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Weekend Taught Students

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Updated on 20th April

If you are a student who has been taught exclusively at the weekend you may have been notified by the Student Loans Company (SLC) and Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU) that the former intends to cease future maintenance payments, and recover past payments.  We believe the actions of the Student Loans Company and the decision-making of the Department for Education are unfair and will have a significant negative impact on you, as many of you rely on the maintenance loan to support yourselves and your families whilst you study.  

We recognise this must be deeply upsetting for you and understand the impact this will have on your day-to-day lives and, as your Students’ Union that is independent from the University, are doing all we can to make sure you get a fair resolution to this.  Our purpose is to stand up for your rights and represent your interests.   We will continue to update this dedicated web page.  You can contact us anytime about this issue via weekend@ccsu.co.uk.  We want to hear how this is impacting you, and to provide whatever support we can.

On 20th April the Government announced it had instructed the Student Loans Company that the affected loans should be repaid through the usual student finance route (so not via immediate payment), and repayments on grants are paused until "at least" September.

The Office for Students (OfS) has written to all universities who have students affected, stating their expectations of providers:

  • Prompt and clear contact.
  • Express consent for material changes.
  • Compensation for adverse impact.
  • Signposting to SLC hardship.

Here are CCCUs FAQ pages for Weekend Taught Students.

What are we doing to help you, and the others affected?

At the individual level Christ Church Students’ Union is:

  • Providing advice and supporting you in knowing your rights, options, and helping to ensure nobody is pressured into changes that do not work for them.

Christ Church Students’ Union is asking CCCU for:

  • Information on what they are doing to resolve this issue.
  • A comprehensive list of students who are impacted by this issue, as without it we can’t directly communicate with you - our members - and have to rely upon the University to do this on our behalf.
  • Timely, clear, and comprehensive information to be provided to you on what options are open to you.
  • Appropriate time and support to make decisions about your future.
  • Immediate and extensive financial support for those who need it.
  • Assurance the Student Protection Plan, the Policy on Changes to Published Material Course Information, and the Refunds and Compensation Policy are being adhered to.

At the collective level Christ Church Students’ Union is working with:

  • Other students’ unions and the National Union of Students (NUS) to raise awareness, and provide political pressure.
  • NUS, who are working on a number of levels and are in discussion with the Government to raise your concerns and encourage a more favourable outcome.  NUS has launched a campaign against these actions - we encourage you to sign it ASAP.  This will be delivered to the Government on Thursday 16th April.
  • The Office for Students (OfS), who we are due to meet with this week.
  • The Members of Parliament for CCCU campuses - who we have written to on your behalf to urge them to take action however they can to support you and change this decision.  You can read the letter to Rosie Duffield MP HERE.
  • The Secretary of State for Education - who we have, with other SUs and NUS, written to urging her to reconsider this action.

What should you do?

  • Know that you have contractual rights as a student that must be upheld by your teaching provider and/or Canterbury Christ Church University.  These cover the course you originally enrolled on that was taught at the weekend, and the change to any alternative teaching arrangement.  In summary, the change must be clearly communicated - you must be fully informed about the changes, their impact, and agree to these.
  • You should retain all communication from your teaching provider, and Canterbury Christ Church University - this may be necessary to support any subsequent complaint.
  • If something is communicated to you verbally, ask for it to be confirmed in writing.
  • Document the scale and nature of the impacts of this on you and your circumstances - financial, academic, and on wellbeing.  This will help in any subsequent complaint.
  • If you are unsure about any changes to your course, teaching pattern, or financial maintenance then seek support from your provider and/or Canterbury Christ Church University.
  • Remember, you have options:
    • You have the right to remain on the course as it currently is, although you likely won’t be eligible for maintenance funding going forward.
    • You can, if this option is offered to you, switch to part weekday teaching.
      • This should mean you’re eligible for maintenance funding going forward, but it does not mean that you can keep the maintenance loans you have already received.  As it stands, you will still need to pay this back as the current position of the SLC is that the full overpayment must be cleared before any further maintenance loan money reaches the student.
      • Think carefully about the longer-term implication of this change - in reality, can you actually attend teaching during the week?  Whether because of work patterns, caring responsibilities, transport, or any other reason – you need to understand that signing up for weekday sessions that you subsequently don’t attend is not a good option.  Discuss with your partner institutions if there may be any other alternative teaching timetables.
    • You can withdraw from the course, and you may be eligible for a partial award such as a CertHE, Diploma of Higher Education, or similar qualification at a lower level - your provider should be able to confirm what you are eligible for.
  • If you are experiencing financial hardship as a result of this action, seek help and support as soon as possible.  You will have received communication about the Exceptional Support Fund for students in your situation this week.
  • Apply a hardship deferral from the Student Loans Company (SLC):
    • The SLC has confirmed that if a student can demonstrate that recovering the overpayment from their future entitlement would cause financial hardship, the SLC can partially or fully defer that recovery based on individual circumstances.  This means it is possible, though not guaranteed, for a student who switches to weekday delivery to receive some or all of their next maintenance instalment, rather than having it entirely swallowed by overpayment recovery.
    • However, you can only do this after you have confirmed your switch to weekday teaching, and received your new ‘Notice of Entitlement’ from the SLC.  This is an SLC process outside of the control of CCCU.
  • Raise awareness!
    • Write to your MP - download our Template Letter, personalise this to you, and send your MP.
    • Let your provider and/or CCCU know how this is affecting you.
    • Get in touch with us with any questions you think your provider, CCCU, SLC, or the Department of Education need to answer - weekend@ccsu.co.uk. 

How and when can I complain?

You have the right to complain about this to CCCU, in line with CCCU procedures.  However, our advice is to wait, for the following reasons:

  • The priority of the University is to resolve the immediate issues, and our advice is that this should be your priority also.
  • Many of the material facts and consequences are unknown at this stage.  Once these are known, the basis of any complaint will be more assured, and stronger.
  • If all affected students submit individual complaints then this will overwhelm the CCCU complaints process and Team, slowing down the outcome.  We are asking CCCU to design and implement a bespoke and expedited complaints process for students affected by this issue.
  • We, your Students’ Union, are unlikely to be able to support individual complaints due to the expected volume - we only have one full-time advisor.
  • In previous similar situations, we have found that organised and collective complaints have a greater weight, and this is something we, your Students’ Union, can support.

Your wellbeing

We know this is stressful and your wellbeing may have been impacted by this.  Please contact your partner institution wellbeing team if you need support:

UKMC - student.wellbeing@ukmc.ac.uk
GBS - wellbeing@globalbanking.ac.uk
ESL - mywellbeing@esl.ac.uk