for repeating an earlier year of your current course, and you have independent evidence of this (such as a doctor’s letter), you can ask for this evidence to be considered retrospectively. This may then reinstate an additional year’s funding. You can only do this if you know that SFE/SFE EU Team has not already seen the evidence of your mitigating circumstances and has not already taken them into account for a previous year’s additional funding.
Read more about Mitigating Circumstances within the university. If the university accepts your MC’s, you would not normally be charged tuition fees to repeat.
The University does not have any funds for financial assistance towards tuition fees. You will be required to personally fund your tuition fees.
Please contact Student Advice to discuss your situation before re-enrolling for 2024–25. Re-enrolling in September without a viable plan for paying your fees could affect your ability to continue attending the course and could also adversely affect your future entitlement to SFE funding. Student Advice can talk through your situation with you and help you make an informed decision about the financial aspects of your studies.
You must be attending timetabled lectures and in attendance on the course to be eligible for SFE funding.
If you are not required to attend timetabled lectures , please contact Student Advice for funding advice and your Registry for Registration advice before re-enrolling for 2024–25 . Please note, Student Advice is unable to change a student’s registration ie from Assessment Only to registered as being in attendance – this is a Registry issue and you should liaise with them directly.
If you have been studying in your final year in 2023–24, you may not be able to apply online for Student Finance funding for 2024–25. This is because the SFE systems will think you have completed the degree course and not allow you to reapply as a continuing student. If you cannot apply for a further year’s funding for your existing course online, you must complete a paper application form (PR1 form) which is available via Student Finance Forms.
If you receive funding from the EU Team and are eligible for a further year’s funding, you will need to fill in form EUPR1A.
Your Registry Office will notify SFE of your change of circumstances and confirm you are repeating a year of study. You also need to contact Student Finance England (or the EU team if you are an EU student) as soon as possible. You must report the fact that you will be repeating all or part of your course in 2024–25. You may also need to adjust the amount of the Tuition Fee Loan you have requested. Your Registry Office can tell you how much your fees will be. Your student finance for 2024–25 will then be reassessed, and you will be sent a revised Financial Assessment by SFE.
If you are requesting repeat funding for ‘compelling personal reasons’ (CPR), you must write a letter to SFE explaining your circumstances, and you must also send in independent evidence of these circumstances, e.g., a letter from your doctor. Always quote your SFE Customer Reference Number, send any correspondence by recorded delivery and keep a copy. Alternatively you can upload your letter and evidence to your SFE online account. If you are eligible for a ‘Gift Year’ or for CPR funding, SFE will reassess your entitlement and will still assess you as eligible for a Tuition Fee Loan and Maintenance/Special Support Grant as well as the Maintenance Loan.
If your reassessment from SFE shows £0 for the Tuition Fee Loan and no Maintenance/Special Support Grant but you think you should be eligible for a ‘Gift Year’ or a CPR year, please contact Student Advice as soon as possible. We can check your entitlement and get in touch with SFE if an error has been made.
It is very important to check your SFE online account or phone SFE on 0300 100 0607 to make sure the change has been processed before you enrol for the 2024–25 academic year. If you are an EU student, phone 0141 243 3570.
If Student Finance England/the EU Team has not processed your change of circumstances before you enrol, you may be paid a fee loan that you are not entitled to. This could result in your fee loan being reclaimed by SFE. The University will then hold you personally liable to pay your own fees. In addition, any overpaid grants or maintenance loan will also be reclaimed by SFE.
If you are not clear about your Student Finance eligibility, please contact Student Advice before you re-enrol on your course for the new academic year.
Part-time undergraduate students
Student Finance England does not award additional years of funding for repeat part-time study even if the repeat was caused by compelling personal reasons.
If you started your course in September 2012 or later
The part-time Tuition Fee Loan is available for a maximum of 16 years part-time study. You must be on target to complete within four times the normal length of the full-time equivalent course. Any previous part-time study on a part-time higher education course will reduce the number of years you are eligible to receive part-time funding for your new course.
Part-time students must always be on target to complete their course in no more than four times the time it takes to complete as a full-time student. If you go beyond this limit, your part-time funding will end, even if you have not completed your course.
Postgraduate degree students
Student Finance England does not award additional years of funding for the Postgraduate Master's loan if you repeat a year of your course, even if the repeat was caused by compelling personal reasons. A CPR year is only an option if you had to withdraw from your previous course and did not complete a previous course because of compelling personal reasons (CPR). If SFE accept this, they can consider awarding you one additional year of loan for a new course. This must be a completely new course with new modules. If you are still enrolled on a course, you must withdraw and start a new course. You cannot carry credits over from a previous course to the new course.
A CPR year loan can only be awarded once, no matter how many courses you start. For CPR to be considered you must apply to SFE for the PG Master's loan and provide SFE with satisfactory evidence of your circumstances. CPR can include ill health or bereavement but other issues can also be considered. CPR funding is not guaranteed and is at the discretion of SFE.
Contact Student Advice if you would like to discuss your circumstances and CPR request.
All students
The rules on previous studies and funding are complicated. If you are unsure of your entitlement or need further advice please contact Student Advice.