More than 20,000 students face repaying loans of up to £30k after funding 'error'
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said students were not to blame
Thousands of students have been ordered to repay loans after being told they were 'issued in error' for courses that were never eligible for student finance loans.
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More than 20,000 students enrolled in weekend courses across at least 15 universities have been sent letters by the Student Loans Company (SLC) reportedly stating their courses were never eligible for maintenance loans or childcare grants.
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London Met, Bath Spa, and Oxford Brookes are among the institutions affected.
One letter seen by the BBC states a student's university gave "incorrect information" and "didn't tell us you only attended on the weekend", demanding them to return "any overpayment".
Maintenance loans cover living costs such as accommodation and food and are paid directly to students via instalments.
The maximum maintenance loan for a full-time student living at home in England is £10,473 this year.
Childcare grants range from £199.62 a week for one child and £342.24 a week for more than two children.
This means students claiming both the maximum maintenance loan and childcare grant could have to pay back almost £30,000.
In a joint statement from a number of the affected universities, the institutions said they were "extremely concerned" that payments had been "abruptly blocked" adding they were seeking legal advice.
The Department for Education said institutions had incorrectly registered the courses and added that weekend courses are often franchised meaning they are subcontracted out to independent providers.
The government announced new tighter rules regulating franchising agreements last year following concerns of fraud.
In response to the repayments issues, Universities UK said: “We recognise how distressing this is for affected students, and we want to reassure these students that universities are considering the different forms of support available.
"We will continue to work collaboratively with the Department for Education and Student Loans Company to understand how we can support the students impacted going forwards, and we encourage those affected to get in touch with their university to explore their options.”
Bridget Phillipson, the Education secretary, 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."
A spokesperson for SLC said: “A small number of Higher Education providers have incorrectly categorised courses that are distance learning. The Department for Education has requested that providers work with SLC to enable us to re-assess entitlement, in line with the student finance regulations.”